Heartfelt’s 2005 Back-To-School service project on Saturday, August 20, was a joyful and beautifully sweet event! 500 low income or homeless children from agencies throughout the greater Los Angeles area were invited to spend a day of nurturing and fun with us and 90 outstanding volunteers.

Throughout the day the kids’ faces were filled with so much joy and excitement as they ran from the ice cream sundae bar to the bouncer to the story corner, and the games, and from the arts and crafts and photo corner, to stuffing their tummies with Sloppy Joes and cold drinks. There was also an area with new clothing or items for every person in attendance; so that the parents, siblings and family members of the schoolchild received a special gift from Heartfelt.

At the end of the day when we distributed a new, filled back pack to each child, it was overwhelming to see how thrilled they were with their backpacks and the wonderful contents. Each backpack contained binders, filler paper or spiral notebooks, rulers, pens, pencils, erasers, boxes of colored markers, pencil bags, rulers, and various surprises.

Along with several individual families in need, the agencies and children we served were from:
1. School on Wheels
2. Salvation Army
3. Upward Bound
4. Maternal & Child Health Access
5. Central City Community Center
6. Union Rescue Mission
7. Zeitgeist Center
8. LA City Camp
9. Covenant House
10. Ocean Park Community Center
These agencies do outstanding work with the impoverished, and yet rarely have the resources to provide anything other than the basic survival needs of their population.

The incredible donors who made this event possible are:
Ben & Jerry’s in Santa Monica
My Friend’s House
Sanford Corporation
BWR Public Relations
U-Haul/Santa Monica
Santa Monica Community College
and several financial donors with great hearts.