2nd Annual Christmas Stockings

Overview: Our men and women serving our country outside our borders, in foreign lands, many putting their lives on the line every day, desire the same things you do during the holidays. We can’t bring them all home, but we can send a piece of Christmas to them and lovingly remind them that America has not forgotten them.

Objective: Kristi’s Hope partnered with the community to collect Christmas stockings and stocking stuffers to fill and ship off to deployed troops. We also had several classrooms and girl-scout troops volunteer their time to create pictures/letters/cards to include in the stockings.

Result: For about 3 weeks donations were dropped off and volunteers started RSVP’ing to help fill the stockings. On Saturday November 21st local volunteers met at the park to fill 382 stockings with donated items such as hygiene products, fun snacks, healthy snacks, entertainment items like puzzles, books, games etc. and several letters/cards drawings thanking the soldiers for their service/sacrifice.

On Monday November 23rd the stockings were boxed up and ready to ship, but we ran into a hick up. The gal who we were working with at Operation Give passed away and no one was ready to fill in her spot and get the packages shipped out. We frantically reached out to the community for help and a volunteer named Cheryl from The American Legion in Newport Beach stepped up and agreed to take the stockings. We were able to get some shipped off to deployed troops, some were given to local Marines who are stationed far away from family this holiday season and some where given to Wounded Warrior Barracks.

Here is one of the thank you letters we received:
“... As a former Marine, I have contacts at Camp Pendleton. The rest was heart warming. We delivered the boxes to the 5th Marines yesterday. Some are also going to the Wounded Warrior Barracks at Camp Pendleton. We were surprised at the number of stockings as well as the quality of the contents. The Marines were very happy as this kind gesture will let many of our young warriors know that people are thinking of them at this very special time of year. I salute you and others involved. It is obvious a great deal of effort went into it. “



Here are some additional photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.914104112005109.1073741841.629137777168412&type=1&hc_location=ufi

Hope for the Homeless

OVERVIEW: “Everybody who is homeless is not mentally ill, or alcoholics or drug addicts,” Councilman Joe Carchio said. “They live behind grocery stores, they live in their cars, they stay at friends' houses on couches. There are women with children that are living in motels.”

Although we are enjoying the nice hot summer, colder nights are approaching (El Nino) and we are going to start collecting items so we can make a difference in someone’s life! In many lives!

OBJECTIVE: Kristi’s Hope teamed up with Howdy's Homeless Helpers to provide necessities to the local homeless men, women & children in Huntington Beach, CA by reaching out and asking for donations with the goal of filling zip lock bags with necessities to be handed out to the local homeless population in and around Huntington Beach.

RESULT: We collected donations such as granola bars, bottled water, hand sanitzer, tooth brushes and toothpaste, deodorant, crackers, trail mix, ponchos and tarps etc.

Saturday October 3rd, 2015 we gathered with volunteers to create the blessing bags by filling the zip lock baggies with the donated items. 200 Blessing bags and 30 tarps were then delivered to Howdy’s Homeless Helpers to be passed out around the community.

Backpacks with a Purpose

OVERVIEW: As a mom, I know how important it is to me to make sure my kids have everything that they need (not want, NEED) and I can not imagine how hard it must be for single, homeless moms struggling to survive and provide for their kids. The families supported by Colette's Children's Home are real live people, struggling from abuse, economical crises etc. and they are trying to get their feet back on the ground. 

Orange County Community Report (2006) stated that Orange County had the second highest rate of homelessness per capita in the entire United States next to Detroit, MI. As Orange County begins to emerge from the lingering recession, the 2012 report still states that per capita income is down, cost of living is high, and over all business climate measures are weak.

Single mothers are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Many of these homeless single mothers lack the education and skills necessary to become self sufficient. The significance of this problem is that a continuous cycle of homelessness may continue through generations if it is not ended through education and skills to maintain self sufficiency in the community. Colette’s Children’s Home works with homeless women and children to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent housing. Kristi's Hope really like's that they also provide the life skills needed to secure gainful employment, healthy eating, parenting skills, relapse prevention and conflict resolution.

OBJECTIVE:  We designated a couple of weeks towards collecting as many back pack and school supply donations as possible with the goal of preparing the children living at this shelter to go back to school, ready to learn!


RESULT: We had several generous people drop off back packs and school supplies. We were also blessed with the support of Mama’s Place and Thirty One with Samira. Mama’s Place in Huntington Beach offered their store as a drop off location for donations and even offered the chance to win a gift certificate to the store for every donation that was dropped off! Congrats to the lucky winner!! Samira with Thirty One generously offered her commission to fill each insulated lunch box that was purchased/donated with school supplies.  

                           

On Thursday August 13^th, we delivered 40 backpacks filled with pencils, pens, crayons, glue sticks, paper, folders, erasers, calculators, rulers etc… and 15 lunch boxes to Colette’s Children’s Home.

Sweet Cases for Foster Care

OVERVIEW: In 2013 58,699 children entered foster care in California. More specifically 2,388 children entered foster care in Orange County. When children enter foster care, they usually get trash bags to move their few belongings in. Join us to help STOP this in our local community.

The foster care system can be a confusing and sometimes disheartening place, but through our efforts we strive to give foster children a brighter future, a sense of normalcy and belonging. 

OBJECTIVE: Kristi's Hope teamed up with Together We Rise  and created a fundraising page with hopes of raising money to put towards "Sweet Cases" which would then be handed out to children entering foster care. They will use these bags to take their belongings in rather than trash bags. 

RESULT: We raised money for SWEET CASES and collected over $500 in donations! Each sweet case costs $20.00 and includes a Duffel Bag, Hygiene Kit, Blanket, Coloring Books and Crayons. We also received donations of night lights and sidewalk chalk to include in each bag. We the gathered volunteers together and decorated each bag with fun pictures the children will love. 

The following week all the Sweet Cases will be delivered to a local foster care agency so they can be distributed to the children entering foster care. 

Military Care Packages in Honor of National Military Appreciation Month

Overview:  To call life difficult on base in Afghanistan or Iraq means little as we sit in Orange County wondering if we’ll make dinner tonight or get takeout. The landscape is nothing but dirt and rocks. Temperatures will soon be soaring above 120۫. And then there’s the war, a war in which suicide bombers or hidden explosives kill without warning. Many of us push aside the hardships our troops face – or forget about them entirely. Not Kristi’s Hope! Relying on only donations and the kindness of strangers and supporters we work hard to remind you about their sacrifices. We work hard to show our appreciation.

Objective: Congress designated May as National Military Appreciation Month in 1999 to ensure the nation was given the opportunity to publicly demonstrate their appreciation for the sacrifices and successes made by our service members - past and present. Kristi's Hope has teamed up with Operation Troop Support and invited volunteers to join us in putting together care packages for our deployed troops! 

Result: For a few weeks donations were dropped off and volunteers started RSVP’ing to help fill the care packages. On May 2^nd volunteers met at the park to fill 105 packages with donated items such as hygiene products, fun snacks,healthy snacks, entertainment items like puzzles, books, magazines etc.children created letters/cards drawings thanking the soldiers for their service/sacrifice and at least one was included in each package.

NOTE: A special thank you to Critical Cords for their generous donation of 100 bracelets for the troops. One was included in each bag. Also, a special thank you to Marlene Blaue who donated a bunch of items from her Marine Care package project in which she has shipped off well over 2,500 care packages.

On Wednesday May 6th the packages were boxed up and shipped out to Operation Give based out of Salt Lake City, UT. They will take the packages and send them to individual troops who are deployed across the world. 

Family Beach Clean Up Day

Overview: Beach cleanups are a fun and easy way to volunteer your time by helping to keep our beaches and ocean clean!

Marine debris is more than an unsightly inconvenience for beach-bound vacationers or pleasure boaters; it’s one of the world’s most pervasive marine population problems. Through the simple process of moving from ship to sea, sewer to surf,or hand to sand, any manufactured material becomes marine debris. Cigarette butts, fishing line, diapers, tampon applicators, six-pack rings, bottles and cans, syringes, tires-the litany of litter is as varies as the products available in the global market place, but it all shares a common origin. At a critical decision point, someone, somewhere, mishandled it– either thoughtlessly or deliberately.Many people mistakenly believe that oceangoing vessels are the major source of marine debris. On the contrary, 60 to 80% of the trash that pollutes the world’s waters originates on land. Literally tons of it foul our beaches, main and kill marine animals and threaten water quality.

Objective: In honor of Earth Day, Kristi’s Hope sent out an open invite and encouraged families to spend the day outside, together while cleaning up our local beaches. Bags, hand sanitizer and a gorgeous view were provided.

Result: Several families showed up with gloves and buckets/bags ready to make a difference, ready to clean up our beaches and make it a safe place for families and wild life to enjoy.

* The ocean is the largest life-sustaining resource on our planet.

* Plastic marine debris affects at least 267 species world wise, including 86% of all seal turtle species, 44% of all sea bird species and 43% of marine mammal species.

* Plastic marine debris takes hundreds of years to break down and may never fully biodegrade.

* Birds,fish, and mammals often mistake plastic and other debris for food, which can lead to fatal consequences.

* Many animals have difficulty digesting plastic, so the plastic remains in the animals stomach, which makes the animal feel full and can lead to the animal starving to death.

* Each man,woman and child in the U.S. produces 3-7lbs of trash each day.

* During a recent summer,  Orange County collected enough garbage from 6 miles of beach to fill 10 garbage trucks full of trash every week.

* For every item we recycle or reuse, that’s one less piece of trash that can become a part of the marine debris cycle threatening people and wildlife.

* Bolsa Chica & Huntington State Beach employ a garbage company that hand sorts all of our trash for recyclables, so that you do not have to worry about sorting the recyclables that you pick up.

Share the Love Pajama Drive

Overview:  Share the Love – Pajama Drive

Many children living in shelters, or even the profoundly poor living at home, have never owned a pair of pajamas, sleeping instead in underwear or their everyday clothes. The bedtime rituals many of us use to help our own children feel special and secure – like cozy clean pj’s and reading bedtime stories – are unknown to many impoverished children right here in our own community! 

Kristi’s Hope partnered with Family to Family and worked together on connecting with a local shelter for families in need.

Objective:  The pajama drive challenge was intended to bring awareness to the overwhelming need for  caring and compassionate people in our community. The families who will receive these donations are working hard to turn their lives around, get jobs, find a home, and most importantly to keep their family together. Something as simple as pajamas can put a smile on the children’s faces and bring hope to those parents who are struggling.

Result:  Kristi’s Hope hosted a pajama drive at Central Park in Huntington Beach and a wonderful supporter hosted one at Melinda Park in Mission Viejo. Volunteers showed up with pajama donations, books and time! The children created Valentine’s Day cards and the parents helped match a book and card with a pair of pajamas. Then they wrapped each set with beautiful ribbon.

We were so overwhelmed with the turn out! The amazing volunteers and so many of you who so generously donated contributed a total of 175 pajama sets. The pajamas were donated to two local shelters, Colette's Childrens Home in Huntington Beach and Thomas Family Shelter in Garden Grove. Both of these non-profit organizations work hard to help these families and guide them to a brighter future of self-sufficiency and success.

Thank you for your participation!

Check out our photo album for addtional pictures of this amazing event. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.779613295454192.1073741836.629137777168412&type=1

A Christmas Surprise

December 2014:
While most Americans were planning family gatherings, piling gifts under the decorated Christmas tree and preparing for big family feasts, a growing number of financially strained military families are lining up for turkeys and free groceries this holiday season, depending on charities to help put food on the table. We joined forces with a company in Huntington Beach who worked directly with Operation Ward 57. This organization matches people/companies with military families including active duty personnel, career or medically retired military or those honorably discharged from service who have been injured, wounded or acquired a disease during service.

We were matched with the Roberts Family. 

Throughout Mathew’s 12 years of service in the US Army, he has experienced many tragedies to others as well as his own. Matthew has served 3 deployments and is currently receiving disability for PTSD, hearing loss, back injuries and tetanus. The Roberts family has sacrificed so much for our country and in a small effort to show our gratitude we set out to provide them with a Very Merry Christmas!

People donated gifts from the families wish list. They were wrapped up and ready to ship. However, their biggest dream is to take a family vacation to Disneyland. Wanting to go that extra mile for this very deserving military family, we reached out to Kristi's Hope followers for donations. We were able to provide  Dinseyland tickets for the entire family, Disneyland gift certificates for a full day of fun inside the park, a 3 night hotel stay and gas cards as well as a cash donation for travel expenses.

It warmed our hearts to receive this special thank you from the Roberts family. 

“We have been so blessed to have such caring individuals such as yourself. I don’t think words could ever express how emotionally grateful we are. What an amazing Christmas your company has provided for our family. Not only did you go out of your way to provide gifts for our children but went above and beyond to provide us with a FAMILY VACATION. The children woke up to the best Christmas ever. The stockings were hung and the gifts placed under the tree; except, we placed the family gift in the middle of the tree for last. Once the children woke up they ran to the living room to see what was left for them. They sat around the tree with the biggest smiles and yelled “mommy, daddy, come see our presents. My heart dropped the moment I saw their little faces so bright and cheerful. We gave our children hugs and told them Merry Christmas. Then we explained these gifts are from our Adopt-a-Family and they are the reason we were able to give them a proper Christmas. Our son yelled out thank you Adopt-a-Family, followed by a soft thank you from our daughter. One by one they began to open their gifts, and as each one was unwrapped they yelled out OH MY GOSH, LOOK, YEAH, THANK YOU, ITS THE BEST GIFT EVER. Then came time for our family gift, I immediately broke down in tears, my husband and children didn’t know what was going on at all. I tried to hold it together as I read them the cover of our package. The children were confused at first, so I reread the cover and showed them the picture. The screams of excitement from the kids and the “WHAT, ARE YOU SERIOUS” from my husband, made this mommy-to-be even more emotional. The kids then asked if we were going today. We told them “no”, “but soon.” We gave them another hug and let them begin playing with their new toys. It was not until later in the evening that we had a chance to really look through our family package. Oh My Goodness, the picture you made of us at Disneyland is so amazing, I of course burst into tears again. How could this be possible for a military family like ours, to be so well taken care of like this. This has been such an amazing day provided by your generous company. You all have made our Christmas a very blessed, emotional and joyous day lasting well into the night. How could we have been so lucky.

You all have given our children what we could not, and for that, we thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts. We cannot thank you all enough, you all are our angels sent from above.”

Operation Christmas Stocking

November 2014:

Overview: Our men and women serving our country outside our borders, in foreign lands, many putting their lives on the line every day, desire the same things you do during the holidays. We can’t bring them all home, but we can send a piece of Christmas to them and lovingly remind them that America has not forgotten them.

Objective: Kristi’s Hope partnered with the community to collect Christmas stockings and stocking stuffers to fill and ship off to deployed troops. We also had several classrooms and girl-scout troops volunteer their time to create pictures/letters/cards to include in the stockings.

Result: For about 3 weeks donations were dropped off and volunteers started RSVP’ing to help fill the stockings. On Sunday November 23rd local volunteers met at the park to fill 160stockings with donated items such as hygiene products, fun snacks, healthy snacks, entertainment items like puzzles, books, hacky sacks etc. and several letters/cards drawings thanking the soldiers for their service/sacrifice.

On Monday November 24th the stockings were boxed up and shipped out to Operation Give based out of Salt Lake City, UT. They will take the stockings and send them to individual troops across the world.

For more, please visit our FB page

Help for Animals

November 2014:

Today in America thousands of animals are homeless and completely lack the hope of joining a warm and loving family. As dog and cat overpopulation continues, euthanization of homeless pets occurs. Animal shelters, rescue agencies, and pet adoption organizations are putting forth valiant efforts to save the lives of these unfortunate animals and provide loving, caring homes for these hopeless animals.

Though these agencies work tirelessly, they are in dire need of helping hands. These organizations are almost always non-profit; that means they rely on donations. That is where we come in!!

With the colder weather approaching, the dogs and cats are stuck in the cold kennels with concrete flooring.

Objective: The Help for Animals challenge was created in hopes of collecting blankets and towels for the animals at the OC Animal Care Shelter in Orange, CA. 

---------------------------------------- 

Result: With the generosity of those in our community, we collected an entire SUV full of soft and cozy blankets and bags full of towels. 

On Saturday, November 8th, my little helper and I took all the donations over to the shelter. 

For morel, please visit our FB page. 

Birthday in a Box Challenge

Sept 2014

Overview: Providing children a birthday surprise, one shoebox at a time.

It's hard for many of us - whether we're adults or children - to imagine celebrating the birthday of a loved one without a party or presents. But for many families, finding the extra money to spend on a child's birthday celebration is a struggle at best, and frequently impossible. For too many children in our country, birthdays are just another day... celebrated without cake, balloons, or gifts. 

Kristi’s Hope partnered with Family to Family on volunteermatch.org & found a Boys and Girls Club in Southern California that could put these birthday boxes in the hands of children in need.

Objective: The birthday box challenge was created in order collect enough items to fill at least 30 boxes with the suggested items from the Family to Family website. One of the main goals was to get the children in our community involved and encourage the spirit of giving to be a way of life.

Result: Kristi’s Hope posted an announcement requesting donations to fill the boxes. We committed to donating at least 30 boxes filled with the following items:

• one box of cake mix
• one can of frosting
• one package of birthday candles
• wall decorations (a package of balloons or streamers, for example)
• an age-appropriate gently used book
• a small age-appropriate gift
• a goody bag filled with small surprises
• A birthday card made by our volunteers

For weeks the donations poured in and on Saturday September 20th a group of volunteers got together and filled each box, wrapped it and had the children create personalized birthday cards. We were extremely excited and happy with the results of this challenge.

On Friday Sept 26th, THIRTY SIX birthday boxes were delivered!

The work does not stop here….

Please keep an eye out on Kristi’s Hope Facebook page for other ways to get involved and give back to our community. 

For more pictures please visit https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.704620636286792.1073741831.629137777168412&type=3

CCH Shoe Drive

July 2014

Overview: Colette’s Children’s Home in 2012      www.healinghomelessness.org

• 522 women and children were housed and served with supportive services.
• Received 3,939 requests for services
• 81% of the women who went through the program obtained employment.
• 258 homeless women and children transitioned from homelessness to permanent, stable housing.
• 73% of the women who went through the program entered permanent housing. 
• 29 mothers were reunified with 54 children.    
• Opened 6 new units of affordable housing in Huntington Beach   

In June of this year,

82 Single Women and Mothers, 64 Children (Ages 0 through 5), 62 Children (Ages 6 through 17), 82 household members in permanent housing. TOTAL of 290 individuals were being assisted by Colette’s Children’s Home.

Objective: The shoe drive was created to meet a growing need for shoes among youth and their mothers within the program at CCH. The main objective was to collect as many new or very gently used shoes as possible.

Result: Kristi’s Hope immediately learned the passion that people have in our community to help children. In one month, Kristi’s Hope far exceeded the goal of collecting 50 pair of shoes. After Social Networking and word of mouth, women, men and children rallied around this worthy cause.

Throughout the month of July, people dropped off bags full of new and/or gently used shoes. In addition an anonymous gift card to Payless Shoes for $50 was donated.

In total, 157 pair of shoes and a gift card allowing an additional 5-10 pair (depending on the sale) were collected and dropped off to Colette’s Children’s Home on Monday July 28th.

The work does not stop here….

- California accounted for more than 22% of the NATION'S HOMELESS POPULATION in 2013

- California has 136,826 homeless individuals on any given night

- Orange County has 4,251 homeless individuals on any given night

Please keep an eye out on Kristi’s Hope Facebook page for other ways to get involved and give back to our community. 

For more, please visit our Facebook page

Day At The Beach "Adopt a Child for One Day

July 2014

The purpose of the annual Day At The Beach "Adopt a Child for One Day" is to bring the community together through an easy and memorable event that allows adults to mentor, give back and share time and hope with underprivileged children living in our nearby communities (cities include South Central Los Angeles, Compton, Watts and Long Beach).  

The goal is to give positive experiences to both the child and the volunteer by uniting over 500 people: 250 community volunteers share a day filled with one-on-one love, hope and laughter with over 250 at-risk children ages 5 to 12 from local shelters, schools and the Department of Child and Family Services.

The at-risk children and mentors are provided with all the needed items for this day of fun, including t-shirts, boogie boards, backpacks with school items, food, drinks, toys and games, as well as face painting, surf lessons, make-up lessons, dress up photo booths and relay races.

I had the privilege of attending the 2014 Day At The Beach “Adopt a Child for One Day” event put on by PS. I Love You Foundation. I had a fantastic time and can’t wait to do it again next year. Keep your eyes out for my post next year so you can sign up too!

Here are some pictures of me as a mentor with my mentee for the day!

For more, please visit out FB Page. 

Habitat For Humanity OC

Kristi's Hope volunteered time and energy with Habitat For Humanity in April 2014.

Donate your time! This is a great organization! https://www.habitat.org/

Habitat OC Now

• repairs homes for low income families
• builds workforce homes for moderate income families
• joins OC neighborhoods in community revitalization projects
• teams with other non-profits  
• supports veterans and active military families with home ownership and repair

For more on this, please visit https://www.facebook.com/notes/kristis-hope/habitat-for-humanity/629195840495939