“The day seemed to be one of ease and enjoyment for all who came, plus God sent us the most beautiful weather to celebrate His Son’s Resurrection.”
My dear Family,
I wanted to share the good news about Heartfelt’s Easter Project of Service…a brunch at the beach for the participants of the MSIA seminar with John Morton, for homeless and hungry people, and people who were simply walking by and got captured by the energy.
These “captured” people most often stuffed money into my pockets and thanked us for a great meal and meaningful event.
And although that was a lovely experience, loveliest of all was the joy I saw in the faces of the homeless men and women (some of whom were with us last year) as they partook of the delicious food and complete acceptance available to them as brothers and sisters in God.
At this year’s event, we fed and accommodated approximately 500 people. And because of the tremendous support received from the local corporate community in in-kind donations, we were able to put on a $10,000 event for little more than $2,000!
I want to specifically acknowledge those donors and ask that you support and thank them as well for their service to the Heartfelt Foundation. They are:
Starbucks Coffee/3rd & Wilshire, Santa Monica — 40 gallons of hot coffee
IHOP Restaurant/20th & Santa Monica, Santa Monica — Pancake batter, syrup and butter for 1200, fruit salad for 400
Altadena Dairy/L.A. — 30 pounds of cream cheese, 40 dozen eggs, 9 gallons milk
Garvey Nut & Candy and Pacific Atlantic Crop Exchange — 75 pounds of candy
Best Foods Baking Co. (Entemann’s) – 1,000 pieces of baked goods for homeless lunches
I. Yellin Co./L.A. — 1500 pieces of fruit
Merko Distributors/L.A. — 12 dozen eggs, 6 gallons milk
Manhattan Bagel/22nd & Wilshire, Santa Monica — 10 dozen bagels
U-Haul/Santa Monica — truck rental
Ice Age Water and Lazy Acres Market, Santa Barbara — 20 cases water
Shepherd Packaging, Huntington Beach — 500 paper bags for homeless lunches
Avon/Santa Monica — truck rental discount
Nutribiotic/Safron Sales — 300 energy bars for homeless lunches
Hollywood Party Rentals — discounted rentals
Maryvale Home for Girls — dyed 52 dozen eggs
Vine-American Party Store – $50 in party supplies
Individual Financial or In-Kind donors:
Good Works Foundation
MSIA
Iain Somerville
Kathryn Bernstein
Don Ward
The Pepper Family
Rick Ojeda
Volunteer Leaders:
Karl Fledderman
Andre Christou
Melissa Ward
Olga Schmal
Kathryn Bernstein
Bob Kealing
Glenn Barnett
Julianna Rose
David Giorgio
And a special thank you to the staff of the City of Santa Monica who worked tirelessly to extend permits and support to this event.
It is increasingly evident to me that Heartfelt’s work and scope would be dramatically diminished without the partnership with our corporate donors. There is tremendous power in working hand-in-hand to meet or solve some of the distressing needs in our society. Government agencies, charities, service groups or individuals cannot tackle this problem alone. But with the cooperative efforts of the government, business and service sectors, positive change and healing our communities may result.
NEWS FROM OTHER AREAS:
EASTER IN BRAZIL:
Carmen Vera writes that Zeni Peron and her Heartfelt group decorated the pediatric area of Santa Casa Hospital in Itatiba, Brazil. They brought chocolate Easter eggs to the children and patients, along with Light, loving and cheer.
D.C./MARYLAND
Margrett Gary writes that their February and March Heartfelt service projects were held at the Center for the Handicapped in Silver Springs, MD. There were 150 people with developmental disabilities from various group homes in the area. They enjoyed an evening of dancing, eating delicious refreshments, and listening to music. Our volunteers enjoyed the fun, served refreshments, and danced to the music.
NIGERIAN HEARTFELT EASTER SERVICE PROJECT — 2001:
The Easter service Project is the Heartfelt service programme of the Youth Orientation Foundation — a youth development and social service organization dedicated to assisting youth people to become humane, disciplined and responsible members of society.
Obunikem Asuzu and Ngozi Okeke held the vision and the energy for the Easter Service Project. Along with an incredible team of youth volunteers, they sourced for the funding and gift items for the project.
On Sunday, 22nd April 2001 the Easter Project took place at St. Patrick’s Church compound, Awka, by the kind courtesy of the Rev.Cathedral Administrator. The joyous Easter Party which was originally planned for the less privileged children and youth, was later attended by the hungry and homeless people of all ages in the community including the lame, the blind and the mentally ill.
The high point of the occasion was the treatment of the numerous homeless and hungry people to a sumptuous delicious feasting. Various gift items, mainly clothes and shoes, were later distributed to them.
Countless thank you’s followed the young volunteers as they served them food and drinks and distributed the various gift items to them. Their sweetness and joyous service brought laughter and tears of joy to everyone around. Everybody had a great time.
We would like to acknowledge our numerous sponsors and donors by whose special assistance we were able to carry the event through. We pray God to bless them abundantly.
In loving service.
Obunikem Asuzu.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 25 — Maryvale Home for Girls Service Project
November 17 — Thanksgiving Feed-A-Family Service Project
December 15 — Worldwide Christmas/Holiday Service Project
Have a wonderful summer!
In loving service,
Patti Rayner
To volunteer or donate to Heartfelt, email to serve@heartfelt.org.
