We accomplished so much together and in such a short time!
On May 11 we had our 3rd successful Family Volunteering event where our young volunteers managed to create nearly 100 small Care Kits for our homeless neighbors, while putting a whole lot of thoughtfulness and love into the messaging. 11 year-old Arsh spoke about where he found his inspiration when writing his cards. This team had a lot of enthusiasm and motivation for helping others and heartfelt community service.
We filled the kits mostly with small personal hygiene items donated John Swett High School Leos club, affiliated with the Lions Club, Northgate High School, and Clayton Valley High School who have kept our supplies full of donations, supplying nearly $2,000 in goods from the generosity of their clubs.
On Tuesday, May 14th we received additional items donations valued at over $3,800 from Raymond James, $800 worth of donations of women's items from I Support the Girls, $2,000 from Project Glimmer, and finally over $2,200 in product from the Sydney Paige Foundation. And on Wednesday, May 15th, our partners at Farmers Insurance sent 12 volunteers to inventory it all.
And thanks to the awesome Raymond James Cares volunteer team, by May 18th we had filled 100 supply backpacks for our homeless or marginally housed neighbors valued at nearly an average of $77 per backpack.
And coming full circle, the 100 filled backpacks made their way to Trinity Center today!
“Imagine that you are homeless. You may have a job, but don’t make enough to pay the rent. Money is tight, food is scarce and you are discouraged.”
Our partners at Trinity Center, who are one of our regular Food Rescue program recipient organizations, offer a safety net of basic human services including: prepared food-to-go, hot breakfast and lunches, showers and laundry clothing, mailbox and telephone access, as well as referral services, case management and support groups, Trinity Center serves people who are currently without shelter, and those experiencing poverty at risk of homelessness. The Trinity Centers provides an opportunity for community, a central place to find resources, and a safe place off the street.
These first 100 backpacks (and the 350 we distributed to homeless or marginally housed students in the Mount Diablo Unified School District with the “Pack-Out” on May 9th) are just the beginning!
There is so much more we can do with your help.
We are working hard to support our many partner organizations, to aid in our shared missions of combating poverty and homelessness in Contra Costa county.
We hope to keep this momentum going by inviting you or your company or group to support us with this new backpack program
We will be working with the Sydney Paige Foundation to streamline the process of setting up a summer Backpack drive in your community. For more information or to get your team involved, please reach to Danie@whiteponyexpress.org today.