Hands4Hope: July 2011

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Volunteer Spotlight: Kaela!

Kaela has been an outstanding volunteer since 2008!

Her favorite event to volunteer for is the Homeless Outreach in Sacramento. She said her favorite part is "seeing people happy and helping them."

Kaela says doing outreach has made her realize a lot about the world. "I learned that homelessness is real. Some people really don't have a home, or food."

Kaela has encouraged her friends to start volunteering with her. "The first time I volunteered, I got my friends to come, too. We have fun volunteering together."

The first time she volunteered, it was for a school requirement, but since then, she has donated many hours of her time because it makes her feel good. "If I were in their situation, I would want help, too," she said.

Overall, Kaela says volunteering with Hands4Hope has taught her a lot. But most importantly, she says, "it has taught me to look out for other people."

Thank you so much for volunteering with us Kaela, we are so lucky to have you!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Volunteer Spotlight: Christine Klekman

Christine Klekman started volunteering with her family and Hands4Hope shortly after the organization began. As a friend of the founder, she heard the information and jumped on board right away!

"Growing up, I watched my Dad serve his community in many different volunteer capacities, and I followed in his footsteps, and also made up my mind that my children would do the same," she said. "I have always told them that we are here on earth to help people and animals whenever we can!"

Christine believes Hands4Hope has had an "illuminating" impact on her family. "The effect on my kids has been eye-opening," she said. "I believe they now no longer feel they live in an entitled world and have realized that some people live differently than they do...and that's ok!"

Christine said her best advice to parents thinking about getting involved with the organization is to participate with them. "It's great because we get to do projects together as a family," she said. "Also, if your children see you doing something good to help someone else, they are more likely to follow in your footsteps!"

Christine said she has many great memories from Hands4Hope over the years. Her favorite has been watching her daughter become "empowered over youth leadership".

"I believe in this organization because it empowers youth to make things better in the community around them," she said. "Hands4Hope teaches them to become leaders, and to recognize that they are the future, and they can contribute to their community."

"I am grateful and proud that Hands4Hope is a part of our lives," she said.

Christine has also been a go-to volunteer for our founder, Jennifer Basset, through the years. We are so grateful for you, Christine! Thank you!

Food Bank Blitz

Fill It Up . . . FOOD BANK BLITZ!

Benefiting our local food banks!

WHEN: Saturday, September 10, 2011 10 a.m. – 6 p.m

WHERE: In front of participating grocery stores, from Orangevale to Placerville (Safeway, Nugget Market, Raley’s, Bel Air, and Wal Mart)

WHO: Youth and adult volunteers from Hands4Hope and the community will be manning tables at each store to collect donations of food, cash and gift cards. Shoppers will be given a wish list they can use to purchase and donate needed items.

WHY: In this economic downturn, the amount of people and families turning to local food banks is steadily increasing and donations are down.

VOLUNTEER: Sign ups for the Blitz will begin shortly… stay tuned for details on signing up!!

In 2010, Hands4Hope organized two mass food drives (Blitzes) benefiting the Food Bank of El Dorado County and the Twin Lakes Food Bank. With the help of approximatele130 volunteers at ten stores each time, Hands4Hope volunteers collected a total of 9,700 pounds of food and $14,500 in cash/gift card donations.

Our September 10, 2011 our GOAL is: 200 volunteers, 5,000 pounds of food and $8,000 in cash/gift cards.

All food collected will go to local food banks. Cash and gift cards will be divided 50/50 between the food banks and Hands4Hope.

Make a difference for the hungry in our community!

For more information, please email us at volunteercoordinator@hands4hopeyouth.org

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Packing boxes to send to our soldiers

Today, we gathered together with members of the Honor our Troops Team and packaged all of the items and letters we collected for our troops over the last few weeks. Thank you to our amazing community for being so generous.

In total, we collected more than 2,500 items, and hundreds of cards and decorated stars for the packages. We also gave a check for more than $350 to the team to pay for shipping the boxes and items for future drives.