project680.org

We are very excited about the Project 680 Community Bike Ride, and we want to invite you and your friends to join us. Even if you haven’t been on a bike for 25+ years, you can do this family-friendly ride, and raise some money for shoes for homeless students in the process.

The Ride: On Saturday, 11/07/09 at 11am, we will ride from Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova to River Bend Park (next to bridge). The entire ride along the paved American River trail will take 15-20 at the most. Riders can go at their own pace and enjoy the company of friends, family, co-workers and even a “Riding for Shoes” Team if you put one together (people at the office, a group of friends, your entire family, church or business maybe).

This is a short bike ride and we welcome all ages and backgrounds. We also welcome folks to meet us at River Bend Park if they wish to not bike at all.

Money Stuff: We suggest a $5.00 donation per rider or a $10 donation for households. You can offer more if you’d like. Riders are encouraged also to get sponsored to ride by family, friends, or co-workers. Involving the people you know and inviting them to participate is a great way to raise support for more shoes. You are also invited to put together a “Riding for Shoes” team for your business, organization or with a group of friends. Riders are welcome to find other creative ways to raise money too and then bring anything you’ve raised on the day of the community ride (whether that’s getting sponsored, selling something on Craigslist, doing a lemonade stand, garage sale, etc…). Our goal is to raise $1,500 during the Project 680 Shoe Drive in order to make 100 pairs of brand new shoes available to local homeless students.

Details: We’ll meet in the parking lot of Hagan Park in Rancho Cordova at 2197 Chase Drive (in the FREE parking lot next to Cordova High School). Come at 10:15am if you’d like some free coffee, orange juice and snacks. Bring a sack lunch if you’d like because we’ll hang out at the park for a while when we get there. When we’re done, we’ll head back to the parking lot at Hagan Park.

This is going to be great fun and a fantastic and creative way to get shoes on the feet of local homeless students. 100% of proceeds will go directly to shoes for homeless students. We accept cash, checks, and even Payless Shoe Source gift cards. Call 916-595-3735 or email info@project680.org for details.

See our Shoe Drive / Bike Ride video on YouTube.

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There are many ways to partner with us as we endeavor to raise funds to purchase 100 pairs of brand new shoes for homeless students in the FCUSD. And now there is yet one more opportunity to support the Project 680 Shoe Drive. We are very excited to partner with www.BottlecapMagnets.com to offer some original Project 680 bottle cap magnets to the community. These are perfect for the fridge, office or even a gift, and they’ll be available in a matter of weeks for as long as supplies last. We will soon unveil more details about these magnets, what they’ll look like, how to get one, as well as many other creative ways to be involved in the Shoe Drive. For now we wanted you to be in “the know” about this latest development. Woo-hoo!!!
 
To learn more about Bottlecap Magnets, please visit www.BottlecapMagnets.com or their Facebook Fan Page

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Sometimes it’s easy to feel disconnected from the reality of homelessness. When we hear the word “homeless”, it’s easy to think of tents, tattered clothing, and the Salvation Army in Downtown Sacramento. But there’s a different face for homelessness in Rancho Corova & Folsom that doesn’t fit the typical “downtown” profile.

“Homeless” is defined as “living in an unstable environment”. There are 783 students in the FCUSD that are documented by the school district as “homeless”. These kids live in places like motels, without a parent or legal guardian, in vehicles, in houses without utilities, and sometimes actually on the streets or in other unstable situations. 

These young people are not in some random far-away city or location, but right in our own neighborhoods. We see them walking to school, riding bikes down Folsom Blvd, playing with the kids next door, sitting in traffic next to us, and shopping for groceries at the store. 

We know it’s a bit shocking to consider the number “783″. It can even feel overwhelming to the point where we don’t know where to start, or even how to feel about the whole thing. What if we could begin to be a part of the solution though? What if we could spend a few minutes here and there as a community to do something about this very local issue?

Project 680 is all about learning to respond in practical ways that make sense for homeless students and our busy lives. Our goal is to team up with local residents and do simple things that make a difference. Let’s not attempt to build enormous and time-consuming projects or solve every problem at once, but rather begin to listen to the issues, begin to see homelessness around us, and respond in love.

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I wanted you to be aware that there are now 783 documented cases of “homeless” students in the FCUSD (up from 680 last year). I just spoke with the District Liaison for Homeless Services and she informed me of the new figure.

Let’s be honest, this is not great news. But at the same time, it is what it is and there is nothing we can change about this figure right now. All we can do is blaze forward with vision and persist in our efforts to support and empower local homeless students. Our courage will not be deflated and we will not be deterred in our quest. Bottom line.

With that being said, be on the lookout for a meeting in mid to late September to discuss our team strategy for the Fall and 09-10 school year. We are currently considering some opportunities for how we will get involved to support the efforts of the District Liaison for Homeless Services and what it might look like for us to meet some practical needs of local students. As information unfolds in coming weeks and months, please consider how you might apply a few minutes here and there to benefit these wonderful students in Folsom and Rancho Cordova.

May we dream big. May we grow in our dynamic as a team. May we learn to respond to student homelessness in relevant and meaningful ways.

Ryan L
Project 680

p.s.  By the way, we won’t change our name to Project 783. We will keep Project 680.

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The Rancho Cordova Post wrote a story about this video and I wanted to do the same. The video is definitely worth a watch (only 2-3 minutes).

Watch CBS Videos Online

The “homeless” students we work with are often not homeless in the classical sense like the man in the video, but they are living in unstable places like motels, in households without a parent or legal guardian, or in other difficult situations. This video is great because it shows how one person can make a difference simply by walking to work and taking a moment to talk with someone. The lawyer didn’t have to start a big program, front a stack of cash, or exhaust himself to do something altruistic. He simply built relationship with a homeless man in the park and the result was a book club that evolved organically over time. 

Let’s keep going everyone and start to dream afresh as the new school year begins. What does it look like for a community to get practical about supporting local homeless students in the FCUSD? What does it look like for busy people like us to find relevant and organic ways to partner with local students? 

What do you think of the video? What stands out to you?

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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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We are excited that a global company called Novo Nordisk (which has an office in Rancho Cordova) will be supporting the Project 680 Underwear Drive. They will be placing fifteen donation bins in some of their offices within our region so that their customers and employees can support the underwear drive. Isn’t that great? Thank you to Novo Nordisk for stepping out to do something about a local issue – student homelessness. Since they are coming on board a bit later in the game (with only five days left in the undies drive), they will collect for two additional weeks so that they can have more time. We’re good with that. 

Per their website at www.novonordisk.com:

Novo Nordisk is a healthcare company and a world leader in diabetes care. In addition, Novo Nordisk has a leading position within areas such as haemostasis management, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy.

Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services that make a significant difference to patients, the medical profession and society. With headquarters in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs more than 27,000 employees in 81 countries, and markets its products in 179 countries.

Novo Nordisk’s B shares are listed on the stock exchanges in Copenhagen and London. Its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘NVO’.

We are grateful for all of the local residents, organizations, churches and businesses that have jumped on board to support this cause. Advocating for local homeless students is something we can all do. A little intention can go a long way.

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Kidomedy is a local company based in Rancho Cordova and they will match any donations given today (5/4/09) up to 60 pairs. Thank you Kidomedy for your kindness!!! If you were thinking about donating, then today is a great day. You can simply drop by any drop-off location in Rancho Cordova or Folsom (click “underwear” above to view list). And by the way, Kidomedy is putting on an exciting “Family Game Show” series in the summer at a park near Capital Village off of Zinfandel.

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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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