Category Archives: generosity

Dura Doggie, food pantries and volunteers at You Are Special food pantry in Orange!

Posted on February 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

Every Tuesday a dedicated group of people unbeknownst to many come and sort the food that You Are Special gives out every single Wednesday to the low income, working poor, homeless and just plain struggling in Orange and the surrounding cities of Santa Ana, El Modena, Anaheim, Tustin and Villa Park. They sort the food that many grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s, Albertson’s, Pacific Ranch Market, Ralph’s, Chipotle and even Starbucks donates and gives to us, a little ole food pantry in this wonderful city of Orange.  A city that many think is just a bubble in Orange County. We are surrounded by wealth but beneath the surface are those that struggle especially during this time and season of economic hardship.

Well, this week we had a wonderful new fresh company start up, come and volunteer to help sort the food out for tomorrow, Dura Doggie . Elaine contacted me and asked how they could help us, so we told them. Their company spent several hours listening to our stories, sorting fruits and vegetables, bread, unloading heavy boxes and became part of the organization for a day. 

Thank you Dura Doggie for being so generous in supporting YAS with your time and hard work!

Michelle

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Posted in California, children, City of Orange, economy, elderly, Food Banks, food costs, food pantry, generosity, homeless, Interesting news, loss of job, Low Income, Orange County, poverty, seniors, Working Poor

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Shoe giveaway at Toms for those in need…

Posted on January 21, 2012 | Leave a comment
TOMS Shoes

Image via Wikipedia

My son Skylar purchased a pair of Toms Shoes for my third grandchild, Jaxon. I am not a fan of these shoes because I don’t like to be cold and they look like slippers to me. However, they are quite popular right now and the little shoes, Jaxon is only one, are pretty cute. I am a mom and a grandma so pretty is an accurate description but right on the box as I was opening them up was this statement, “With every pair you purchase, Toms will give a paid of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.” I was totally impressed. Thank you Toms for thinking of those in need. There are many in the US who have a need too. Bless you!

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Posted in California, children, economy, Food Banks, food pantry, generosity, Interesting news, Low Income, Orange County, Working Poor

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Neighbors who give to food pantries

Posted on January 18, 2012 | Leave a comment
Piggy bank china

Image via Wikipedia

After feeding those in need today which was about 261 families, a little more than we ususually give out too, a man stopped by and popped in the door of You Are Special and approached my son, Caleb. He asked, “Is this the food pantry?” to which Caleb responded, “yes but we are all out of food.” Jason responded with , “no, no, I am not here to get food but to drop off some money.” Very surprised Caleb responded with, “Wow, well go right over there and you’ll find the person you need to talk to.” So Jason came over and met my husband Eric who then brought me out. Jason preceded to tell us that he and his family have some piggy bank jars lined up in their house and they put money in there for different purposes and one of those purposes was to give to YAS, a local food pantry. Needless to say that was extremely generous and kind to think of us. The amount does not matter but the heart of giving does.

Right now the economy is challenging and many people are hurting and have a basic need to feed their families. We serve whoever has a need no questions asked the unemployed, the homeless, the working poor, children, the destitute, the single parents, the youth out of college that do not have jobs right now, and the elderly which make up almost half of who we give too. It breaks my heart. One lady told me that she is feeding her family of 30 this weekend for Chinese New Year. I would have liked to help her more but we just don’t have the finance capability to do that.

We so appreciate those who stop by like Jason and his wife Jennifer and for that we are thankful for their generosity and their heart.

Michelle

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Posted in CA, California, children, economy, elderly, Food Banks, food pantry, generosity, homeless, Interesting news, layoffs, Low Income, Orange County, poverty, seniors, Working Poor

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Bottom Line – Lingering joblessness taxes nation’s food banks

Posted on December 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

Bottom Line – Lingering joblessness taxes nation’s food banks.

There are many questions surrounding whether or not people in the area where we live, Orange, Tustin, Villa Park, Santa Ana and El Modena really have a need for food and a food pantry whether elderly in need of food, working poor, single parents or unemployed.

Some statistics are: Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2009: 8.5%
(8.7% for White Non-Hispanic residents, 9.3% for Hispanic or Latino residents)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Orange-California.html#ixzz1fIlFFKb7

This is below poverty not even at poverty. 15 years old is the highest poverty level in Orange, why is that? How about Tustin? Those that are struggling to eat are all over the US and California is second in unemployment.

We do need help as a food pantry/food bank for those in our area and thank you to those who so generously give to us such as First Team Reality who gave generously to You Are Special this Thanksgiving.

Eric with Richard from First Team Real Estate's Food Drive

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Posted in California, children, economy, elderly, Food Banks, food pantry, generosity, Interesting news, Orange County, poverty, seniors, Working Poor

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Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway tonight @You Are Special Community Outreach food pantry!

Posted on November 23, 2011 | 1 Comment

Hello all, we are excited for tonight’s Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway.

And come tell us what you are thankful for!

What are you thankful for?

Come join us as we give out 750 meals to those in need this holiday tonight starting at 6pm.

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Posted in California, children, economy, elderly, Food Banks, food pantry, generosity, Interesting news, loss of job, Low Income, Orange County, poverty, seniors, Working Poor

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Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway and Food Drive in Orange CA You Are Special food bank/food pantry

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 2 Comments

It is that time of year again. We at You Are Special love this time of the year. We all get geared up for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner food giveaway at our local food pantry. Some call us a food bank but we are a food pantry. There are many organizations helping this year such as Stater Bros, Albertsons, Ralphs and Pacific Ranch in Orange, Tustin, Villa Park and SantaAna.

Hands

We laugh together, we cry together with those who are struggling this year such as the new 18 year old who is now standing in line every week for food for her family. She attends the local college, Rancho Santiago up the street from us but her family is working hard but do not have enough money to buy food for their family.

In line to sign up for the dinners

We also received a phone all from the local community college to see if we accepted college students to receive a Thanksgiving Dinner. Of course we said yes.

Our desire is to give local and feed local. Our food and finances go to those in our local area and the surrounding areas who have a need for food. We want to be what we are called to be and that is a charity giving to those less fortunate that us with love.

See you at the stores!

Faces

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Posted in California, economy, elderly, Food Banks, generosity, Interesting news, Orange County, poverty, seniors, Working Poor

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You are Special thanks Mr. Jones for contributing to a local food bank campaign

Posted on November 4, 2011 | 1 Comment

Thank you Mr. Jones – YouTube.

Mr. Jones is one of the many wonderful generous people who donate to our YAS community outreach food bank in Orange, California. We are starting a new campaign for raising funds to feed those in need here in our community and he is helping kick it off.

Here are many of the people you are helping to feed!

 

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Posted in California, Food Banks, generosity, Interesting news, Orange County, Uncategorized, Working Poor

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Thanksgiving Dinner preparation at a local community food bank, You Are Special

Posted on November 3, 2011 | 2 Comments

This is one of the most fun times of the year for us as a group of volunteers at a food bank preparing to give away Thanksgiving food for the holidays.

The huge line we have weekly!

As many as 77% of those in Orange County who are low income or below poverty do not qualify for food stamps and that is fine with us because we are here to help those in need. YAS is a local food bank in Orange County serving the elderly, the working poor, those who have lost their jobs, those who have been affected by the economy, Tustin, Santa Ana, El Modena, Villa Park, and Orange.

Our desire is to support the end of the month paycheck with a basic need of food. Thanks to the many donations from Pacific Ranch, Albertsons, Ralphs, the  Restaurant Depot and Trader Joes, people who might otherwise not have food for their family can come to You Are Special on Wednesday’s to get some fresh fruits and vegtables, meat and dairy to help sustain thier paychecks or those not working.

Preparing to give away our Wednesday food Nov 3, 2011

Thank you for the volunteers who work so diligently!

Our faithful Van!

 

 

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Posted in California, children, economy, elderly, Food Banks, generosity, homeless, Interesting news, Low Income, Orange County, poverty, seniors, Working Poor

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You Are Special Fundraiser/Food Bank in Orange CA

Posted on October 27, 2011 | 1 Comment
ceramic piggy bank

Image via Wikipedia

Many of you are familiar with YAS and even serve in some capacity as a volunteer. The economic downturn has left many public agencies unable to meet the demands of those facing hunger in our local community.  As many as 456,000 people go hungry every month in Orange County alone.  Sadly, food banks are no longer able to support the need as before, and donations are harder to come by.  In spite of this, we thankfully continue to meet the needs of hundreds of people per month.

Currently, we receive food donations from businesses like Ralphs, Pacific Ranch and Albertsons to name a few.  Additionally, Your Are Special is able to purchase a substantial amount of food at a discounted price.  Still, with the growing number of people that come to us, we need to increase the amount of food we currently distribute. By paying just a few more hundred dollars a month increasing our budget slightly, we would be able to increase our food supply substantially.  However, as a non-profit organization, our budget is dependent on donations and fundraisers.  To that end, we are beginning a campaign entitled “Change for Change” which we hope will bring more awareness to the problem of hunger in our local community and, at the same time, help us raise funds to purchase more food to distribute.

Essentially, the “Change for Change” program will encompass selling empty cans made to look like cans of tomato soup.  The cans (which are actually “piggy banks”) would allow people to collect their pocket change and then, in turn, donate the change to You Are Special.

To begin, we must purchase the “piggy bank” cans.  To do this, we are sponsoring a fundraiser at the Souplantation restaurant in Tustin.  Souplantation will donate to You Are Special, a percentage of every person’s purchase.[1]  To participate, we invite you to print a copy of the attached flyer (1 per party), and bring your family, friends, employees and co-workers to dine at the Souplantation to help us raise funds for the programs described above.

Location:   13681 Newport Ave., Tustin, CA (corner of Newport Blvd. & Main)

Date:         Thursday, October 27, 2011

Time:         5pm to 8pm

Or donate here

We thank you in advance for your participation.  If you have any questions, or would like more information about You Are Special, I would be more than happy to speak with you personally.

Michelle Hensley

Executive Director

714-863-6058

FunRaiserFlyer

[1]  In order for You Are Special to receive credit, all guests at time of purchase must (a) order a beverage at time of purchase, (b) pay without using coupons or discounts, (c) present the attached flyer (1 per party), and (d) surrender their receipt in order for the percentage credit to be calculated.

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Life Inc. – Good Graph Friday: Who’s going hungry

Posted on October 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

Life Inc. – Good Graph Friday: Who’s going hungry.

As a food bank in Orange County, we are seeing another growth spurt in the need for food. Many come from all walks of life. Many elderly, youth that are homeless and families are in need of food. We appreciate all those who contribute to our program because it helps tremendously.

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