We've Got Your Back
Posted 2009.02.11
By Harmony Trevino
Help Feed Homeless Orange County Children
We need $87,038 by 2010.06.25
Past Shipments:
- Send Backpacks Full of Food to Kids in OC
We’ve Got Your Back is a weekend nutrition program created by Giving Children Hope for elementary students in Orange County’s school districts who have been identified as homeless under the McKinney-Vento act.
Our Goal:
To meet the needs of children in Orange County identified as homeless by continuously providing a stable and nutritious source of food to carry home during the weekends along with providing them with nutritional education.
To host a food drive or volunteer:
Please email Stephanie Swanson
To schedule a food drop-off at our offices
Sign up for an appointment here
Please e-mail Mary Ann or call 714-523-4454 ext 120 if you have any questions. Please be sure to count donated food before you schedule a drop off.
To promote WGYB or raise money for us
Please email Jenise Steverding
Be Informed
To Sign-Up your School
Please email Elizabeth Saldana
Updates & Visuals
Video:
Updates:
St Matthews Church Hosts a Food Drive
Long time partners, St. Matthews Church in Newport Beach, are conducting a food drive that will feed hungry children in Orange County.
If you are interested in hosting a food drive, please contact Stephanie Swanson on how you can you can get involved.
Lots of Food Donated by Soccer Team
Check out how a girls’ soccer team in Torrance hosted a food drive and collected many boxes of food for Giving Children Hope’s “We’ve Got Your Back” program. All the food will feed homeless children in Orange County!
Girl Scouts Troupe Hosting Food Drive
Girl Scouts Troupe 783 is hosting food drives in various schools to help support the We’ve Got Your Back program at GCHope. The food will be sorted and stuffed in backpacks and delivered to help many homeless children in Orange County!
Donate Food to WGYB and Earn Points for Your School
Donate non-perishable food items through December 31 and earn 100 points per item for your school through Shopping Partnership: Buena Park Downtown. Bring your donations to the Customer Service Center. Donations benefit “We’ve Got Your Back Program” to help fight hunger in Orange County elementary schools.
About Shopping Partnership
Since 1992, Shopping Partnership has partnered with more than 55 shopping centers throughout the United States. Our School Rewards Programs have generated over $3 million in donations to more than 1500 schools.
What sets a Shopping Partnership School Rewards Program apart is a targeted effort to provide a “win-win” approach for the schools and the shopping centers with a no cost fundraising program. Customers can shop as they usually do, but credit their school for purchases, participation in shopping center events and more. Every school receives a monetary reward in our School Rewards Programs. The shopping centers and stores benefit from increased sales and shopper loyalty, since many customers will shift their shopping habits to support their school.
The role of Shopping Partnership is to support the schools and the shopping centers, giving each useful tools and opportunity to be successful.
To earn points for your school, please drop off the food at Buena Park Downtown.
Nominate GCHope's WGYB for the 2009 Food & Shelter Awards
In partnership with Care2, Feeding America, The National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, and Guidestar, the 2009 Food & Shelter Awards will recognize the top-rated nonprofits making a difference in homelessness or hunger in your communities.
Visit here to write a review about how GCHope’s We’ve Got Your Back program is making a difference by feeding homeless children in Orange County.
Dhont Family Foundation Issues $25,000 Matching Grant!
The great people at the Dhont Family Foundation has offered us a $25,000 matching grant for We’ve Got Your Back!
This is where we need your help! You have the unique opportunity to double your impact and feed more homeless children in Orange County! We need to raise $25,000 to help us receive the matching grant!
Make sure you make your online donation at www.wgyb.org in order to double your donation.
Last year you helped us match Dhont’s $15,000 matching grant in addition of an award of $10,000. In totaly, Dhont donated $40,000 to We’ve Got Your Back! Giving Children Hope is grateful to the Dhont Family Foundation for their contribution and dedication to Orange County’s homeless children.
We’ve Got Your Back is our weekend nutrition program created by Giving Children hope for elementary students in the Orange Unified School District who have been identified as “homeless” under the McKinney-Vento act.
The Dhont Family Foundation was founded in 1998 and helps fund local projects in Southern California.
Donate Toys and Food to Homeless Children in OC!
Be a part of the We’ve Got Your Back’s Annual Toy Drive!
The toy drive benefits the homeless children of Orange County. Our goal is to provide 1,500 children with toys and food this Christmas season.
When: Toys and food donations will be accepted until Monday, December 14.
What: We ask that all toys should cost $20 or under; you can donate as much canned food as you’d like
Where: Please drop off your donations at: Giving Children Hope, 8332 Commonwealth Ave. Buena Park, 90621
Wrapping Party:
All donors who donate a toy and food, are invited to join our Wrapping Party and help wrap gifts for the kids! Come enjoy an evening of holiday refreshments, Christmas music, and fellowship with the Giving Children Hope family on Saturday, November 21 8:30am-12pm, or Thursday, December 3 5pm-8pm. Please RSVP as space is limited.
If you’d like to give a monetary donation in lieu of a gift to someone this Christmas, we’ll happily mail a tribute to them on your behalf. It’s amazing what just a few toys can do for the spirit of a child in need!
The Orange County Department of Education has reported over 22,000 homeless children in school districts, a number that has doubled in the last two years.
If you have any questions about the toy drive or this program, or if you want to sponsor a specific child and receive a wish list, contact Elizabeth Saldaña at 714) 523-4454 or at esaldana@godaid.org.
Buena Park Women's Club Food Drive
The Buena Park Women’s Club held a food drive for our We’ve Got Your Back program on October 24.
They were able to raise more than 350 food items and $45 for the homeless children in Orange County.
We would like to thank Sandy Smith, Virginia Vaughn, Laura Martin, Diane Meis, Chonie Sinclair, Tami Gallegos, Roslyn Daily, Chris Salts and Barbara Berg (from left to right in the picture) for their wonderful contributions.
Every Little Bit Counts
Recently we received a donation of $255 for our “We’ve Got Your Back” fund. After contacting the donor and thanking her for her support, we asked her how she heard about our program. She replied with a wonderful letter that we’d like to share with you:
My husband John Kao and I have a little girl, Cassidy, who just turned 4 years old a couple days ago. We know how fortunate we are to live in beautiful Orange County and we wanted to help Cassidy to understand that not every kid here is so fortunate (to have a nice playroom and princess bedroom as she does) and may need our help. At around the same time we started to have her help us do some recycling.
So, I thought we could combine the two by donating the CRV we got back from the recyclable cans and bottles we collected. I wanted to find a local charity that sets out to help children so it’s easier for Cassidy to relate to. From my research, I came across GCHope and We’ve Got Your Back project. I was in shock to learn how many homeless children there are in our community and definitely feel very compelled to give to the cause.
While I was planning for Cassidy’s 4th birthday party, we decided to get more people involved with our project. We asked all her friends (about 20 families in total) to recycle all the cans and bottles for about a month and bring them to the party. Including some of the cans and bottles we’ve collected since July and what we collected from the party, we were able to get back CRV of $55. In addition, some of our friends were very generous and also donated cash of $200 in total.
Like what I told all our friends that even though $255 may not seem a lot but we were able to keep more than 50 homeless kids from being hungry for the whole weekend.
So this is our story.
This was such a great experience for us as a family and I was very impressed with how much these little kids understand. We’ll definitely keep the tradition going and continue to recycle and to donate all the CRVs we collected to Giving Children Hope in the future.
Best regards,
Anne Chen
Rose Drive Friends Church Hosts Food Drive
Canning Hunger and Rose Drive Friends Church members held a food drive to collect items for GCHope’s “We’ve Got Your Back” program. Twelve high school students from their youth group showed up to deliver and sort the food for us.
Thank you so much Canning Hunger and Rose Drive Friends for your donation!
Prescription Solutions Gives to We've Got Your Back
Not only did Prescription Solutions volunteer for four days and donate over 5,000 items of food to our We’ve Got Your Back program, they raised an additional $300 for the program and purchased 50 backpacks to fill with food. Incredible!
GCHope would like to thank and praise everybody from Prescription Solutions for all of their work!
Messiah Lutheran Donates Food to WGYB
Three members of Messiah Lutheran Church in Yorba Linda stopped by the warehouse Tuesday to drop off food for our We’ve Got Your Back project.
During MLC’s summer Vacation Bible Education event more than 250 children and 200 volunteers participated in a weekly serving program to collect food for WGYB. They managed to bring in a pallet full of much needed food.
Thank you to everybody from Messiah Lutheran who participated in the food drive.
P A L Participants Donate Toys to Homeless Children in WGYB
Two young ladies from the nonprofit organization P.A.L. (Peer Assistance Leadership) collected teddy bears for homeless children in We’ve Got Your Back.
Thank you for helping out Orange County’s homeless children!
Making a Birthday Wish Come True
When Daria Miller was asked what she wanted for her birthday, she knew exactly what to ask for. She wanted to help homeless children and she wanted her birthday guests to help too. Not a typical answer from a birthday girl. But for the Daria and her brother, choosing to receive money to benefit We’ve Got Your Back instead of receiving gifts is nothing out of the ordinary.
“My kids have done this for years; pick different charities for each of their birthdays to ask for in lieu of gifts,” says Anja Miller, Daria’s mother, in an e-mail. “It’s a great way to share and hopefully teach others to give as much of themselves as they can.”
The Miller children chose difference charities each year with a different purpose, says Anja. “The year of the tsunami, my son immediately said, ‘That’s where I want my birthday money to go to; for all those people hit by the big wave’”
He was only 6.
Anja searched online and found We’ve Got Your Back, a weekend nutrition program created by GCHope for elementary students in Orange County’s school districts who have been identified as homeless.
The funds Daria raised at her birthday is enough to support one child for a full year on the program.
“I do hope this instills a long lasting message in my children,” says Anja. “We’re happy to do our part.”
Thank you to the Miller family for teaching a valuable lesson on selflessness and motivating us to do our part.
Children Helping Children
When Taylor Ann, 12, Joshua Thomas, 10, Tori Jane, 8, Jordan Marie, 6 and Jacob Laurence, 3 came to help sort food for the We’ve Got your Back program, they understood that they were serving other small children who do not have enough food on their tables.
The kids sorted and stocked mounds of food that will be distributed throughout elementary schools in Orange County to children who have been identified as homeless.
A big thank you to these children for having such big hearts to help their community!
If you would like to volunteer at Giving Children Hope, or would like to host a food drive, please contact Melissa Strauss.
Locals Host Food Drive for Homeless Children in Orange County
Sarah and Tiffany heard that We’ve Got Your Back has been low on food and was in great need of breakfast cereal. They ran a food drive at their work, McCarthy Building Companies along with Sierra Landscaping Company, Inc., and were able to donate an entire pallet of cereal! Because of these great efforts, We’ve Got Your Back will able to serve approximately 3,500 children and their families!
Thank you Sarah and Tiffany for feeding Orange County’s homeless children!
We’ve Got Your Back is always in need of food such as cereal, and right now, fruit. You can host a food drive at your school, work or church. We are only able to supply Orange County’s homeless children with well-balanced meals with the help of YOU!
Feeding the Homeless Children of Orange County
Every week, Giving Children Hope delivers backpacks full on nutritious food to 300 homeless children in Orange County’s elementary schools.
This week, a little girl who receives a backpack each week, expressed her joy when she received her food, which is enough to feed a family of five. She said that her family had just finished their last can of soup for dinner the night before and would now be able to eat.
Through We’ve Got Your Back, we are able to ensure that children like her don’t go hungry.
When you donate to We’ve Got Your Back, you are bringing hope to the local community.
Buena Park Police Association Donates Food to Homeless Children
The Buena Park Police Association has donated 64 cases of breakfast bars and snacks to the We’ve Got Your Back program!
The program was in need of breakfast foods for the 300 children on the program, and Sergeant William Kohanek and Lori Nasman of the Buena Park Police Department brought the food at just the right time!
GCHope wants to thank the Buena Park Police Association for the donation of food! We are only able to feed Orange County’s homeless children with the help of community partners like them!
Walking with Hope Festival
First Congregational Church of Buena Park presents their 2nd Annual Walking with Hope Festival!
Be a part of the festivities and help feed more homeless children in Orange County!
Hunger Increasing in Elementary Schools
The Director of We’ve Got Your Back received this e-mail from a school community liaison, where they talked about the increasing amount of children showing hunger.
Because of the decline of economy many of our fantastic parents have lost their job or had hours or days of work cut. Of course this affects our students. Many are doing well in school; however we are seeing an increase of families who don’t have enough food. Our students do receive a breakfast and lunch at school but that’s not enough.
Here are just some of the signs we see:
1. Students falling asleep or lack of concentration because they are hungry
2. Poor or short attention span
3. Frequent visits to the health office/ Poor health
4. Erratic attendance or tardiness
5. Sharing the housing with others due to loss of housing, economic hardship
6. Some students have mentioned they go home and only have beans to eat.
7. A change in behavior, extreme shyness, withdrawal, nervousness, or anger
Donate today and help the increasing number of children who are going hungry. It is with your help that they can be fed proper nutrition.
Volunteers Needed to Fill Backpacks!
Giving Children Hope needs your help!
We have increased the number of children we are serving in the WGYB program. Which means more food to sort and more backpacks to fill!
Here are the shifts available:
Monday:
9 A.M. – noon
1 P.M. – 4:30 P.M.
Tuesday
9 A.M. – noon
1 P.M. – 4:30 P.M.
If you are interested in volunteering, please e-mail Melissa Strauss or call 714-523-4454 and let her know what shift you would like to volunteer for.
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!
The Power of Spirit
Acaciawood High School students immediately jumped on board with the We’ve Got Your Back Toy Drive, and helped by distributing fliers to their peers, classmates, and teachers. Students also volunteered their time to wrap gifts for homeless children in the program. They used their creative skills to bring a special touch to every gift they wrapped and every card they made. They were also the first to arrive and the last to leave; volunteering to clean up after all gifts were wrapped.
On top of all that, they were able to donate over 50 toys to this year’s toy drive!
Volunteer Coordinator, Melissa Strauss, says, “As a coordinator of volunteers, it warms my heart to see young people aware of the needs of others. Not only the needs of the community, but noticing our own organization’s needs….like cleaning up before you leave. I am so impressed by the Acaciawood students. They are a delightful group to work with. I hope we become great friends and see them at many more functions.”
Acaciawood students have participated in our Saturday serve days and are always lending a helping hand with a smile.
Thank you, Acaciawood students!
Now that’s the Power of YOU!
Feedback from a Teacher
A teacher from Centralia Elementary School sends a thank you to Giving Children Hope and all its donors for bring the We’ve Got Your Back program to their school:
We have one family who shows up every Friday after school with a smile and graciously asks for “the backpack.” Every Friday morning that I run into the student, he says “my parents will pick up the backpack after school today.” Sure enough, these parents show up and never have to be reminded. They thank us each week for what we do to help their family.
The “thanks” goes to the staff and donors at Giving Children Hope. Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
Jonica
Centralia Elementary School
Working Together for Homeless Children
Catalyst Community, a singles ministry of Rose Drive Friends Church, is partnering with Salon Diego of Yorba Linda to host a Cut-A-Thon Fundraiser to benefit Giving Children Hope’s We’ve Got Your Back program.
Kathy Ramos of Rose Drive Friends Church and Diego Ortega of Salon Diego wanted to make a difference in children’s lives and decided to throw a fundraiser to benefit children. When Kathy was introduced to Giving Children Hope, she knew this was the organization she wanted the proceeds to go to. Their goal is to raise more than $5,000.
The event will be held on Sunday, Sept. 14 from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. in front of Salon Diego. The festivities will include $15 hair cuts by Salon Diego as well as food, live entertainment, activities and a silent auction.
All proceeds from the event will go to We’ve Got Your Back, Giving Children Hope’s nutrition program that helps feed homeless children on the weekends during the school year.
Salon Diego is located at 17499 Imperial Hwy.,Yorba Linda, CA 92886 (714-223-2055).
Thank you Kathy Ramos and Diego Ortega!
Now that’s the Power of YOU!
Santa Delivers Toys to WGYB Kids
We’ve Got Your Back Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Saldaña, helped Santa deliver toys to Orange County homeless children. Toys were donated by generous people in and around the Orange County area.
Thank you to all those who donated toys and their time to help wrap those toys for the kids!
WGYB 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.
Yorba Linda Rotary Helps Homeless OC Kids
The Yorba Linda Sunrise Rotary are helping feed Orange County’s homeless children!
The Yorba Linda Rotary holds an annual fundraiser every year entitled Lobsterfest. This community event raises funds for Rotary projects and brings together community all at the same time. The funds raised from Lobsterfest are dispersed for education, community development and international projects throughout the year. Giving Children Hope’s We’ve Got Your Back program is a proud recipient of $3,000 from the YL Rotary. And thanks to the Dhont Family Foundation this gift will be doubled!
Find out how you can get tickets to Lobsterfest
It's a Wrap!
On Friday, December 12, volunteers came out to wrap toys for homeless children that are a part of the We’ve Got Your Back program.
Volunteers helped wrap gifts and decorate cards for the children in the program and their siblings. They enjoyed Christmas music along with home-baked goodies!
Thank you to everyone who came out to give Santa a helping hand in making the gifts look beautiful and for helping bring happiness to a child’s life.
Supporting Hope
On Friday, December 5, President and CEO, John Ditty and We’ve Got Your Back program coordinator, Elizabeth Saldaña joined the Orange Rotary Club in continuing Rotary tradition by taking Project Hope students Christmas shopping for their family members.
Everyone from the Orange Rotary, including member John Ditty, were invited on Friday to volunteer their time to help students shop for their family members. Students shopped for an hour at Target and headed back to the school to wrap their gifts and eat pizza.
Project Hope provides accredited schooling for homeless children and children from families living in motels. Teaching is provided by the Orange County School Department. Before and after school programming is provided by the Central Orange County YWCA.
Most Project Hope students are a part of the We’ve Got Your Back program, our local program which provides backpacks full of nutritious food for Orange County children that have been identified as homeless and having food insecurity.
Foundation Grants Funding for WGYB
The Deacon Charitable Foundation has granted Giving Children Hope’s We’ve Got Your Back program with $2,400 to feed homeless children in the program. The gift will be doubled thanks to the Dhont Family Foundation.
The Deacon Charitable Foundation was established by S.D. Deacon Corp in 2006. They wanted to expand their charitable giving efforts and fulfill their part of their corporate mission to support their communities. They primarily fund organizations that benefit the communities where S.D. Deacon has its offices: Seattle, Portland, Sacramento and Southern California.
Giving Children Hope wants to thank the Deacon Charitable Foundation for making it possible to feed more homeless children in Orange County.
Foundation Awards 'We've Got Your Back' with Grant
Giving Children Hope’s We’ve Got Your Back program has been awarded with a $10,000 grant from the Dhont Family Foundation to help purchase food for the program.
In addition to the grant, the Dhont Family Foundation is offering a $15,000 matching grant.
This is where we need your help! We need to raise $15,000 to help us receive the matching grant!
Double Your Donation Today and make sure to mark your donation as WGYB-Dhont.
Giving Children Hope is grateful to the Dhont Family Foundation for their contribution and dedication to Orange County’s homeless children.
We’ve Got Your Back is our weekend nutrition program created by Giving Children hope for elementary students in the Orange Unified School District who have been identified as “homeless” under the McKinney-Vento act.
The Dhont Family Foundation was founded in 1998 and helps fund local projects in Southern California.
A Teacher Weighs In
“A family of three siblings at our school site, Project Hope, were all given backpacks last week to take home and share with the family. Today, the middle child told me, “Ms Priscila, my mom says Thank You very much for the food!” I thought it was great to hear gratitude.
All four teachers at our school mentioned how great this program is and how excited the students were to be in this Weekend Nutrition Club. I had many children already asking me about their backpacks, I told them they would get to take it home today… they were very excited!”
Contact Elizabeth Saldaña by e-mail or at 714-523-4454 ext 30 to see how you can host a food drive for any of the schools involved in the We’ve Got Your Back program.
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.
Jason
Erin
Carly
Local Elementary Schools Hold Food Drives
Giving Children Hope would like to thank the following elementary schools for participating in canned food drives in the month of December to benefit the ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ program:
Miller School, La Palma, CA
Dysinger School, Buena Park, CA
Danbrook School, Anaheim, CA
San Marino School, Buena Park, CA
King Elementary, Cypress, CA
Buena Terrs School, Buena Park, CA
We’ve Got Your Back is a local Giving Children Hope program, providing nutrition training and backpacks of food for elementary students on the free or reduced lunch program.
State Senator Speaks About O.C.'s Homeless
State Senator Lou Correa talk about the homeless issue in Orange County at a benefit held by the Illumination Foundation.
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.
Comments
Upcoming
Shipments
2010.03.15 – Chile ($12k) /$12k
2010.03.19 – Afghanistan funded
2010.03.19 – Tanzania funded
2010.03.19 – Zambia funded
2010.03.25 – Sri Lanka funded
Events
