Family-to-Family

Share Your Bounty

FamtoFamily

When our Orlando community partner Pauline Jackson asked for help with her annual school supplies drive, we reached out to our donors. And you responded overwhelmingly! Pauline held her giveaway “Jamboree” on August 11th, and was able to provide filled backpacks to a record 627 local children in need. She was also able to give out 225 pairs of new shoes, and gave the first 160 families to arrive a basket of food as well. Pauline wrote: “The kids had a blast! We had bounce houses, free hot-dogs, pizza and drinks. Please tell everyone thank you so much for helping to make this back to school outreach the most successful one we have ever had.”

As part of a major community service effort in December and January, 190 employees from WebMD in several U.S. cities took part in F-to-F’s “Bath Pack” project, putting together an impressive 950 personal care item kits for struggling families in need. 120 employees in Indianapolis (Indiana) and another 70 in Portland (Oregon) assembled the kits, which each included shampoo, soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush, deodorant, a comb and a list of WebMD wellness tips. The hygiene products for the kits were donated by High Ridge Brands, MetLife Dental Division, Hillsboro Implants & Periodontics, WebMD Cares and SC Johnson.

Completed “bath packs” were delivered to local social service organizations.

In addition, WebMD employees volunteered at the Portland Rescue Mission to serve breakfast to over 150 homeless, where they distributed more of the personal care item kits.

Catherine Daniel, a Senior Manager of Public Relations for WebMD, explained that the project, “was an opportunity for WebMD to provide those in need with the everyday tools to maintain their hygiene, thus encouraging overall mental and physical health and wellness.”

A group of employee “angels” at Dannon in White Plains, N.Y. put together a whopping 270 “dinners in a bag” for impoverished local families over the holiday season. Using Family-to-Family’s “Let’s Do Dinner!” project as a template, Dannon chefs provided recipes for healthy dinners to Dannon employees, who then shopped for the recipe ingredients and assembled the bags during several half-hour “meal packing competitions.”

A group of employee “angels” at Dannon in White Plains, N.Y. put together a whopping 270 “dinners in a bag” for impoverished local families over the holiday season. Using Family-to-Family’s “Let’s Do Dinner!” project as a template, Dannon chefs provided recipes for healthy dinners to Dannon employees, who then shopped for the recipe ingredients and assembled the ingredients into bags during several half-hour “meal packing competitions.”  Each bag contained all ingredients needed for a full meal for a family of five, plus a copy of the printed recipe.  The bags were delivered to six Westchester County, N.Y. nonprofits that work with families in need (all affiliated with the social services agency Westhab, Inc.), enabling local families to cook a healthy dinner meal from a new recipe!

In an ongoing effort to help local families in need, employees from Stew Leonards grocery store in Yonkers, New York took part in another Family-to-Family project over the holidays (in the past they’ve participated in both our summer backpack and children’s book drives).  This time store team members put together baskets of holiday groceries for families in need through F-to-F’s Holiday Dinner Baskets project.  The baskets were delivered to the nearby Hastings on Hudson, N.Y. community food pantry, where they were given out to some of the 30 families the pantry serves each month.

 

This picture speaks a thousand words! Thanks to a super industrious high-school student from Lyndhurst, Ohio participating in F-to-F’s Stuffed Shirt Project, two nonprofit agencies serving impoverished and homeless children were happily inundated over the holidays with personal care items, warm clothing and more.

As part of his school community service requirement, teenager Richard M. handed out more than 150 flyers publicizing his collection project, and then picked up, organized and delivered over 500 (!) collected items.

His trove of donations included soaps, shampoo, shaving cream, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, tissues, deodorant, warm jackets, snowsuits, blankets, wool socks, boots, towels, toys and much more.

 

When we first had the idea for our Birthday Giving Project back in 2006, we never dreamed it would catch on the way it has! Since then, more than 9,000 children in need from 39 states across the U.S. have received one of our birthday boxes… made by hand by thousands of children and adults at birthday giving parties, office give-back days, bar and bat mitzvahs, scouting events and more. But many more are needed! Please email us to learn how you can make a “birthday in a box” for a child living in poverty.