project680.org

Novo Nordisk, an international company with an office in Rancho Cordova, dropped by 238 pairs of underwear within the past two weeks. Our new grand total for the Project 680 Underwear Drive is now 3,198 pairs of underwear!!!! We don’t expect any more donations, so this is most likely the final number. Thank you Novo Nordisk and Lisa for your leadership in getting together collections.

So many of us these days are feeling the sting of the current economy, but we have managed to find a way to meet a practical need for students deemed homeless by providing new underwear for them. It has been remarkable to see households and organizations reach into their pockets to advocate for these students – even when many of us are struggling financially ourselves. That’s truly the good stuff in life on so many levels. Thank you everyone for your heart to care for local homeless students. Thank you for embracing this practical cause. Thank you for taking a stand for kids in Rancho Cordova and Folsom. 

May we continue to learn to become people who regularly and creatively discover practical ways to empower students to rise far above their circumstances.

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Thank you again to Butch & Bonnie for opening up their home last Friday for the counting & sorting of all the donated underwear. Let me tell you, Bonnie & Butch are masters of organization and they rigged a very efficient and smooth system for us. Thank you to all who came to count and to Rick too who stopped by on his way to dinner.

Here are a few pictures.

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After our sorting / counting party last night, we are thrilled to announce that together we have collected 2,533 pairs of new underwear for local homeless students. Actually, the Soroptimist Organization dropped off another 70 or so pairs last night after the gathering, so we are North of 2600 pairs now. Furthermore, we know of additional donations that will be coming in over the next two weeks. So in essence, our final number is not yet final.

Thank you everyone for your commitment to this cause and for throwing your time, heart and money into supporting local homeless students in such a practical way. It is touching to see our community come together, especially in an economy where we are watching our money very carefully and pinching every penny. Compassion is not dead.

There will be more details to share in coming weeks and there are definitely more people and groups to thank. It’s time for us to rest for a couple of days and then the passing out will begin early next week.

Way to go!!!!

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Thank you to Cordova Neighborhood Church for being a drop-off location and also for church members who donated generously to the Project 680 Underwear Drive. We appreciate your heart for those who are struggling in our community. Keep up the great work!!! Thank you for your compassion and focus on caring for kids in the community.

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We want to acknowledge the residents of Rancho Cordova and Folsom who have supported the endeavor to collect at least 680 pairs of underwear for local homeless students within the FCUSD. Residents in both cities have been the backbone of the Underwear Drive and we have seen success thus far due to everyday people chipping in here and there. This economy is not an easy one to say the least, but that has not stopped the flow of compassion from locals.

You may be an anonymous donor who simply went to a drop-off location and gave a few pairs or multiple packs of underwear. You probably even told your family and friends too and helped get them involved. We may never know your name, but we admire your kindness and we appreciate your giving. Thank you.

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We are very happy to announce that Curves in Rancho Cordova has donated 130 pairs of new underwear so far for local homeless students for the P680 Underwear Drive. We appreciate their wonderful donation very much and also their heart to support important causes. Curves has previously donated generously to soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Curves, you earn an A+ in our book. Thank you.

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Thank you to River Valley Church in Rancho Cordova for collecting nearly 170 pairs of underwear so far. Congratulations and great work!!! We appreciate your heart for the community in this very practical and important effort.

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As of this past weekend we are very proud to announce that we have at least 1300 pairs of underwear (that we know about). Isn’t that wonderful? Our stated goal was to collect 680 pairs of underwear due to the 680 documented cases of homeless students with the FCUSD last year, but in reality it was our hope that many more would come in.

The more we collect = multiple pairs for students.

Let’s keep going. We will be collecting through this coming Friday, May 8th. Thank you everyone for your generosity.

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Thank you to all who made the lemonade sale a success yesterday. We appreciate the friends, neighbors and passersby who came out to show support and also help out with logistics. Our young entrepeuners were definitely cute too and they did a great job grabbing the attention of anyone passing by. To hear all ten of them bombard cars with “LEMONADE!!!!!” was certainly smile-inducing. They performed their duties well and hopefully they also learned in a little way how important it is to advocate for other children.

Can I get a drum roll please? We are proud to announce that exactly $100.00 was raised to benefit the Project 680 Underwear Drive. A total of $68.51 was donated on-site to our money basket and then to top it off Jeff Dominguez of Exit Realty West was kind to donate $31.49 to bring our grand total to $100.00.

We are so thankful for everybody’s generosity and we are elated to be able to purchase so much new underwear in coming days for local homeless students. We sure had a great time too. It was a blast to mingle with neighbors and friends as well as meet some new folks. Way to go everyone!!!

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We want to give a big thank you to the seniors at the Cordova Senior Center for jumping aboard on this project with such vigor. After only one week a group of seniors have collected over 200 pairs of underwear so far. We are really impressed and inspired by the way they have responded. It is remarkable to watch generosity unfold and we sincerely appreciate their example of caring for young people. Way to go seniors!!!

We know this economy is not easy at all on so many of our households, but somehow even now people are finding ways to get involved in this effort. That’s really something, isn’t it? Let’s keep going and see if we can far surpass our goal of collecting 680 pairs of underwear. The more we collect, the more we will be able to give to local homeless students. Together we can really make a difference.

Keep up the love everyone and let’s continue to discover creative ways to grow in expressing compassion.

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We found out today of some VSP employees who are collecting underwear for the Project 680 Underwear Drive. “VSP” is a vision care company based out of Rancho Cordova. One of their employees found out about Project 680 from her father who lives in a local neighborhood. Thank you to a handful of VSP employees for partnering with us and collecting whatever amount of underwear you end up collecting. We appreciate you and we think it’s great that you are responding to a need that you just learned about.

When people and groups like VSP respond to the underwear drive, we get excited because it means that local homeless students are being thought of and cared for in a very relevant way. And that’s something to really smile about, isn’t it?

We welcome other local businesses and organization to get involved within the next two weeks. Let’s keep going!!!

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My boys are going to do a lemonade sale on this Saturday morning, April 25, between 9-11am in front of our house in Rancho Cordova at 10267 Croydon Way. Come on by to buy a cup of lemonade from the kids who will be selling. Or if you have any donations, feel free to drop ‘em off. I hope to have some neighborhood kids and friends over too. I’ll brew some coffee inside for the adults. If you have kids and they want to be involved, let me know by commenting on this post. Also, if you have a stellar selling table, speak on. We have something adequate, but if you have something amazing, let’s talk. Proceeds will be directed toward buying new underwear for the Project 680 Underwear Drive. If it is raining on Saturday morning, we’ll cancel. Otherwise we are good to go. Call 916-595-3735 with any questions.

Thank you for your support.

Ryan L.

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Recent Supporters:

Thank you to the local Red Robins group for their desire to assist the Project 680 Underwear Drive. Thank you to the “Monday Night Mamas” book club for their donations of underwear and money. Thank you to Curves in Rancho Cordova for their desire to get involved. Thank you also to Sulamo Appraisal Service in Folsom for a donation of underwear.

Let’s keep it coming. Together we can advocate for students in very practical ways. Sometimes it is overwhelming to think of the problem of homelessness and what we might do. Project 680 is all about providing a beginning toward the solution.

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