Encouragement
Uplifting others is a fairly simple task. It involves little to no preparation, time, money or resources. It's something we can all freely give and receive, yet many of us go days, months even years without lending an encouraging word or feeling encouraged ourselves. Hope Seekers strives to give the gift of encouragement to everyone, and believes that a step toward making the world a better place starts with uplifting others. So... The next time you notice something good about someone, tell them.
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~ Anne Frank
Current Campaign For Hope
OC Burrito Project
Goal: $900
Introducing the OC Burrito Project
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While attending law school, Founder Garrett Dunbar was struggling to find purpose and fulfillment so he began working for environmental nonprofits following a passion to protect the environment and low income populations disproportionately affected by pollution. Seeking a well rounded view of the issues, Garrett was accepted for an internship working for Orange County's Office of County Counsel located in the Hall of Administration in Downtown Santa Ana's Civic Center.
The first day at work, Garrett got out of his car in the parking lot to see more than 500 people lining the walkways of the Civic Center at the base of the County's offices. As a knee jerk reaction, Garrett immediately used his prior volunteering experiences and gathered some friends to help cook and assemble 150 burritos in his apartment and returned to the Civic Center with 200 water bottles to hand them out and interact with the Civic Center community that was seemingly going unnoticed.
Knowing that community awareness and involvement was crucial to the long term goal of ending homelessness, the Orange County Burrito Project (OCBP) was founded in November 2015 and has expanded to now cook and assemble more than 350 burritos each month inside 4th Street Market in Santa Ana with at least 45 volunteers at our Community Street Outreach events.
To date, OCBP has rolled and delivered 5,347 burritos along with bottles of water, goodie bags filled with resources cards, toiletries & nonperishable snacks, as well as clothing & shoes through the direct involvement of nearly 400 volunteers who have been inspired to make a difference in their community through these simple interactions.
Whats your story?
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Our mission is to empower the community to become proactive agents of change, focusing on the multifaceted issues contributing to homelessness, and working together to create a path towards self-sufficiency for our homeless neighbors.
What is the mission of your organization?
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100% of these fundraising efforts will be put directly into our primary programs: Community Street Outreach educating the community about issues affecting our homeless neighbors and Resource Mobilization delivering necessity items such as food, toiletries, resource cards, clothing, and shoes to the homeless population in Orange County.
What will you do with the funds donated?
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As we continue to expand, our Resource Mobilization will include access to legal aid, mental health services, and housing support. Additionally, we hope to use Garrett's background in environmental law to develop environmentally sustainable housing projects including wrap around services and employment options through the catering division of OCBP.
What else would you like our donors to know about you?