Ms Leona's Care Bags
Donation protected
On November 21 of this year my grandmother, Leona Sweeney, passed away. After the funeral, I laid in bed thinking about how difficult this holiday season would be without her and how she lived her life giving what she had to others. She would often knit hats and blankets and, with the aid of her local church, send them to babies in other countries and to anyone else that was in need. I decided this holiday season I wanted to find a way to give back in her honor.
That was when I had the idea to put together care bags with supplies and necessities and to hand them out to the homeless population in New York City. While reading up on what was already being done, I learned that there are over 60,000 homeless people living in New York City alone. More than 20,000 of them are children and many of those children are under the age of 6. It is too easy to get caught up buying things for our friends and family during this time of year and even easier to forget about those who have nothing.
I quickly realized how expensive the task I was about to undertake would be and decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to help raise at least part of the funds. As a full-time nursing student in college, I don’t have a great deal of my own money to use on these supplies. However, I believe it is very important to take the time to give back. All of the money raised here will be put into buying supplies for these care bags (food, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, hats, gloves, blankets etc..) with anything left over being donated to The Covenant House (a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless youth of New York City). My grandmother dedicated a lot of her life to helping children and others in need and I hope to carry on that legacy.
Please consider giving back this holiday season. I am also including a link to the Covenant House who is concurrently holding a fundraiser where all donations are being matched by an anonymous donor up to $90,000. To donate directly to the Covenant House use this link: https://www.covenanthouse.org/donate-options/year-end-match?origin=DHQEI1905EEKNNN&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuf7fBRD7ARIsACqb8w4EGjQgDd3CoszgqSWdeI3Dp70hCZnBVr_Zf020of9_h5DMb6jLUhQaAum3EALw_wcB
That was when I had the idea to put together care bags with supplies and necessities and to hand them out to the homeless population in New York City. While reading up on what was already being done, I learned that there are over 60,000 homeless people living in New York City alone. More than 20,000 of them are children and many of those children are under the age of 6. It is too easy to get caught up buying things for our friends and family during this time of year and even easier to forget about those who have nothing.
I quickly realized how expensive the task I was about to undertake would be and decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to help raise at least part of the funds. As a full-time nursing student in college, I don’t have a great deal of my own money to use on these supplies. However, I believe it is very important to take the time to give back. All of the money raised here will be put into buying supplies for these care bags (food, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, hats, gloves, blankets etc..) with anything left over being donated to The Covenant House (a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless youth of New York City). My grandmother dedicated a lot of her life to helping children and others in need and I hope to carry on that legacy.
Please consider giving back this holiday season. I am also including a link to the Covenant House who is concurrently holding a fundraiser where all donations are being matched by an anonymous donor up to $90,000. To donate directly to the Covenant House use this link: https://www.covenanthouse.org/donate-options/year-end-match?origin=DHQEI1905EEKNNN&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuf7fBRD7ARIsACqb8w4EGjQgDd3CoszgqSWdeI3Dp70hCZnBVr_Zf020of9_h5DMb6jLUhQaAum3EALw_wcB
Organizer
Megan Kilkenny
Organizer
Flemington, NJ
