Giving food to homeless in Ventura California - Day 1

PLEASE HELP!  

Immediate need for the homeless in Ventura California!

Please help by calling me directly to give me your donation (I will pick it up) at 805-765-1113 or e-mail:  tootallspottery@gmail.com 

Thanks, Matt ;) 

A dear red headed friend of mine (she knows who she is) posted on her Facebook that she needed some food and cloths for the homeless. She has been such an inspiration to me and I am so grateful and proud to have her in my life! She is the one that gave me the inspiration to do this tonight :) I thought well I am doing this website for the homeless (California Homeless Resources) so I should get my ass out on the streets and see what I can do. While I was at the 99 Cent store I thought my other friend Bryan from Jewelery My Tattoo gave me $100.00 for a piece of pottery he wanted me to make for him. I spent the $100.00 and paid it forward... :) P.S. Don't worry you will still get that piece of pottery eventually... 

This is the stuff I bought for the the homeless in Ventura tonight with that $100.00 Bryan sent to me. They all seemed to be very good things to get. I will list the items below:

• 352 Nature Valley Trail Bars (30 to a box)
• Dog food (taken right away) Good thing to have on hand
• Facial Tissue
• Scarfs
• Pretzels
• Small Peanut Butter packs (to go with the pretzels)
• Toilet Paper
• Body Wash
• 2 blankets I had in the van
• 1 pillow
• Bottle water

This is the picture below after the trip, as you can see I gave away about half of the product in less than two hours and only visiting 3 places. 

I learned a whole lot on my first night out. I will document it cuz it is fresh in my mind and I want to remember it for next time I will be able to go out. I called my dear friend John while I was out, he works with the homeless full time down in Southern California. He told me about this organization USICH that I will call tomorrow. It stands for united States interagency council on Homelessness. He also told me about the  McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act This agency I guess has grants that I can apply for to be able to do this work full time and maybe help open up or at least make sure that every City in California has a homeless shelter and it has enough resources to meet the needs of the community. This act has a ton of government grant money that I should be able to tap into. He also gave me these tips which I used tonight. Keep in mind this guy does this full time all day so he knows what he is talking about. He said that what he always runs out of is two things:  1. Warm fresh socks and 2. Feminine hygiene products. Ya I don't really want to buy 10 cases of tampons being a guy so I think I will ask someone to do that for me preferably a female volunteer... ;) Anyway those things will be some of the items I will be stocking up on to pass out to individual homeless people or homeless encampments in Ventura ca. I also learned that the way to approach someone that you think may be homeless is to - ASK FOR THEIR HELP. This makes them feel helpful and doesn't piss them off. I did that tonight and it worked really well. I got lots of hugs and they were really cool. He also said that December 21st is supposed to be the longest coldest day of the year and it is homeless persons; Memorial Day

December 21.  The first day of winter. The longest night of the year.  It is also Homeless Persons' Memorial Day.  For a moment, let's consider the homeless and what it's like to be them.

• Homeless people die from illnesses that affect everyone, frequently without health care. Some experts say the average age at death is 46 if you're homeless. Homeless people die from exposure, unprotected fro the heat and the cold Homeless people die from violence, often in unprovoked hate crimes

 Now, consider the following:

• Health care is a human right
• Housing is a human right
• Physical safety is a human right

December 21.  The first day of winter, the longest night of the year.

Remember the homeless, part of the human family, who have died without homes.  They are your friends and neighbors.  Remember why they died and be part of a solution to make homelessness a thing of the past.

Again, I want to thank my THREE friends that got me out of the house and gave of themselves so that others could be more comfortable. We have power in numbers and networking is a good thing... :)

Please help California Homeless Resources by donating some money, canned food or some cloths, etc... I am fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time right now setting this Website/Charity up and I sure would like to spread the word and get some help to these poor people that really need our help. We are all connected and we all need to work together to solve this problem. It is FREEEEEKEN cold right now and these people need warm stuff:  Blankets, gloves, jackets, sleeping bags, beanies, etc... Please help by calling me directly to give me your donation (I will pick it up) at 805-765-1113 or e-mail:  tootallspottery@gmail.com 

Thanks, Matt ;) 

Please Support California Homeless Resources!

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