June’s C.A.R.E. Project at Ocean Park Community Center

This years Beverly Hills/Greater L.A. Association of Realtors president Robin Greenberg launched the C.A.R.E project. C.A.R.E. stands for “compassion-acceptance-respect-empowerment”, The goal is to focus on the needs and efforts of a different charity each month. And the idea is that by providing compassion, acceptance and respect we can empower the less fortunate to overcome the obstacles they may face. June’s charity was the OPCC, also know as the “Ocean Park Community Center” in Santa Monica, CA. (http://bhglaar.com/pdf/OPCC.pdf)

Our newest Marketing Rep, Carrie, joined me and we went to lend our hands as volunteers for the morning of June 24th. Some folks prepped lunches, some gave out clothing from the donation closet, and some checked in lunch recipients.

We arrived around 9am and Carrie was put to work making sack lunches, while I was charged with the job of checking in lunch recipients and giving them a lunch ticket. I asked the folks in line a series of questions; Full name, date of birth, gender, ethnicity, how long they had been homeless in Santa Monica, where they were originally from, and whether they were on disability and/or were a veteran. This was an interesteing exercise. I’ve done quite a bit of volunteer work with the homeless in Los Angeles but rarely found out so much personal information about so many of them in such a short time. There were all ages, ethnicities, and types of folks. Many on disability, many with mental illnesses, and although many of them had not been homeless for very long, there were some who had been homeless for dozens of years. As a humanitarian, it was of interest to learn a little about the people we were serving to, rather than just slap food on their plates.

Once the line slowed to a crawl I went into a kitchen in another area of the community center. This was where the residents of the center ate. We prepared lunch for the residents. Another volunteer (Angel Moser) and I cut up apples, oranges, bananas, and plums and mixed them with canned pineapples for a fruit salad. Then a group of us made tuna sandwiches. Everything was fresh and looked quite tasty. We served the lunch to the residents at noon with a big scoop of ice-cream for each as well.

The best part about this particular volunteer experience was the gratitude that the residents showed us when we were done. A woman who lived there exlaimed how grateful they were for us volunteers and said thank you, followed by a chorus of thank you’s and a large round of applause. It caught me off guard as it’s very unusual to recieve that sort of acknowledgement. It was truly one of the most wonderful volunteer experiences I’ve had.

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C.A.R.E. Project at Midnight Mission in Downtown L.A.

Howdy, April Kass here… As you may know I try to take on at least one charitable project per month. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors (BHGLAAR) had a similar idea for 2011. They call it the C.A.R.E project. C.A.R.E. stands for “compassion-acceptance-respect-empowerment”.

BHGLAAR’s 2011 President, Robin Greenberg launched the C.A.R.E Project as a way for the REALTOR® community to help make a difference one month at a time. The goal is to focus on the needs and efforts of a different deserving charity each month. And the idea is that by providing compassion, acceptance and respect we can empower the less fortunate to overcome the obstacles they may face.

When I found out about the project, I of course was immediately compelled to get involved and LaRocca Inspections agreed to sponsor the project at Midnight Mission. The sponsorship entailed making a monetary donation of $100 to the charity, assisting with promoting the project and collecting donations, and volunteering at the location. The charity that we sponsored is called the Midnight Mission.

Jason and I pose with Larry L. Adamson from Midnight Mission and Robin Greenberg to present our donation

The Midnight Mission is one of the oldest continuously operating human services organizations in the Los Angeles region. Centered in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles, the Mission runs one of the most efficient direct service operations in the country. The purpose of the Midnight Mission is “To offer a bridge to self-sufficiency for homeless people through counseling, education, training, and job placement”.

Jason and I went along with the other volunteers from the C.A.R.E. project on Thursday, March 10, 2011 to drop off some donations, tour the facility, and serve lunch in their mess hall to over 200 less fortunate individuals.

Our tour was delivered by a man in the program, an extremely sweet and well-spoken older gentleman named Michael. He talked about the ever-changing demographic (which used to be primarily middle-aged Caucasian men and has evolved, along with the introduction of meth and crack-cocaine, into about 70% African-American, 20% Latino, 9.5 percent Caucasian, and .5 percent Asian-American), the history of the mission, and the amazing year-long rehabilitation program they offer to residents.

Taken during our tour in the amazing gymnasioun where they had even held some games with Mission residents against LAPD!

After our tour we got to work in the kitchen preparing food for the lunch service. We donned plastic aprons, gloves, and hair nets and made sandwiches, corn, hot dogs, and other food to give out to the men, women, and children that had lined up for a hot meal. After I helped on the sandwich assembly line I was able to go into the mess hall to help clean and clear tables and interact personally with a number of the individuals that were eating lunch and the residents who were working there. It was gratifying, and eye-opening. The people were wholly extremely grateful, polite, and friendly. The men working there were a breath of fresh air, extremely productive, and efficient, and very capable individuals.

Our C.A.R.E. kitchen crew decked out in our finest!

I would recommend the experience to anyone and everyone if you have never had the opportunity to volunteer in this manner. I will be going back again (possibly at the end of March with the CARE crew again, definitely in April, and I plan to make it a regular volunteer activity.)

If you would like to get involved you can do so by visiting www.midnightmission.org, dropping off any of the following items at BHGLAAR offices in the month of March (New and Lightly Used Bath & Kitchen Towels, Aprons, Twin Size Sheet sets, Copy Paper, Office Supplies, Disposable Razors, Trash Bags (40 gallons), Can Openers, Men’s Socks & Underwear, Shaving Cream and Deodorant), or making a monetary donation to: Midnight Mission and mailing it to: BHGLAAR Attn: C.A.R.E, 8501 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 340, Beverly Hills, CA 90211