A San Diego-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting children from abuse donated 50 care packages to low-income families Thursday.
Like other donation events around the county and world, this one was set up as a drive-thru, so families could drop by while practicing social distancing. The thoughtful care packages were put together by Home Start, an organization with a mission to end child abuse and create safe, stable, and nurturing environments for children.
For two hours – and one by one – families from Encanto Elementary School drove through the parking lot of the Jacob’s Center for Neighborhood Innovation in Lincoln Park to pick up much-needed items. The packages included gift cards for food, hygiene kits, and activity packs and books for kids.
The CEO of Home Start told NBC 7 the principal of Encanto Elementary School reached out to the nonprofit and asked it they could partner up to help provide support to 50 of the school’s families.
Champagne Collier-Joseph is the mother of two Encanto Elementary School students, a first and second-grader. She told NBC 7 she was extremely thankful for the help at the drive-thru donation event Thursday.
“Anything definitely helps right now because, obviously, we are at hard times right now,” Collier-Joseph explained. “Our kids are stuck in the house, so any kind of activities that can get them going – get their brains going – it definitely helps.”
“Any gift cards toward anything can help them with food or clothes, that truly helps as well,” she added.
Local
Home Start CEO Laura Tancredi-Baese told NBC 7 the nonprofit felt compelled to host the donation drive-thru in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have an array of services available for families. But today we just want to be here in this emergency time and give families food and supplies that they need to keep their family safe right now,” she said.
Home Start has been around since 1972. Today, as the coronavirus pandemic grips our county, the organization is still trying to find ways to combat the complications the pandemic is adding to the daily lives of the local vulnerable children and families it serves.
To make a donation to Home Start and read more on the organization’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, click here.
Pitching in During the Pandemic: Stories of San Diegans Doing Good: Read more stories about San Diegans finding creative ways to lend support. Have you heard about a story we should share? Let us know
