News
GCH Helps Students
Giving Children Hope Board member Virginia Vaughn and her husband, Kenny Vaughn, delivered hygiene products to the students at International Theological Seminary, many who are from other countries. These students are taught to meet the pressing needs and challenges of the churches in Third World countries by providing theological education and ministry skills to students from the areas.
Hello Virginia,
I want to use this letter to express our thanksgiving and appreciation to you and your team. As one of the student reps, I want to thank you for your spiritual blessings in songs, love, presence and encouragement and importation of hope, faith and kindness.
Thank you for blessing us physically with the hygiene [products]; they all go a long way to help us physically and financially. We are grateful indeed and in truth.
Jonathan
Local Girl Scouts Help Homeless Children in O.C.
Local Jr. Girls Scouts No. 177 in Brea, volunteered their time to host a food drive for the We’ve Got Your Back program.
The young ladies gathered the boxes of food that were donated, and sorted and packed them into 50 backpacks.
Thank you to the Jr. Girl Scouts for serving the Orange County community!
Volunteers Give Their Saturday to Serve
On Saturday, February 7, 2009, over 60 volunteers gathered early in the morning to sort medical supplies, package vitamins, and address and fill envelopes for our annual mailings. It is always inspiring to see local community groups and corporations reaching out to their community through service.
In attendance, we had 30 volunteers from Owens & Minor. Owens & Minor, a fortune 500 company, is the nation’s leading distributor of national brand-name medical/surgical supplies to hospitals and integrated health care systems. We also had volunteers from The Interact Club of Los Alamitos High School, Women for World Health, Health Occupation Students of America, Crean Lutheran South High School, Sequoia Middle School, Agape Church, and Student El Roble Intermediate.
Not only do our volunteers help tremendously, but they also learn a lot in the process. Parents bring their children and show them how to give back to their community. High school students see how they can make a difference in their community despite their age. Students and organizations involved in the medical field get hands-on experience sorting medical supplies and learning about their classifications. Companies like Owens & Minor are able to see what happens to the product they donate: it gets shipped all over the world!
Thank you volunteers for another fun-filled Saturday!
How the Program Works
We’ve Got Your Back is a weekend nutrition program created by Giving Children Hope for students in the Orange County Unified School District who have been identified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento act.
These children also take part in the free and reduced lunch program at their schools. For most of these children, the school cafeteria is their primary source of nutrition. Many return home on Friday to a household without food. This is where Giving Children Hope and the Orange County Unified School District partner together to alleviate hunger among our children in Orange County.
Giving Children Hope distributes backpacks weekly to elementary schools. There, a site coordinator distributes each backpack confidentially to every student in the program. This continues throughout the entire school year. The program is presented to the children as a Weekend Nutrition Club, instead of the “We’ve Got Your Back” program. Our first priority is to maintain and uphold the dignity and self-esteem of the children. Students in the weekend nutrition club will receive a weekly activity sheet that will pertain to nutrition. This activity sheet is returned every week in each backpack and is the students’ responsibility. Children who return their activity sheets will be rewarded. With the assistance of a school site coordinator from your school, the distribution of backpacks and the collection of empty ones can be facilitated in a simple and time efficient manner.
Stories About Children and Their Families in the We’ve Got Your Back Program
Read the stories of the children and their families who are involved in the program, and see how your contribution has made the difference in people’s lives.
