Helping Hand Rescue Mission

"For generations and generations and generations you’ve been doubted and left behind. 
I want you to spread your life, your love, and your intelligence so the world can shine. "
-Sia-Imani Warden, age 18, Lincoln University c/o '24

Recent events have highlighted the ever-present racial injustices seen not only in just our law enforcement, but every aspect of our society, including housing, healthcare, the workplace, and especially education. Today, we ask for your help in supporting Helping Hand Rescue Mission, a 501c3 non-profit located in Philadelphia, to raise money for 8 young women to pursue higher education. As students in Philadelphia ourselves, it is vital that each and every one of us contributes to the fight for a more just and equitable world, starting with our own communities. 

Established in 1905 as a soup kitchen, Helping Hand Rescue Mission has worked to better the lives of many in the Philadelphia area. As part of their junior leadership program, they involve community children at a young age, and then hire them as teenagers to mentor and tutor younger community students. Many of these students, with your support, will be the first college graduates in their families.

The impact of your donations will be significant. Funds that support a college education will not only give them a degree but will change the future of the student and their families permanently. After grants and federal funding, these girls still need on average $5,000 per year for their college education, and so every donation will make a real difference. 100% of the money raised through this Go Fund Me will go towards paying tuition and rent, purchasing textbooks, computers, and other necessary supplies for the students. 

To better familiarize yourself with Helping Hand Rescue Mission and the girls for which we are fundraising, we have posted below a brief bio of Diamond. The money raised through this fundraiser will help pay for Diamond's college expenses.
 
Diamond Alston lives in the Spring Garden Housing Projects with her mother and 3 younger brothers. She is an immeasurably optimistic 18 year old student despite her many health challenges. Diamond has suffered blood clots in her legs, pancreatic damage, seizures, and Type 1 Diabetes. However, her illness and changes to her lifestyle haven’t altered her positive perspective. She shrugged, "now I have to learn to cook vegetables."

Diamond is truly a remarkable community leader who has worked extensively with people experiencing homeslessnes and as a Junior Leader for children at the Helping Hand Rescue Mission. Diamond has the gift of compassion; she engages adults and kids alike in meaningful conversations, stunning staff and volunteers with her memory and interest in their lives. While volunteering with people experiencing homeslessnes, she began discreetly giving feminine hygiene products to women in need. She is a true role-model to her 3 younger brothers, as she is full of kindness, patience, and creativity, and drive. 

Diamond will be attending Philadelphia Community College in September, and will be the first college graduate in her family.

Have you wondered how you can help families who had almost nothing and then recently lost their jobs?

During the COVID-19 quarantine, I've continued training for the yet-to-be-cancelled Broad Street Race and have reflected about the deep and pressing needs of the poor in Philly. I'd like to share a story with you below about my commitment to run the Broad Street, the importance of support during this time, and why my cousin and I are connecting our story to an organization called Helping Hand Rescue Mission, which is uniquely qualified to help in these times (or click right to donate now).  

Many of you have read my race stories, especially the one a few years ago where my cousin and I crossed paths as she was running the Broad Street 2017 (Story here: bit.ly/2rwA5r4 ). This year, Shana and I were planning to run the Broad Street for the first time together and we were really looking forward to it. I always have stories that come out of my experiences on race day but I’ll probably always think back to the story above as one of the highlights. It’s become a reminder to me of just how important it is to encourage one another to get back in the race of life - or to keep going.

Shana and I are family and we are lucky to have super supportive families when times are tough. In the past three years especially, I’ve come to realize that I’ve been fortunate in life and able to pull through difficult times largely because of the strength of my family unit. I often think about where and who I would be if I wasn’t born into such a favorable environment. This thought is part of what motivated me to start volunteering with an organization called Helping Hand Rescue Mission (website here:www.phillyhope.com). 

HHRM supports the Philly homeless with community meals and IDs (so they can get jobs) and they support disadvantaged kids through after-school programs. They help provide opportunities to people who are in deep need. When COVID-19 hit, HHRM was still there to do their part - making sure the families in the community had enough to eat. Today they are continuing to share meals and make non-perishable food deliveries to those with food insecurity.

For those who were already struggling financially, COVID-19 will compound an already dire situation.

I think you understand, so let me cut to the chase -- 

Shana and I know that God places people in our life for a reason - often to meet an unexpected need.
We might be running those 10 miles on our own this year - but will you help us raise support for Helping Hand Rescue Mission -- and for those who might be feeling alone, hopeless, and in need of a family? Help us send a hug to these sweet people and a message of encouragement that we are rooting for them. Please help be the support they so desperately need.

Call it a COVID-19 Challenge or call it a 2020 Challenge. Our goal is to raise as much as we can for HHRM during this increased time of need.  $1 for a plate of food. $20 to sponsor a grocery bag for a community family. $200 to sponsor a homeless Mission meal. Whatever the amount, Shana and I would love to see some multiplication miracles. Because that's the kind of race day story we want to share.

Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes. - Isaiah 58:10-12

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. - 2 Timothy 4:7

The brothers of St. Anthony Hall are standing in support of the members of the Black Community to combat racism, injustice, and prejudice within society. The unacceptable atrocities we have seen in recent events, such as the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others must not be tolerated.

As an organization that celebrates diversity, we will continue to uphold our values as a group and promote inclusivity and equality for all.

We have created this gofundme page to raise funds for an organization we as a brotherhood strongly stand by. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. This is our first step in the fight to right the systematic wrongs that have gone on for too long. We are committed to making continued efforts to serve the marginalized communities in not just Philadelphia, but across the country. Now, more than ever, the brothers of St. Anthony Hall want to say that Black Lives Matter.

The charity we have partnered with, Helping Hand, provides support and mentorship to underserved communities in the city of Philadelphia. The mission opened in 1905 as a soup kitchen, but has also operated as a youth center in North Philadelphia, hiring community teenagers to work as tutors in their Junior Leader program. The mission has helped create a Kindergarten to college path, and currently supports 11 Junior Leaders in higher education.

To provide more specific insight into our fundraising efforts, we would like to highlight a student that will be receiving the funds raised by this fundraiser - Angel. The funds raised will go towards a scholarship for Angel. Helping hands has provided us with some more detail on who Angel is as a person: 

“ “I’ve never had popcorn before,” Angel shared on a Tuesday night many Tuesdays ago. Angel was just a little guy who was new to the Mission. It was hard to believe he hadn’t had a kernel in his 11 years in Philly. 

Angel was in the foster care system before being adopted into the neighborhood with his brother Savion. Besides missing out on popcorn, it was clear that there had been some tough years for Angel, and he was bullied regularly. It didn’t help that he lost a front tooth. And then another. Somehow Angel found a way through the tough years, even embracing them with his humor. When he was teased about his teeth, he smiled and said he sold them for food stamps. He created a SuperGuy cartoon series. He co-authored a book called “Better Bullying” to bring light to the tough topic of school harassment. And he sold copies of the book to raise money for our Ugandan water program. And in his Senior year at Bodine High School, he did something even more amazing. He decided to play high school football. And since his school didn’t have a team, he had to play for Mastbaum High. Angel, a kid who had often been bullied, walked into the bully bowl, the football locker room. A helmet and pads can’t protect you from mean words, but it didn’t matter, his teammates loved him. 

Those who know Angel are amazed by him. Instead of avoiding challenges, he crashes into them. He is a truly remarkable young man. He is one of our wonderful Junior Leaders. He is an example of hope and courage. He is quick with a joke. He is a role model. And now he is a college student, attending Manor in September.”