project680.org

Life has been a whirlwind as we’ve been prepping for the Shoe Drive this month (because of everyone’s generosity in previous months), but we wanted to finally sit down to take a moment to say THANK YOU to so many who made the Project 680 Foot Drive a success. In all, we collected 2,841 pairs of new socks, $850 in cash/checks and $450 in Payless Shoe Cards. On top of all of this, Rancho Cordova Rotary ended up donating $4,000 toward the Shoe Drive and Inner Wheel in Rancho Cordova was responsible for $400 out of the $850 cash/checks.

What does all this mean? Essentially, we will be able to invite more documented homeless students to the shoe event this year than ever before. The record has been broken this year and that is a wonderful thing. On top of a private shoe event for homeless students in Rancho Cordova and Folsom, we’ll have resources and funds available to help students in coming months ahead.

Thank you for listening and then responding to an important local issue…. student homelessness. Your generosity will go a long way to take care of some of the basic needs that students have.

NOTE: We tried hard to get everyone on the list. If we accidentally forgot your name or misspelled your name, please lend us mercy and let us know so we can add you (please let us know). Also, there are so many anonymous donors. We really don’t know everyone who has been involved.

Drop-Off Locations:
Bueno-Williams household
Callen Pool Supply
Cordova Community Council
Creations Botique
First Covenant Church
Ford household
Gold River Floors – Carpet One
Heritage Community Credit Union
Mama Sue’s Soul Food Kitchen
Norris household
O’Connor household
Rancho CordovaCity Hall

Food Donors for Pancake Celebration
Councilmember Ken Cooley
Alan Withers
Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club

Project 680 Supporters:
Lisa & Bryan Allen
Anonymous Donors
Jinny B.
Mary B.
Biddle Consulting Group, Inc.
Don Black
Bueno-Williams Household
George Burnash
Aileen Callen
Callen Pool Supply
Sara Carlson
Tom & Pam Carroll
Capital Christian Center
Kim Chambers
City of Rancho Cordova Employees
Councilmember Ken Cooley
Cordova Church of Christ
Cordova Community Council
Cordova Neighborhood Church
Creations Botique
Ellie E.
Facebook friends of the Project 680 page
Charles F.
Financial donors
First Baptist Church of Fair Oaks
First Covenant Church
Folsom Cordova Community Partnership
Folsom Middle School
Zak Ford & Family
Andy Gee
God’s Girls Club with Patty Bradley
Gold River Floors, Inc. – Carpet One
Fred Hammer
Carole Hanna
Heritage Community Credit Union
Diane H.
Donna H.
Jorge & Katherine H.
Inner Wheel of Rancho Cordova
Meridith Krekelberg
Ella L.
Mama Sue’s Soul Food Kitchen
Haley McDonald
McPeak-Design
Julie Norris
Patty O’Connor
Red Robins Red Hat Ladies
Aaron & Amy Redelsperger
Daniel & Silvia S.
Peter J. ShieldsElementary School
Stephanie Snyder
Sturdivant Family
Karen Teague
Tiffany Tempke
Lorianne Ulm
Volunteer Center of Sacramento
Volunteers who helped with pancake dinner
Lindsey Watkins
Lisa Watkins
Ernie West
George W.
Alan Withers
Anyone we forgot to add to the list 

City Hall Facilities Department:
Thank you also to the facilities department at City Hall in Rancho Cordova for their help with our celebration finale.

Cordova Community Council:
Thank you to the Cordova Community council for your tremendous support and for being our 501c3 sponsor.

Project 680 Committee Members:
Charlene Hunt, Sheryl Longsworth, Shannan West, Ryan Lundquist, Melody Mayer, Jennifer Tartaglia & Jimin Song.

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Can we get a drumroll please?

We are extremely excited to announce that 2,706 pairs of socks were counted as of last night. Thank you everyone!!! Amazing job!!! We know this number will only rise in coming days too. We have not yet tallied the total for financial contributions, but we will have that figure later today (we’ll definitely meet our goal of at least $680 for Payless Shoe cards!!!). Stayed tuned here and on our Facebook page.

There are so many stories to tell about how this all came together. The Project 680 team really made this happen and there are truly so many people to thank. We didn’t hear much buzz this time around in recent weeks, so we were honestly thinking things were slow. Clearly they were not!!! In coming days we’ll share some specific stories about individuals, organizations and others who made this happen. In fact, we’d love to share your story if you’d like to put a few sentences or a paragraph together to share about why you were involved and what you did exactly (email it to us). Many thanks are on the way!!!

Lastly, thank you everyone for coming out to the pancake finale dinner last night. We had a really wonderful time and we had just enough food too. We are exponentially thankful for the Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club and Rancho Cordova Councilmember Ken Cooley for donating all food and handling all cooking also. This was a tremendous gift for the community.

Very well done!!!!!!!!!

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We are on the home stretch of the Project 680 Foot Drive, and we are gearing up for a huge push this next week before November 9. And we need your help to get the word out to locals about supporting the Foot Drive. We are aiming to collect a ton of NEW socks for homeless students, so let’s push together and have a little contest while we’re at it.

Free Tickets Anyone? We had an individual step forward to donate 4 ice-skating tickets to the outdoor holiday ice rink in Rancho Cordova (along with a $20 Starbucks card). The outdoor ice rink will be open from November 10 to January 16 in the Capital Village shopping center, so bring your family or friends, do some Figure 8s and grab some drinks at Starbucks around the corner. What a fun and FREE family-friendly date!!

How to Enter the Contest: All you need to do to enter the contest is tell others about the Foot Drive between now and November 9. Yes, that’s all. We want to get the word out that we are aiming to collect new socks for homeless students in the FCUSD (and Payless Shoe Source gift cards so we can take kids shopping). Where can you share this information? Email, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, your blog, website, call your Grandma, etc… You can direct people toward www.project680.org/foot for more information or send them to our Facebook page.

What Should you Share? We recommend sharing THIS link with friends. Post it anywhere you’d like. Or maybe you can share THIS video or even this very post. Or come up with a post or video of your own so people can get involved.

Don’t Forget to Tell us You Shared: The only thing we need to know is that you did spread the word. The best way for us to know is for you to tell us on our Facebook page, comment below, use the RT ”@ reply” on Twitter to “@project680″ or email us. This is the honor system and we trust the P680 family. We’ll keep a detailed list of everyone who spreads the love and then we’ll pick a winner on November 9 at our pancake finale dinner.

Pure Motives: We know the Project 680 family doesn’t do what they do to get free stuff. We are all volunteers and we walk in love because it is our duty. But someone stepped forward with a free opportunity and we’re going to milk it for what it’s worth to help energize the final stretch. Thank you for being am ambassador to serve local homeless students.

Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you so much for your support!!!

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love” Mother Theresa

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We wanted to post a message from the Kiwanis Club in Rancho Cordova since they do great work and they are actually donating food for our pancake finale dinner on November 9. This is a great cause and something we support. Let us know if you have any questions.

———————— message from Alan Withers ————————

Hello to the residents and supporters of the great City of Rancho Cordova:

I am pleased to have served you the for the past 40 years as an educator and community activist.   I am now calling upon you for help this year for many of our at-risk citizens.  The Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club has for over 20 years provided Thanksgiving Baskets to our families with the help of the City of Rancho Cordova and many other community organizations.  This year we are collecting turkeys or chickens and giving them to the Rancho Cordova Food Locker.

As you have read in The Grapevine, Walt Little and the crew at the Food Locker are short 1,000 turkeys for their annual giveaway on November 21st.   I have also talked to Charlene Hunt, the Folsom Cordova School District Homeless Advocate, and she has over 1,250 families in need in Rancho Cordova.   So our goal is to collect 2,000 turkeys or chickens to give to the Rancho Cordova Food Locker.

The Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club is donating $1,000 towards this project.  I have contacted Monica Ortiz at Grocery Outlet and, with the shortage of turkeys this year, we also ordered 250 – 5 pound chickens.  I challenge the other service clubs and community organizations to collect turkeys (10 pounders) or 5 pound chickens.

The turkeys and chickens will be stored at Grocery Outlet.   Linda Burkholder from Family Support Services is leading the school district effort.  We are asking the PTA’s and student council’s in our schools to collect funds or turkeys and chickens.   Dawn Hall is heading up the Chamber of Commerce effort.  She is sending out a flyer to all businesses in our area.  Shelly Blanchard is getting the word out to the Rancho Cordova Community Council, and Mayor Bob McGarvey is talking to the City Council.   The turkeys and chickens can be purchased at the Grocery Outlet and dropped off at their store for storage.

If you are going to Project 680′s dinner on November 9th, ( at City Hall) you can drop off your turkeys with Ryan Lunquist or Alan Withers.   If you are making a cash donation, please make the check out to THE RANCHO CORDOVA FOOD LOCKER.  Checks can be dropped off at City Hall to Shelly Blanchard, Dawn Hall,  Mayor McGarvey, or at the Grapevine.

Thank you,

Alan Withers, R.C.Kiwanis Club and retired educator

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Come out to First Covenant Church’s ”Harvest Carnival” on Sunday October 30 from 5-8pm. We are so excited to have their support for the Foot Drive. They’ve invited us to be a charity recipient for this event. So come on by, have some fun and drop off socks at our table. Thank you First Covenant!!

FREE ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

ferris wheel
giant yellow slide
rock wall
surfing booth
train rides
jump houses
laser tag arena
trunk-n-treat
carnival games
preschool area
cupcake walk
live band
dance arena
much, much more!

First Convenant Church
10933 Progress Court
Rancho Cordova, California 95670

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We just got word today that Heritage Community Credit Union is on board as a “drop-off” location for the Project 680 Foot Drive. They have bins set up at their Rancho Cordova and Folsom locations as listed below. Thank you Heritage Community Credit Union, generous Heritage employees and customers who will donate. We sincerely appreciate you.

Heritage Community Credit Union Mills Center
10339 Folsom Blvd., Ste. A.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

Heritage Community Credit Union Folsom
2791 E. Bidwell St., Ste. 100
Folsom, CA 95630

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If you plan to eat dinner on November 9 anyway, why not eat with us? Enjoy a free “breakfast for dinner” at Rancho Cordova City Hall from 5-7pm. We’ll feast on pancakes, eggs, potatoes, bacon and OJ. Just drop by some new socks for our Foot Drive or donate a Payless Shoe Source Gift Card. This dinner is for anyone who donated throughout the Foot Drive. All food has been donated by the Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club and Councilmember Ken Cooley. We’ll have food for 100 people and we hope that includes you. You can RSVP on Facebook or comment below. It would be helpful to know who plans to come. Thanks so much.

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Thank you to McPeak Design for making us a logo for the Foot Drive (pro bono work). We love it and we sincerely appreciate your hard work and creativity. Anyone is welcome to use the following logos on your blog, website, video, church bulletin, at the office or wherever you’d like. Make sure to link to the site at www.project680.org or directly at www.project680.org/foot.

Thank you again McPeak Design for your generosity in donating a logo for us to use.

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Thank you to all of our “Foot Drive” drop-off locations so far. We appreciate people and businesses stepping forward to be a place where community members can drop by socks or Payless Shoe Source Gift Cards. We’d love to see more drop-offs too – especially in Folsom. See www.project680.org/foot for details about the Foot Drive that begins today.

Drop-Off Locations:
Bueno-Williams household:  4257 Emmons Circle, Mather 95655
Callen Pool Supply: 10363 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Cordova Community Council:  2729 Prospect Park Dr, Ste 117, Rancho Cordova 95670
Creations Botique:  10415 Folsom Blvd, #104 Rancho Cordova CA 95670
First Covenant Church: 10933 Progress Court Rancho Cordova, California 95670 (in lobby)
Ford household:  4252 Mustic Way Mather CA 95655
Gold River Floors – Carpet One: 11367 Pyrites Way, Ste A Rancho Cordova, CA  95670
Mama Sue’s Soul Food Kitchen:  10113 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Norris household: 10724 Bellone Way Rancho Cordova, 95670
Rancho Cordova City Hall:  2729 Prospect Park Drive Rancho Cordova 95670

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We are very excited to launch the Project 680 “Foot Drive” this coming week and we’ll be looking to team up with many locals to make this a success. Would you be interested in partnering together to care for homeless students? We’re looking for individuals, households, churches, schools, businesses…

Socks:  We will be collecting NEW (not used) socks in all sizes and appropriate styles for boys and girls in grades K-12. Our goal is to collect 680 packages of socks so that each student will be able to have one week’s worth of new socks. We have word that the older students do prefer ankle socks.

Shoes:  Our goal is to collect $680 in Payless Shoe Source gift cards (or checks) in order to put shoes on the feet of students in need. These funds will support both the annual shoe drive in December and immediate needs when they arise. We DO NOT accept actual shoes because kids will pick out a size and style that fits perfectly. Checks can be made out to “Cordova Community Council” our non-profit sponsor. Read more here about why Payless Shoe Source is a great fit for us.

Together we can make a difference in the lives of homeless students in our community. Not only will new socks and shoes meet a very relevant and practical need, but it will also speak volumes to students about how the community is looking out for them. Please consider getting involved.

Download the “Foot Drive” flyer (pdf) HERE.

Pancake Celebration Dinner:  Come to our Pancake Dinner Celebration on Wednesday Nov 9 2011 from 5:00-7:00pm at Rancho Cordova City Hall (2729 Prospect Park Drive Rancho Cordova CA 95670). We plan to have a celebration meal for those who donated to the Foot Drive, so come drop off your donations and enjoy a free dinner including pancakes, bacon, potatoes and eggs. Yes, this is breakfast for dinner at it’s best. We’ll provide dinner for 100 people, so first come first serve. Thank you for your donations and thank you to the Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club and Councilmember Ken Cooley for donating all food!!

See www.project680.org/foot for all “drop-off” locations and many ways to get involved. Let us know if you have any questions and “like” us on Facebook to follow the conversations in the Foot Drive.

Let’s do this!!! Thank you everyone for your support!!

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This is why we do a shoe event each year in December and why we are rolling out a “Foot Drive” in just a couple weeks. More details coming very soon about the Foot Drive, but be ready to collect some new socks and Payless Shoe Source gift cards!! What do you think of these shoes? Can you believe some students in the FCUSD are wearing shoes like this?

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This message is for Folsom High School students, Mrs. Devore, Allie, The Tom’s Club and the Good Karma Club. Thank you SO much for supporting Project 680. We are so grateful for your generous donation of $400 as well as the 786 pairs of socks that came from the Tom’s Club. This was an enormous blessing and a significant part of making the recent underwear drive a success. Keep growing in compassion. Thank you.

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We left our previous underwear count of 2,983 in the dust. The new total as of today is 3,205 thanks to an altruistic bunco group (with ties to Cordova Church of Christ), Rancho Cordova Soroptimists and Danielle Bradley’s pre-K class at Brighton Schools in Folsom. Way to go!! Thank you so very much.

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