{"id":28784,"date":"2023-11-22T08:51:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T13:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=28784"},"modified":"2023-11-22T08:51:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T13:51:59","slug":"ymca-students-members-unite-to-fight-homelessness-and-food-insecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=28784","title":{"rendered":"YMCA students, members unite to fight homelessness and food insecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Students from the YMCA’s BASE program are pictured with the donations they collected on behalf of local organizations. Pictured with the students (left to right) are Claudia Aust of the YMCA, Ruby Abouraya of Safe Harbor of Chester County, Kecia Crowl of Kennett Area Community Service, Rachel Thomas Steadman of Bridge of Hope, Chaleena Boggs of Safe Harbor of Chester County, Patrice Stilley of Meals on Wheels of Chester County, Laura Mackiewicz of the YMCA and Bertram L. Lawson, II of the YMCA.<\/p><\/div>\n

WEST CHESTER \u2013 For many, the holiday season is a time for\u00a0sharing\u00a0meals, gifts and quality time\u00a0with family and friends. At the YMCA of Greater Brandywine, it is also a time\u00a0to share with neighbors in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u00a0can\u00a0be stressful for many families\u00a0to navigate the\u00a0cost of living amidst the festivities\u00a0at this time of year,\u201d explains Laura Mackiewicz, Director of Volunteer Engagement for the YMCA of Greater Brandywine. \u201cAt the Y, we want to be part of the solution, enabling our community to come together in acts of giving\u00a0this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

YMCA Members\u00a0are uniting across the association\u00a0as sponsors for the Thanksgiving Baskets and Holiday Angels programs, which provide\u00a0meal kits or holiday gifts to more than\u00a01,700 children and their families.\u00a0In addition, youth enrolled in\u00a0the YMCA\u2019s\u00a0Before and After School Enrichment (BASE) programs\u00a0collected shelf stable foods\u00a0to support community members experiencing hunger\u00a0and homelessness in Chester County.<\/p>\n

Nationally, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week took\u00a0place from Nov 11 \u2013 18, aiming to raise awareness and inspire action.\u00a0It is fitting that this week happens just before the Thanksgiving holiday, a time when the stress of food and financial insecurity is exacerbated.<\/p>\n

As an opportunity for education and action, the\u00a0YMCA partnered with local agencies to educate the 930 students enrolled in their BASE program. Earlier this month, representatives from community agencies across Chester County visited\u00a0BASE program sites\u00a0to help students understand\u00a0the factors behind food and housing insecurity\u00a0and how their agencies provide\u00a0support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited to partner with other community organizations\u00a0to teach our students,\u201d comments Claudia Aust, Senior Director of Before and After School Enrichment (BASE) for the Y. \u201cIt\u00a0gives our students an opportunity to\u00a0learn, to\u00a0volunteer\u00a0and to connect to their community.\u201d<\/p>\n

YMCA students collected over 1,000 pounds of self-stable food\u00a0that will be distributed by local agencies, including Chester County Food Bank, Safe Harbor, Meals on Wheels of Chester County, Octorara Food Pantry, Bridge of Hope and Kennett Area Community Service.\u00a0Agency representatives returned to the Y last week to collect the donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to partner with the YMCA of Greater Brandywine students,\u201d\u00a0said Ruby Abouraya, Development Director at Safe Harbor. \u201cCombining education with action takes away the stigma associated with individuals who may be experiencing food or housing insecurity. Every one of our clients is a neighbor\u00a0\u2013 perhaps a\u00a0father, a sister\u00a0or a grandmother. We are all a part of the same community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the community who want to get into the spirit of giving are invited to sponsor\u00a0a child\u00a0who otherwise may not receive holiday gifts.\u00a0Those able to sponsor a child can visit one of seven YMCA branches in Chester County by Dec 1 to select a wish list. Items\u00a0purchased\u00a0from the\u00a0wish list must be returned\u00a0to the YMCA by Dec 4.<\/p>\n

There are other ways to contribute to the YMCA\u2019s Holiday Angels program. The YMCA is looking for donors to sign\u00a0up<\/a>\u00a0as on-call sponsors\u00a0or to donate gift cards to retailers such as Amazon, Target\u00a0and Walmart.\u00a0This helps the YMCA provide\u00a0support to families who are on a waitlist for the Holiday Angels program. The YMCA will also accept donations of wrapping paper and tape at seven branch locations, through Dec 4\u00a0\u2013 and is looking for volunteers\u00a0to sign up<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0help distribute\u00a0donated gifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no better time to get involved at the YMCA,\u201d continues Mackiewicz. \u201cI hope that many will choose to celebrate the season of giving by sharing with a neighbor. You won\u2019t regret it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To view a video recap of the BASE donor drive: <\/b>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jwD9QRJL7Vc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0To learn about Thanksgiving Baskets and Holiday Angels: <\/b>\u00a0https:\/\/ymcagbw.org\/holiday-support<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To learn about volunteering at the Y: <\/b>https:\/\/ymcagbw.org\/give\/volunteer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To learn about the BASE Program: <\/b>https:\/\/ymcagbw.org\/before-and-after-school-childcare<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To learn about Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week: <\/b>https:\/\/hhweek.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEST CHESTER \u2013 For many, the holiday season is a time for\u00a0sharing\u00a0meals, gifts and quality time\u00a0with family and friends. At the YMCA of Greater Brandywine, it is also a time\u00a0to share with neighbors in need. \u201cIt\u00a0can\u00a0be stressful for many families\u00a0to navigate the\u00a0cost of living amidst the festivities\u00a0at this time of year,\u201d explains Laura Mackiewicz, Director […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[8481,6079,2115],"class_list":["post-28784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-food-insecurity","tag-homelessness","tag-ymca-of-brandywine-valley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28785,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28784\/revisions\/28785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}