9213ZeroLeftBehind - Support Your Neighbors!

“Carmel Valley is an excellent place to live… It is a step up in the world and living in Carmel Valley is an indication that you have arrived and are as successful as the people in the neighborhood.”

“Being an affluent area, Carmel Valley is very well educated, with 78.6% of residents possessing a bachelor’s degree or higher.”

This is how top real estate agents describe Carmel Valley. We believed the same—we believed that everyone in our neighborhood was financially stable. However, throughout the pandemic, it became evident that there are significant financial disparities among the residents of our community.

Approximately 96% of those employed in Carmel Valley occupy white-collar jobs, earning well over $200,000 annually, and yet there are still 18 low-income residential housing complexes woven into the community, sharing the same schools, shopping centers, and parks.

Low-income neighborhoods in the 92130 area are overlooked by most support groups since they’re surrounded by wealthy communities. We discovered one nonprofit, 92130 Cares, that targets its services toward these communities. Based on its mission statement, 92130 Cares’ goal is to facilitate the sharing of resources, connect neighbors, and embrace/deliver acts of kindness. This is accomplished by collecting donated food that would otherwise be thrown away at local grocery stores. These foods are then distributed free of charge at weekly pop-up “farmers markets.”

Despite 92130 Cares' success, there were still things that could be better.

This is where we come in. Our team, 9213ZeroLeftBehind, began researching how we might help low-income communities. Our team decided we really wanted to collaborate with 92130 Cares in order to assist low-income communities by bringing non-food donations to the market. So we got to work!

As we have continued with our mission, we’ve drawn donations from our neighborhoods by distributing bags with attached fliers to houses and asking the community to support their neighbors by contributing resources. We’ve had a lot of success and it’s been amazing to see the appreciative faces as members of the community visit the market and see the items we bring (toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning products, children’s toys, shoes, clothing, toiletries, etc.).

These are just a few of the things that we’ve heard while giving out donations at the 92130-Cares’ weekly market. Necessities most people take for granted like toilet paper, dish soap, and full bottles of shampoo and conditioner are frequently sacrificed for food and rent by these individuals. A handful of times, we would see children pass through the line at the market, and it was amazing to see the joy on their faces as they hand-picked toys. Rewarding moments like these demonstrate that our project is truly making an impact in our community.

Similarly, one mom expressed her gratitude for the program, describing the impact it would make for her family, “I’m so glad that I’ll be able to give my son new shoes since he’s growing out of his old pair.”

We had a school librarian come to us–full of excitement–when she learned that we had all these great books for the taking, telling us how students would be delighted to receive the newest edition of Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Guinness World Records 2022. Witnessing the excitement and relief on the faces of the market attendees as they choose goods is such a rewarding experience, reinforcing our confidence in our project choice.

You can help us support our mission by contributing to our operating expenses as the cost of acquiring bags and printing fliers has taken its toll and is starting to affect our ability to collect donations. In order to continue our passion project, we hope we might earn your support and funding. Our financial needs are minimal and any support would be so appreciated.

We would love for you all to support the meaningful work we’ve accomplished thus far and consider supporting us.

https://linktr.ee/9213zlb