Category Archives: Low Income

Training children to serve and to give to those in need

I am reposting an article from Proverbs 31 a women’s blog that my dear friend Rebecca sent me.

When I was a single mom, there were many times I thought how dire my situation was, paying child support, struggling although I made pretty good money to provide for my boys but when we (the boys and I) would see someone in need, would give to them, no questions asked.

Taylor Hartman picking up food for YAS

It sometimes irritated them, they were pretty young at the time however, they continued to watch me give to those who had less than us and began to do it themselves. This carried over to their teen years and young adult life, as each of them starting with our oldest, Taylor served and still serves in the YAS outreach at our food pantry in Orange along with his wife, Halannah all the way down to Caleb, our youngest.

Ashley, her husband Jack serve everytime they come to California, Skylar, Krystin, Cody, Alexis and Calebserve regularly too. Cody, Caleb and Alexis have been an integral part of this outreach as they have given a lot of their teen years to serving and helping to build this outreach along with many other young people.

Caleb, Travis and Christian helping build out part of the YAS room

One thing about our church and this community program, many of our families have children and youth who work side by side with each other, with all ages, all walks of life and all ethnicities to give to those in need here in Orange.

Sky talking to a woman about YAS

We taught our children to serve and love it because there might be a time when they have a need but most of all, it is what Jesus says to do. He tells us in John 6 that he fed the 5,000 and He knew what was in their hearts and Mathew 14:14 says, “He was moved with compassion.” In James 2:15-16 we are told If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

Madison and Susan Saldivar serving the community with Susan Durocher

This is a good post and very transparent. As parents, we model for our children, what they should do and live and prayerfully, they will follow suit. ~Michelle

Teaching Our Children Empathy

 by Laura Hodges Poole
 Recently, my son Josh and I were surfing the Internet for a particular charity to which he wanted to donate. With the click of the mouse we made a contribution, and he was off to his next activity. Something troubled me about this, and then it occurred to me what it was: It had been too easy to click and run.

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

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

Shoe giveaway at Toms for those in need…

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!

Neighbors who give to food pantries

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

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

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.

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

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!

 

 

Are other countries not battling the food insecurit and economic crisis we are?

Food for Life distributes food on an internati...

Image via Wikipedia

Gallup pole for Chinese struggling less than Americans

This was quite interesting because we have the ability to help those in need but a lot of people don’t know how to do that.

We as a community of people in the city of Orange realize we have an obligation to help those in need in our local neighborhood also abroad but there is now a tremendous need right where many of us live. We don’t question the why there is the need but to fill it.

That is why You Are Special exists. To provide a local food pantry/food bank to those in our community.

We are focusing on the problem of giving food out to families, working poor, elderly and now youth. Some come from the local colleges to get food because they don’t make enough money to purchase their food. When people eat then our goal is met.

Thank you to Warne Family Foundation and Kingdom of Love from the You Are Special food pantry/food bank

Hello Sara and Greg,

We just want to say thanks for the generosity you have shown with giving YAS the ability to purchase this walk in cooler for our food bank/food pantry in Orange, Ca. Every week we are getting more requests for food and before we had our cooler, it was difficult to collect as much food as we could and put it different places ever week. You have no idea how grateful we really are.

Elderly, newly unemployed put more strain of food banks – AltoonaMirror.com – Altoona, PA | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information – The Altoona Mirror

North And Orange County, California

Image via Wikipedia

Elderly, newly unemployed put more strain of food banks – AltoonaMirror.com – Altoona, PA | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information – The Altoona Mirror.

We are finding at our food bank in Orange County, that many elderly are coming more now than ever. They are on a fixed income and this is a huge blessing that we can help them in some way.

Second Harvest says, “For seniors, fixed incomes and limited mobility may lead to chronically poor nutrition. And poor diet can compound many health problems, including diabetes and hypertension.  According to the Elder Economic Security Index, which figures in housing, food, transportation and health care, more than 15% of Orange County seniors don’t have enough money for adequate food.  Even with incomes above the Federal poverty level ($10,400 for a single person, $14,000 for a couple), seniors coping with high housing costs and rising medical costs simply can’t afford nutritious food. Seniors at FeedOC

Local food bank seeks out of state help | medford, ore, bank – Medford News – KTVL.com

Thanksgiving in Wasilla 2008 - 014

Image by lizstless via Flickr

Local food bank seeks out of state help | medford, ore, bank – Medford News – KTVL.com.

MEDFORD, Ore. – ACESS is partnering with California food banks to bring much needed food to Jackson County.

ACCESS distributes to pantries all over the area and employees say they are barely hanging on. Program manager Philip Yates says a record number of families are asking for food this year and the organization is struggling to keep up.

Meanwhile, local pantries are barely getting by. The Salvation Army almost closed its doors for the first time last week because it was out of supplies. Luckily, ACCESS was able to scrounge up emergency food to keep it open.

“We need to look for other resources, but we don’t know if they are going to pan out or not,” Yates said.