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Jeff Harmon Survives Gang Life and Gives Back to Keep Kids Safe
“Feed the Need” Rolls Out to South LA
The latest “Feed the Need” excursion took place on Saturday, May 28, 2010 of Memorial Day weekend at four locations in South Los Angeles.
Again, it was made possible through the combined efforts of Maximum Force Enterprises, Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (“PCITI”) graduates and members of the Professional Peacekeepers Collaborative Alliance, A Foundation For Kids (“AFFK”) and A Better LA In addition to the direct benefit of getting much needed food into the hands of areas hard hit by the economy, this program also provides a unique connection between the neighborhoods and community workers. This helps create the foundation of relationships that are so important in helping the communities achieve peace from within.
Two truckloads of food and durable goods (30 pallets) were donated by Unified Grocers, Frito Lay, Quaker Oats, ClementPappas Beverages, Snak King, Skechers USA, AVON, LeapFrog and delivered by McLane FoodServices and their great driver Ruben Bracey. The two loads of food product were secured by AFFK board members Marilyn Potter of Tropicana/Pepsico and Ron Ryan of The Complete Logistics Company, and both Marilyn and Ron spent the day with the volunteers and helped unload the trucks at each stop.
This time, the locations included a park in West L.A., an LAPD “stop in center”, and two neighborhoods in Watts. We delivered food that included Kellogg’s and Quaker cereals and oatmeal, Frito Lay chips, bottled water and juices, frozen fish, yogurt, corn meal and several other items. There were also educational toys donated by Leap Frog, gift items including AVON product of makeup, candles and throw blankets, and even new shoes from Skechers for some of the kids. One volunteer, a father of 4 who had recently been laid off from his union job, was especially excited about the pallets of oatmeal. “That’s food stretcher”, he said of the oatmeal – “It can be eaten by itself for breakfast or mixed with dinner foods to help the budget stretch.”
The process that Aquil Basher, executive director of Maximum Force Enterprises, has established is a beautiful thing to watch. Aquil is usually the first one in the truck unloading product into the waiting hands of the instantly assembled line of volunteers that work together to pass each box of food from the truck up to the distribution point – sometimes stretching about 20 people long. The line itself is this great rainbow of ages, genders and colors. There were Yankees, Dodgers, Trojans, bruins, Angels and Washington Nationals working together. This bucket brigade format was played out at all 4 stops, with different participants each time carrying out the same smooth continuous motion and shouts of encouragement as they quickly emptied the trucks.
One of the more impressive aspects of the “Feed the Need” program is the volunteers involved at each location. They live in these neighborhoods and have many of the same needs and set-backs of the people they are serving. These volunteers show up early to help unload the trucks, organize the food and products for orderly distribution, then smile and greet each neighborhood guest that comes through the line. It is a long day and a lot of work. Not all of the guests share the great spirits of the volunteers, as they are sometimes frustrated by the lines and the process. Sometimes the donated food come in small lots of different items which upsets some people when they see their neighbor receiving the last box of the food brand they really wanted. The volunteers are the target of this temporary frustration, but they cruise through the process as they work to lift the spirits of that person and continue the respect and dignity that is as important for the guests to receive as is the food. These people struggling through difficult times do not always have the opportunity to give to others – and it is wonderful to see them enjoy this role.
Aquil estimates that approximately 3,000 children and adults benefited from Saturday’s distribution. The “Feed the Need” program carries on, as A Foundation for Kids continues to work with its contributing organizations to keep the donations coming. “Feed the Need” will be back in mid July to hit four more neighborhoods. Each month of the program new things are learned and changes are made so that they can continue to do this better than it has been done before.
– Scot Obler, A Better LA volunteer
For more pictures click here.
Washington Prep’s 1st California State Standards Incentive Block Party
From CURE’s Reynaldo Reaser: “I like to thank you for supporting the CURE and Washington Prep’s 1st California State Standards Incentive Block Party. With the help of your efforts and donations, our Block Party was a complete SUCCESS!!! Washington Prep’s achived an average of 94% attendents rate over the 4 days testing period. The students of Washington Prep were in need of an event where they could step out of their stressful lives and be kids, if just for a moment. You were able to give them just that, the ability to be kids and have fun in a safe environment.”
Feed The Need: Food Distribution-Volunteer Testimonial
Read below for Scot Obler’s, A Better LA key volunteer, recap on Saturdays distribution
Maximum Force Enterprises, Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (“PCITI”) graduates and members of the Professional Peacekeepers Collaborative Alliance, A Foundation For Kids and A Better LA partnered their efforts on Saturday April 17th to distribute food to four Los Angeles areas in need under their “Feed the Need” program.
The 1400 cases of food came on 30 pallets and was donated by Unified Grocers and Tropicana, Frito Lay, Quaker Oats and Clement Pappas. The frozen items and chilled drinks were delivered in a refrigerated truck courtesy of McLane Foodservice and their outstanding driver, Earl.
First stop was 8:45 AM at 5800 Pico Blvd. where Nikko (a PCITI graduate) and his group of hard working volunteers (a term that could be used again at each of the 4 sites we visited that day) unloaded the frozen pizzas, burgers and breakfast sandwiches. They quickly did the same with the non-perishable items from the second truck as the food was stacked neatly on either side of the sidewalk, so that normal pedestrian traffic could pass by and customers had easy access to the businesses that lined the distribution location. Aquil Basher, executive director of Maximum Force Enterprises, had a written organized plan for the day, which is so important when you want both your volunteers as well as your neighborhood guests (the ones who are receiving the food) to have a good experience. Each of the team leaders at the sites carried out Aquil”s plan to the letter. Aquil explains this plan is a blueprint that all our community sites utilize and it’s the foundation of the “Feed the Need” success!
Nikko had the plan for his location laid out well as he positioned a registration table under a tree and then organized the cases of food for efficient distribution. People lined up in the designated area across from the food staging area and patiently waited for the volunteers to get things ready. The guests were brought through the lines in groups (it reminded me of Disneyland-like efficiency with people waiting in lines to get on a ride). The location went through most of their 100 cases of pizzas, 3 pallets of Sunny Delight, and all the other great food donations in a couple of hours.
Location #2 was at Jim Gilliam Park, a beautiful park and recreation area. T. Rogers (another PCITI graduate) was the lead person at this location, which also is part of the Summer Night Lights program (sponsored by the Mayor’s office and A Better LA). The Summer Night Lights program is where parks in areas susceptible to gang activity are staffed and kept open late into the night during the summer so area youths can participate in various athletic, arts and other activities that provide a safe diversion from the dangerous streets.
T. Rogers could manage a high end supermarket, as he had all his volunteers beautifully coordinated to stock the tables they had set up for that purpose – displaying it so it was neat and attractive for the people who walked through, being helped with each item by a cheerful volunteer.
Earl and his refrigerator/freezer on wheels pulled out around 11:00 AM to head down to the 3rd location, Jordan Downs Projects, near the 110 and 105 freeways. It was a stark contrast to the lush park setting of Jim Gilliam Park, as we drove into the area marked by rows of institutional like buildings, barred windows, and heavily secured school yards. Although the surroundings were different, the people were very much the same. The ones receiving food were patient as they waited and appreciative of what they were being given. The organizer was Big T Townsend who, like Aquil’s other key people in Maximum Force, are visible at the various events and programs through the year that are organized to serve the communities they are working so hard to help. The feeling of the family setting of neighbors helping neighbors was especially evident here. Although language barriers sometimes made communicating a little challenging, the smiles and nods between volunteers and food recipients evidenced the spirit of helping each other.
A drive through Jordan Downs makes you want to return with a truck load of bright colored paint to change the rows of beige buildings to individual structures with their own identity and cheerful glow – and maybe bring some area artists in to create great murals that could be enjoyed by the residents and visitors. Until that happens, the buildings will remain drab and institutional like, and a visitor will have to meet the people that live inside of the structures to appreciate the warmth and beauty of this community.
The final stop for the day was a couple of miles away at the Nickerson Gardens Recreation Center, arriving there around 1:00 PM. Donny & Hank were in charge here, and his volunteers were ready to unload the final pallets of food from the trucks. The small group that had been part of the food caravan at each stop amazingly seemed just as cheerful and energetic as they were at our first stop that morning. This group included Mark Chow, his son Michael, and Daniel Klee of A Foundation for Kids, Aquil and his daughter Halimah, Maximum Force Members and PCITI graduates Rashad & Saleem, and amazing truck driver Earl.
The basketball teams that were playing at the gym in the rec center were thrilled when we brought them several cases of cold Sunny Delight. Just like the preceding three locations, people were patient as they waited in the short line and appreciative of the food, as volunteers hustled to pre-pack mixed boxes of items trying to keep up with those people who were handing out the food and talking with each of the neighborhood people who had dropped by to benefit from the food distribution.
The volunteers who helped that day may have limped a bit on Sunday morning when they awoke, feeling some aches and stiffness from the previous day’s unloading and distribution of food to about 1,200 families totaling an estimated 5,000 children and adults. But even if their Saturday efforts resulted in a few blisters and discovery of some muscles they forgot they had, those minor inconveniences were most certainly overwhelmed by a feeling of joy for what they had helped make possible. It was more than the food they helped deliver to people in need, it was helping remind people that are having some tough times that other people care – they really, really do care.
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson, a Watts native, was thrust into a world of violence before he was old enough to drive. At a young age his father, who Robert referred to as his family’s “only support”, passed away. Robert found himself back in the care of his mother, who had been fighting a serious drug addiction since before he was born. “After losing him, I quit playing sports, quit caring about school, got bored and went into the streets.” Says Robert.
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