Greetings from Irvine, California, USA!
Photo taken on Saturday, July 19, 2008.
I have mentioned the ChildSpree project twice in the past few months and now is the time for the full story. Mervyns, a department store with locations mostly in California, sponsors a community project called ChildSpree twice annually, the Back-to-School version in late July and the Holiday version in December. Each store provides $2500 in the form of $100 shopping sprees for 25 local children from low-income families to buy, at significantly discounted prices, clothes for the upcoming school year or presents for the gift-giving season.
Each Mervyns store partners with a local organization such as the South Coast Jaycees (SCJCs). Through that group, I have volunteered on this project for the past three years. The group has the primary responsibility to locate eligible children and provide chaperones for the shopping spree but the South Coast Jaycees take the project several steps further. We collected money and other donations to buy and fill backpacks with school supplies – pens, paper, scissors, etc. – for each child. We also asked restaurants to provide breakfast for the children, parents, chaperones, other volunteers and store staff.
Because of a mix-up by Mervyns’ Irvine store, two groups - the SCJCs and the Assistance League of Irvine (ALI) were both doing the project. Then the neighboring chapter of Newport Beach Jaycees (NBJCs) offered its help too. Since South Coast was short on manpower, the extra hands were welcomed and we split the workload. ALI gathered the children and most of the chaperones while I led the NBJCs and SCJCs in providing a few more chaperones, the backpacks with school supplies and the food.
On the day of the event I spent most of my time with the food and backpacks and did not take many pictures. Nonetheless I managed to shoot a few including this week’s photo. The shot is a mix of participants – the children, their parents, the South Coast Jaycees, the Newport Beach Jaycees, the Assistance League of Irvine and the Mervyns team. Overall it was an exhausting but rewarding experience. In fact since I was in charge of food, the leftovers came home with me. I’ll pig out… After I nap.
Angelo
PS: I am about two months behind on these emails and, when writing these, I try to limit myself to what I know as of the date in the title, in this case Sunday, July 20, 2008. But I recent got some news worth mentioning. In August Mervyns filed for bankruptcy protection. As a step to regaining financial stability, the company is closing some of its stores including the one in Irvine with which the South Coast Jaycees did ChildSpree. Additionally I have heard that the project itself will end as well.
Photo taken on Saturday, July 19, 2008.
I have mentioned the ChildSpree project twice in the past few months and now is the time for the full story. Mervyns, a department store with locations mostly in California, sponsors a community project called ChildSpree twice annually, the Back-to-School version in late July and the Holiday version in December. Each store provides $2500 in the form of $100 shopping sprees for 25 local children from low-income families to buy, at significantly discounted prices, clothes for the upcoming school year or presents for the gift-giving season.
Each Mervyns store partners with a local organization such as the South Coast Jaycees (SCJCs). Through that group, I have volunteered on this project for the past three years. The group has the primary responsibility to locate eligible children and provide chaperones for the shopping spree but the South Coast Jaycees take the project several steps further. We collected money and other donations to buy and fill backpacks with school supplies – pens, paper, scissors, etc. – for each child. We also asked restaurants to provide breakfast for the children, parents, chaperones, other volunteers and store staff.
Because of a mix-up by Mervyns’ Irvine store, two groups - the SCJCs and the Assistance League of Irvine (ALI) were both doing the project. Then the neighboring chapter of Newport Beach Jaycees (NBJCs) offered its help too. Since South Coast was short on manpower, the extra hands were welcomed and we split the workload. ALI gathered the children and most of the chaperones while I led the NBJCs and SCJCs in providing a few more chaperones, the backpacks with school supplies and the food.
On the day of the event I spent most of my time with the food and backpacks and did not take many pictures. Nonetheless I managed to shoot a few including this week’s photo. The shot is a mix of participants – the children, their parents, the South Coast Jaycees, the Newport Beach Jaycees, the Assistance League of Irvine and the Mervyns team. Overall it was an exhausting but rewarding experience. In fact since I was in charge of food, the leftovers came home with me. I’ll pig out… After I nap.
Angelo
PS: I am about two months behind on these emails and, when writing these, I try to limit myself to what I know as of the date in the title, in this case Sunday, July 20, 2008. But I recent got some news worth mentioning. In August Mervyns filed for bankruptcy protection. As a step to regaining financial stability, the company is closing some of its stores including the one in Irvine with which the South Coast Jaycees did ChildSpree. Additionally I have heard that the project itself will end as well.
