» Christmas Was Extra Special This Year. Warmth Drive 2011 / EMORTAL

Tuesday 27 December, 2011

Christmas Was Extra Special This Year. Warmth Drive 2011

Christmas 2011 was extra special. Spending time with family from out of town on Christmas eve and watching the Lakers vs. Bulls game @ the Staples Center on Christmas day. (BTW. The Laker’s loss didn’t ruin my day.) But what made it extra special was early Christmas morning.

If you are viewing this blog post consider yourself lucky. You are probably viewing it from the comfort of your own home or someplace comfortable. This is my second year volunteering with a group of extraordinary friends and their Warmth Drive project this Christmas morning. Unfortunately the people we distributed the warm items to will probably never read this post or see their photos. On the other hand, for those who read this post, I hope you can hopefully someday help us by volunteering or donating to the Warmth Drive in the future.
If you didn’t read my blog post last year, the Warmth Drive started with a few friends headed by Des Magno & Kay Montilla. For the last 5 or 6 years during Christmas time they would collect warm items like blankets, gloves, tents, and (this year sandwiches and water) from friends and family, gift wrap them, and distribute them to the homeless in DTLA’s Skid Row.
I was suppose to meet with them at 5:45am but was running late. When I got there, I hopped into one of the four cars that was part of the distribution team. Skid Row may not be a big area, but the homeless population can be pretty dense in certain parts, so we split the group into two caravans to cover the areas evenly.

When we got out of the car to hand out their warm items I began to understand more about the meaning of humanity. I would approach them, greet them by saying hello and asked them if I can give them something for Christmas. I can see in their faces that a simple hello and a smile can keep them warm on a cold Christmas morning. In return, a sincere thank you and a smile back from them gave me back the warmth as well. That’s humanity.
There are so many reasons why the homeless exists in our society. We may not understand all their reasons for being there, but together we can find different solutions to help many of them get out of this epidemic. You can be part of the solution by making everyone aware of the problem and by volunteering your time or by donating goods to your local charities. Show them you care.
We can always pop bottles at clubs, floss your wealth with the clothes you wear, the car you drive, & we can celebrate our accomplishments anytime. We at EMORTAL believe it is much more important to keep it real with yourself and give back to your community when you can. You don’t have to give your life savings or give money to every homeless person you see. A simple hello, a smile or a gesture of acknowledgement to them can uplift their spirit and hopefully yours. Shout outs to the Warmth Drive 2011 crew Des & Marvin Magno, Carmela Ocampo, Kay Montilla, Virgil Tolentino, Leah Ballecer, Mark Zarceno, Rochelle Lagasca, Jessica Fajardo, JHo, & Ashley.