County-Wide Campaign Collects Items for Homeless Families with Children
February 22, 2011 (Anaheim, CA) – Today HomeAid Orange County announced Sheriff Sandra Hutchens will Chair their 2011 Essentials for Young Lives Donation Drive in Orange County. Organized by HomeAid, in partnership with the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, the annual campaign will take place the week before Mother’s Day, May 2-6, and will collect essential items such as diapers and other baby supplies.
“We are honored and excited to have Sheriff Hutchens chairing our Essentials for Young Lives Campaign. Sheriff Hutchens understands how important this donation drive is for the homeless mothers and their infants in our community,” said Scott Larson, Executive Director of HomeAid Orange County. “Our goal is to double our collection numbers from last year and be able to provide more than 500,000 “essential” baby items to our agency partners serving homeless families.”
Families are the fastest growing segment of Orange County’s homeless population. Essentials for Young Lives donations enable recipient agencies to save the funds normally spent on baby supplies for use on programs that help their clients achieve self-sufficiency and lead productive, independent lives.
“The men and women of the Orange County Sherriff’s Department know how important transitional housing is to so many Orange County families. By joining with HomeAid and the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, we can help make what is usually a very challenging time just a little more manageable,” said Sherriff Hutchens.
Items collected will be distributed among HomeAid’s sixteen service provider partners who operate facilities built in partnership with HomeAid Orange County and serve homeless families across the county. In 2010, the Campaign collected more than 273,000 baby items. This year, the campaign has set out to collect more than one-half million items.
Donation drop off locations will be located throughout Orange County including many VONS grocery stores and YMCA facilities. For a complete list of donation locations visit www.essentialsforyounglives.org. Online contributions can be made through registries at www.BabiesRUs.com and www.Walmart.com.
HomeAid Orange County
HomeAid Orange County is the founding chapter of a national non-profit organization with the mission to build dignified housing where homeless families and individuals can rebuild their lives. Founded in 1989 by the Orange County Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California, HomeAid acts as the housing developer and liaison between services providers, community volunteers, builders and specialty contractors. To date the organization has completed 41 developments that serve victims of domestic violence, pregnant homeless women, abused and abandoned children, homeless adults living with HIV/AIDS and homeless families. For more information, please visit www.homeaidoc.org.
Children and Families Commission of Orange County
The Children and Families Commission of Orange County oversees the allocation of funds from Proposition 10, which added a 50-cent tax on tobacco products sold in California. Funds help pay for education, health care and child development programs for children from the prenatal stage to age five and their families. The Commission’s goal is to ensure all children are healthy and ready to learn when they enter school. For more information, please visit www.first5oc.org.