UPDATE: So far we have raised $1,357. I am not sure why the widget below is not updating, but thanks to some generous donors we have met and gone past our goal. 100% of funds donated will go to making the holiday a little better for 80+ homeless people at the Glendale Winter Shelter. If you’d still like to donate please do knowing every penny will go to making holiday gift bags for our homeless friends.
This year the winter shelter system has been hard. Budgets have been cut so there is only the bare minimum provided – a cot, a blanket, a shower, a towel, a small meal at night and a bag lunch for the morning. I had a vision of making Christmas Eve a little special for the 80 plus people who call the winter shelter home each night. Thanks to the SMCLA Event this week people brought in bags of hygiene products and other great stuff that we will be using to make gift bags. Carl’s Jr provided 80 coupons for turkey burgers, which is AWESOME!
Yesterday we were taking a formerly homeless friend out to lunch. We always let people decide where they want to eat, and our friend picked MiMi’s Cafe. I walked in and saw a graphic ad for their holiday meal catering. I took a photo and posted it on twitter sharing my vision of how cool it would be to be able to cater a holiday meal at the winter shelter. Almost immediately I received a response and donations.
So that’s how it all started. I talked to a manager and he said for $600 Mimi’s could cater the Christmas Eve meal. That’s a little more than the original ad I posted, which turns out was for family of 5. When you look at their catering menu it’s $120 for 12 people so the manager is giving us a break. He said he would also throw in lots of extras. I am hoping that Mimi’s Corporate finds out and helps even more. (Please note: if you know a caterer or a more cost-effective solution near Glendale area of Los Angeles please let us know. The National Guard Armory does not have a working oven so we have to pick up the food HOT on Monday around 7pm)
We still need $340 to make the 80 gift bags, which brings the total amount needed to around $1,000.Thanks to some very generous donors we have already raised $420. Every penny raised will go to help providing 80 plus homeless people with a holiday meal and a small gift bag. If we raise over $1,000 well be able to make the gift bags even more special. Below is a donation widget. If you are reading this from a phone the widget will not show so please use this link to donate
