BACK ON SKID ROW TO PROVIDE RELIEF TO THE HOMELESS-Feb. 2023

On Sunday, February 5, 2023, Reaching Out California volunteers started the day at the Brown Bag Lady's loft southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. There, we worked alongside her team -- sorting clothing, assembling hygiene kits, and making hundreds of sack lunches for distribution that day to homeless men, women, and children who live on Skid Row. Each sack lunch included a freshly made turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, a bag of chips, a cookie, and a bottle of water. We also prepared an enormous pot of hot minestrone soup we would be serving that day to many of our homeless neighbors.

We then brought the sack lunches and soup, clothing, new socks, and hygiene kits to a street on Skid Row where homeless men and women know to expect the Brown Bag Lady's team of volunteers the first Sunday of each month. Many of the men, women, and children we served were people we knew from earlier visits. Others waited in line for the very first time for the meal, clothes, and necessities we are happy to be able to provide to some of the especially vulnerable people in our community.

Thanks to our generous donors, Reaching Out California was able to purchase 60 brand new backpacks, which we brought with us and distributed with the Brown Bag Lady this month. Backpacks had been requested by a number of the homeless people we've met on Skid Row so they could more easily carry and protect their few belongings. Thank you, Brown Bag Lady, for allowing Reaching Out California to partner with you again to fulfill our common mission: providing relief to people experiencing homelessness.