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The Buena Clinton and Magnolia Park neighborhoods in Garden Grove, CA house many low-income families who need assistance, often necessitating the help of family service agencies. Over the past sixteen years through the efforts of the City of Garden Grove's Community Development Department, Police Department, and Community Services Department along with property owners and community based organizations, great strides have been made in these neighborhoods to provide a safe haven and support for the needs of these under served communities. Since 1998, the City of Garden Grove's Community Services Department along with neighborhood coalitions have led efforts to provide Human Service programs. These efforts are concentrated in three areas of emphasis; Youth Enrichment, Neighborhood Safety, and Community Involvement.
The Buena Clinton Youth and Family Center and Magnolia Park Family Resource Center were established to serve those in need via the City of Garden Grove's Community Services Dept. Families in crisis often find themselves at these Centers in need of housing, food, and the essentials to get through the next few days. Many of those who come to the Centers are victims of abuse seeking a better environment for their children. While supporting their communities with many programs for children and parents along with periodic food distributions, Buena Clinton and Magnolia also provide on-site assistance to families in crises by helping them get out of a caustic and tragic environment and into a balanced and nurturing environment.
Buena Clinton and Magnolia Centers have Emergency Pantry fulfillment needs to help those families coming to them when they have been displaced, abused, or temporarily homeless. Some of these families come with just the clothes on their backs. Basic food provisions, diapers, toothpaste and toilet paper are just a few of the items essential to an Emergency Pantry. Items in a well-stocked pantry can be bagged up and given to families on a last minute's notice while the social service agencies help them get back on their feet and out of a bad environment. Families are no longer afraid; they are fed and they are provided with the basics to get the children off to school and their parents into the workplace while their housing and other needs are being tended to.
We are requesting a matching grant totaling $3,900 ($1,950 from the Garden Grove Rotary Club and $1,950 from Dist. 5320) for the purpose of stocking the Emergency Pantries at both Centers.
We will establish the following Emergency Food Pantry Stocking schedule for Buena Clinton and Magnolia (subject to change but not to extend past May 15, 2015):
Between 10/1/14 - 10/31/14 - Emergency Food Pantry Stocking #1 at both Centers
Between 12/1/14 - 12/31/14 - Emergency Food Pantry Stocking #2 at both Centers
Between 4/1/15 - 4/30/15 - Emergency Food Pantry Stocking #3 at both Centers
Purchases for each Center's stocking "event" will be in the amount of $650 (6 events @ $650 each = total purchases of $3,900). Provisions will vary between non-perishable items to canned food, beans, rice, legumes, diapers, toothpaste, mouthwash, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, etc. We will purchase items from the local Costco and/or Walmart.
We estimate that a minimum of 50% of the members of our club (approx. 12) will be involved in this project. Some Rotarians will work with representatives from both Centers to compile and review the pantry "needs" lists. Rotarians will be responsible for purchasing the items and delivering them to the two pantries. Rotarians will stock the pantries. Our contacts at both Centers will communicate with us when it's time to restock a pantry and this process will be followed every time we do a pantry restocking event.
PUBLIC IMAGE
In conjunction with both Family Resource Centers:
1. We will provide press releases to local community newspapers in addition to the Orange County Register and websites (the City of Garden Grove and the websites for both Centers).
2. We will have one-to-two Cable TV "spots" on (community-access)Channel 3 conducted by the City of Garden Grove's Community Services Dept./Cable Division. Video tapped interviews will include at least 1 Rotarian.
3. We will obtain photos of Rotarians at work purchasing and stocking Emergency Pantries and we will post those photos on various community websites, local newspapers, and our Club's website.
If approved, this project will be the 2nd year we have been able to assist Buena Clinton and Magnolia Family Resource Centers with stocking their Emergency Food Pantries. Our 2013-14 project was very successful and within budget and we believe that this one will be no exception.
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