January is often a time we reflect on the past year and establish goals for the new year. For many there is hope in our hearts and a focus to make this year even better than the last!
While trying to maintain the spirit of the holidays into the new year, this month is often spent enjoying extra time together as a family before school and activity schedules resume. People around the world delight in the wonder of winter and all of the fun that comes with the colder weather. However, some are not so fortunate and when the colder weather arrives, each day is a struggle to stay warm and dry.
If you are local to LA and Orange County, you are probably familiar with the homeless camps that line the streets. This is a national problem though and many cities have similar camps scattered about the sidewalks, river fronts, and public parks. While most cities offer shelters, there are often restrictions on government funding and stay times for the individuals in need. Homeless people must frequently survive in harsh weather conditions such as extreme heat, freezing temperatures, rain, and snow.
This month the ISP campaign was inspired by an event which Kim and her girls experienced earlier this month. For the full story, please check out the latest blog post, What If We Could Make Our Cities Warmer?. We encourage you to join us in making it a goal this year to help those around you in need of some warmth. We are gathering friends young and old to decorate our town with new or gently used coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Our goal is to supply our friends currently not as fortunate as ourselves with items to keep them warm and clean this winter. We will also be collecting NEW socks, plain t-shirts, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, etc. to leave with these items as well.
If you are local to Orange County there will be an event on Sunday, February 11th at 3:00pm to organize supplies and write warm notes. If you are elsewhere in the world, we encourage you to organize your own event and have directions below on how you can do it in your own city.
