Source: The Desert Review
Assembly member Eduardo Garcia and AT&T honored three Imperial Valley nonprofits: Brown Bag Coalition, House of Bread Ministries, and Share the Love Charities for their work providing for the homeless.
A grant through AT&T's "Investing in California" program awarded $1,000 to each nonprofit. AT&T approached assembly members, asking them to identify and nominate groups making an impact in the community for the grant, said AT&T Director of External Affairs for Riverside/San Bernardino Julio Figueroa.
“We are happy to be here working with Assemblyman Garcia to award these organizations,” said Figueroa. “This is AT&T’s pleasure, to hopefully be making an impact in the community with these contributions.”
This year, the theme of homelessness, an ongoing issue in California, is what Garcia wanted addressed. Figueroa said that the three chosen organizations are making an impact in the Valley. The awarded funds are unrestricted and organizations will be able to use them for whatever they need to.
“They all have a great story, all doing work to address different facets of the homelessness crisis and we are very happy that they were selected,” said Garcia.
Brown Bag Coalition was started in 2014 by Maribel Padilla in an effort to make a difference in the lives of the homeless in Calexico. From that first cold day in December, they have been able to provide a hot dinner every day, 365 days a year — rain or shine — as well as showers, haircuts, clothes, and toiletries. They also host resource fairs and holiday dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Brown Bag runs entirely on volunteer work and donations.
