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Our mission is simply to help people that need it. Whether you're for or against helping the homeless, there is undoubtedly a community of people that are less-fortunate than we are. We simply want to help.
One night during dinner, my wife and I decided to put into motion an idea that we had talked about for years - make positive effects in our local community. Selfishly, we also wanted to figure out a way to reinforce values that we felt chlidren often overlook like understanding, compassion, appreciation, and service. We decided to help feed the homeless during the holiday designed to take a step back and really give thanks for how fortunate we are - Thanksgiving!
Fortunately (and unfortunately for our initial intention), most organizations designed to feed the homeless during Thanksgiving are completely booked by large groups like churches, small businesses, etc. Additionally, most of these organizations have age requirements, and specific timeframes in which a qualified group can participate. We wanted a more DIRECT impact - one that we can see and feel with our own eyes and hearts, regardless of age (our youngest was 4 at the time). With that, we figured we would buy groceries out of our own pockets (with the help and time of some of our close friends and family) and serve the food ourselves!
Our first experience in 2013 led us to a small homeless women's shelter, "Becky's House". Our family, friends, and I were able to cook a dinner for 14 women, serve it to them, and actually sit and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with them.
Our next experience in 2014 put us in a predicament - all of the non-profit organizations were booked and we couldn't find a place to help. What seemed difficult ended up being the easiest solution - cook dinner at our house, make trays of food, and hand them out to the homeless directly. We were able to interact with some of the community in DC and provide a firsthand experience for our children. I'll never forget what our kids said during the very first trays they handed out as we walked back to the truck. "That made me feel so good!" Mission accomplished!
This year, we wanted to change it up a bit. We've opened up the event to more friends and family that have expressed interest in helping out. Also, we wanted to do this event on a holiday NOT Thanksgiving. Truth is, since there are so many organizations that plan this months in advance, there were quite a few organizations with buffet lines set-up in many of the frequented parks where the homeless community gather. We also wanted to open up the supply lines and include things like golves, hats, hand warmers, AND food. Last year's winter was bitterly cold (windchills down to -10deg) and we thought that it would help a ton.
Any donations would help us tremendously. Last year, we were forced to dip into our Rainy Day account to fund our small operation. This proved to be a very big problem later on as our basement flooded and we were barely scraping by to get that fixed AND pay our mortgage. This was also on the heels of a huge paycut in the Defense Contracting industry in which our family took about a 30% slash in income. Despite our issues, we simply couldn't turn our back on people that needed the help. Our problems are others' wishes and we couldn't lose sight of that.
If you are able to donate, we will show 100% transparency. We will put the funds into a separate bank account and take pictures of every purchase we make for the cause and post them on our Facebook page, Holidays for the Homeless. If we exceed our requested goal, we will rollover the monies into next year's event.
Thank you all for your time and attention! We hope to be able to really make a difference in our community - even if on a smaller scale.
For any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact us on our page!
Sincerely,
Holidays for the Homeless
One night during dinner, my wife and I decided to put into motion an idea that we had talked about for years - make positive effects in our local community. Selfishly, we also wanted to figure out a way to reinforce values that we felt chlidren often overlook like understanding, compassion, appreciation, and service. We decided to help feed the homeless during the holiday designed to take a step back and really give thanks for how fortunate we are - Thanksgiving!
Fortunately (and unfortunately for our initial intention), most organizations designed to feed the homeless during Thanksgiving are completely booked by large groups like churches, small businesses, etc. Additionally, most of these organizations have age requirements, and specific timeframes in which a qualified group can participate. We wanted a more DIRECT impact - one that we can see and feel with our own eyes and hearts, regardless of age (our youngest was 4 at the time). With that, we figured we would buy groceries out of our own pockets (with the help and time of some of our close friends and family) and serve the food ourselves!
Our first experience in 2013 led us to a small homeless women's shelter, "Becky's House". Our family, friends, and I were able to cook a dinner for 14 women, serve it to them, and actually sit and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with them.
Our next experience in 2014 put us in a predicament - all of the non-profit organizations were booked and we couldn't find a place to help. What seemed difficult ended up being the easiest solution - cook dinner at our house, make trays of food, and hand them out to the homeless directly. We were able to interact with some of the community in DC and provide a firsthand experience for our children. I'll never forget what our kids said during the very first trays they handed out as we walked back to the truck. "That made me feel so good!" Mission accomplished!
This year, we wanted to change it up a bit. We've opened up the event to more friends and family that have expressed interest in helping out. Also, we wanted to do this event on a holiday NOT Thanksgiving. Truth is, since there are so many organizations that plan this months in advance, there were quite a few organizations with buffet lines set-up in many of the frequented parks where the homeless community gather. We also wanted to open up the supply lines and include things like golves, hats, hand warmers, AND food. Last year's winter was bitterly cold (windchills down to -10deg) and we thought that it would help a ton.
Any donations would help us tremendously. Last year, we were forced to dip into our Rainy Day account to fund our small operation. This proved to be a very big problem later on as our basement flooded and we were barely scraping by to get that fixed AND pay our mortgage. This was also on the heels of a huge paycut in the Defense Contracting industry in which our family took about a 30% slash in income. Despite our issues, we simply couldn't turn our back on people that needed the help. Our problems are others' wishes and we couldn't lose sight of that.
If you are able to donate, we will show 100% transparency. We will put the funds into a separate bank account and take pictures of every purchase we make for the cause and post them on our Facebook page, Holidays for the Homeless. If we exceed our requested goal, we will rollover the monies into next year's event.
Thank you all for your time and attention! We hope to be able to really make a difference in our community - even if on a smaller scale.
For any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact us on our page!
Sincerely,
Holidays for the Homeless