project680.org

This 9-year old girl used some of her birthday money to support the Socks & Undies drive. Her family has a goal to collect 100 items, so she’s doing her part to meet that goal. Truly inspiring. Thank you.

Remember, we have until the last day of April to collect 1000 pairs of socks and 1000 pairs of underwear for homeless students in the Folsom Cordova School District. Throughout this month, may we all have a childlike love like this sweet 9-year old girl. May we simply pay attention to needs around us and find ways to respond.

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It was so good to be with everyone tonight at City Hall for the Head to Toe finale. We are humbled at the way people stepped forward during this drive, and so thankful to see how the community chooses to advocate for students in our school district. Thank you for doing your part - whether big or small. Thank you also to Rancho Cordova City Hall staff and workers for being so hospitable for our meeting tonight. There are many people and groups to thank in coming days and weeks. We’ll be getting to that. For the time being, please watch a one-minute video to hear the tremendous results (watch below or here).

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This is an amazing photo thanks to an all-star 6-year old and her family. Instead of birthday gifts, this sweet girl in Folsom accepted donations to Project 680. Here they are holding up donations that came in as well as plates that say “Project 680″. The birthday party gathered the following: $8 for purchasing shoes, 18 pairs of new underwear, 54 pairs of new socks and 5 new zip-front hoodies. This is such a touching example of what love and generosity looks like. Thank you to the birthday girl (and her family for spurring her on to be compassionate). Awesome stuff everyone!!

We are still looking for people to get involved in the “Head to Toe” drive, so let us know if you’re intersted and available. We love when people come up with an idea and simply run with it. That’s the best. Use your creativity, abilities, connections and passions for the sake of others. Life for the sake of others. That’s a pretty good mentality.

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Hey everyone. Here is the “Head to Toe” promo video. Watch below (or here) and feel free to share anywhere online and even on your blog or website. Let’s spread the word since this drive is coming soon (Oct 7 to Nov 7). Remember you can use any of these images when promoting the drive too. Let’s do this!!

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Do you need an easy way to spread the word about the “Head to Toe” Drive? Here you go. Thank you so much Jeff Templeton for designing us some images to be shared on blogs, flyers, posters, websites or wherever. Feel free to use these images in a way to show your support for Project 680 since our next drive kicks off from October 7 to November 7. Thank you Jeff. This is a real blessing for everyone, and we appreciate you sharing your talent with us. Thank you everyone who shares about the “Head to Drive” online. Let’s do this!!

Download an image by right-clicking on an image and then selecting “save picture as”. We’d love to check out how you’re using an image on your site, blog, Facebook, Twitter, a flyer, poster or elsewhere. Don’t forget to link to www.project680.org too.

Project 680 Web Image (Good for Blog Posts 530 x 148 pixels)

Project 680 Blog or Website Sidebar Image (200 x 56 pixels)

Project 680 Banner for Website or Blog Header (1024 x 287 pixels) – CLICK IMAGE

Project 680 Facebook Banner (851 x 315 pixels) – CLICK IMAGE

NOTE: Click on thumbnail image to see larger size. Jeff’s image was used for the Facebook banner, but we also added some shoes to the image too from McPeak Design.

Thank you for your support. Let’s flex some grassroots muscle and love homeless students from “head to toe”. Together we can and will make a difference.

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What do you get when you combine Folsom Middle School, Folsom Lake High School and a desire to collect hygiene items for homeless students? Answer: 2,639 items collected. Thank you so much everyone for dreaming up this idea and running with it. There was overwhelming support in the Folsom community, particularly from Folsom Lake Middle School. Big thanks to students, student government, teachers, administration and the Folsom Rotary Club for being so intentional to care for local homeless students. Way to go!!!

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Thank you so much to the 35 riders for taking part in the Project 680 bike ride yesterday. We hope you enjoyed yourself, especially if it was your first time on the trails. Thank you for your generous donations of underwear and financial contributions too. Thank you for caring for homeless students in such a practical (and fun) way. A special thanks to Project 680 committee member Jennifer Tartaglia for planning the short ride yesterday. Big kudos to Councilmember Ken Cooley for stopping by as well as FCUSD Board Member Zak Ford and CRPD Board Member Rick Sloan.

We don’t yet have a tally of all that was collected during the underwear drive, but that should come soon this week on our website and Facebook page. All it takes to tackle community issues is for residents to get intentional and focused. Many times it’s just a matter of deciding to be a part of the solution, and then taking small steps in the direction of a solution. Thank you for doing that yesterday in a very practical way.

Let’s keep moving forward. We’ll be announcing good news about the underwear drive soon. And we’ll be gearing up for an emphasis in the Fall too.

Photo Credit: May is Bike Month Facebook Page

Thank you!!!

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Facebook birthdays are always nice because of all the love you get in your inbox. But what if you could take some of that love and direct it toward a good cause? Is that even possible? Our friend Scott Eggert logged in to his account this morning and posted at the crack of dawn before the birthday avalanche began. What did Scott say? Scott announced his birthday and also invited friends to purchase underwear for the Project 680 Underwear Drive. Pretty cool stuff, Scott. We love it. And since Scott posted publicly and his company tweeted about it, it was free game to share here. 

Anyone want to buy Scott some undies for this birthday? I’m game for 10 pairs (this is Ryan here).

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Thank you to all of our drop-off locations so far. We really appreciate you stepping up to the plate. If anyone else is interested, speak on. We would like to see 6 or so more. The drive goes through May 19, so there is so much time to still get things rolling. In fact, since things have been a bit on the slower side to start, we would LOVE to see some more momentum build.

Drop-Off Locations:
Andelin household: 1972 Tyndrum Ln.  Folsom CA 95630
Denny’s: 2474 Sunrise Boulevard  Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Fairfield Inn & Suites: 10745 Gold Center Dr. Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Lewkowitz household: 9278 Louis street, elk grove ca 95624
Rancho Cordova City Hall: 2729 Prospect Park Drive Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Williams household: 4257 Emmons Circle, Mather 95655
Zak Ford household: 4252 Mustic Way, Mather

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A brief recorded thank you message from Trish & Charlene of the office of the Liaison for Homeless Services in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District. Give it a quick listen (less than 45 seconds). Thank you all Project 680 supporters!!

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We wanted to give a heads-up that we plan to launch a Spring drive very soon. We have a committee meeting tomorrow to talk over the most pressing needs in the school district so we can make a decision about what to focus on.

Thoughts on Volunteering: Regarding volunteering, we are a 100% volunteer operation. If you are volunteering your time and energy to Project 680, you’re part of the family. Thank you!! As you know, we are more service-oriented and not so much event-oriented. This means usually we don’t have many large events needing big groups to pull things off. This doesn’t mean large groups cannot be involved of course, but only that our volunteering opportunities do not focus on big events usually. We encourage larger (or smaller groups) to find and invent ways to partner with us in their own unique way. For instance, if we were doing an underwear drive, we would ask the question: How would you like to be involved? We might give some ideas, but we also love to give groups space to be creative too. For instance, a large group might be able to be a drop-off location for the community, do a collection contest at the office, pull off a sporting event fundraiser or do a BBQ for the community or friends. All things considered, there is so much room for creative partnership and support and we are thrilled to see local individuals, businesses, churches and households step up to make a difference. We are open to your ideas and support.

Thank you everyone for your heart to serve homeless students and for being so intentional about being involved.

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These are some thank you letters from students who received new shoes from the Project 680 Foot Drive recently. These students are documented as homeless by the FCUSD. Thank you everyone for your support and for making this happen. A very special thank you to Rancho Cordova Rotary for providing $4,000 toward the shoe drive. This year we provided more shoes for students than ever before.

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A special message to Foot Drive supporters from Trish Antonetti and Charlene Hunt of the FCUSD. Please watch and hear how thankful and excited Trish & Charlene are to have your support. You made a big difference!!!

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