Community Newsletter - December 2019
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From the Executive Director
Mary Brooks
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Greetings!
We’ve got some holly jolly Good News for the holidays!
In recent newsletters you learned about White Pony Express’ commitment to bring food and clothing to the survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire. In fact, 43 WPE volunteers made 91 six-hour trips to deliver clothing and fresh, nutritious food over the past year. That initiative was spearheaded by our founder, Dr. Carol Weyland Conner, and last month we learned that Dr. Conner has been chosen by AARP California as the recipient of their 2019 Andrus Award for Community Service! The Andrus Award is AARP’s highest individual honor and recognizes one outstanding person in each state who is using his or her talents, skills, and experience to enrich the lives others.
Dr. Conner is being honored for the extraordinary support she and White Pony Express gave to the homeless survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire, the most destructive fire in California’s history. Under her guidance and funding, WPE responded immediately to the dire need of those made homeless by the fire. Starting in November 2018, WPE delivered vans full of fresh food and needed clothing, along with small cash donations to help the survivors deal with daily necessities. This outreach to the Butte County area continued until mid-August 2019.
AARP has 38 million members, and its AARP The Magazine is the largest circulating magazine in the United States.
Dr. Conner will receive the award in January. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Conner and all those – staff, volunteers, donors and partners, who worked tirelessly to relieve the suffering of our neighbors in need.
We look forward to continuing this work through sustaining and expanding our circle of giving. We've set a goal of raising $500,000 before December 31, 2019 -
and we're almost halfway there!
Every bit gives us a lift so
join us and donate here!
With warmest regards,
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'Tis the season for
all of us taking care of all of us!
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This year, to support our tremendous growth, requests for services, and to strengthen our operations and sustainability as an organization, we’ve set a goal of raising
$500,000 before December 31, 2019
.
Here’s the impact of your donations!
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White Pony Express founder wins prestigious 2019 AARP California Andrus Award
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Out of more than 100 nominations received by AARP California, Dr. Carol Weyland Conner, the founder of White Pony Express, has been chosen as the 2019 winner of the prestigious Andrus Award.
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‘Tis the season for “All of us taking care of all of us!” Winter is here and it’s the time of year when many of our unhoused and unsheltered Contra Costa neighbors need a warm-up.
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On October 17, seven Contra Costa Whole Foods Market stores, including the 365 by Whole Foods, donated 5% of their net sales, or $31,000, to White Pony Express (WPE). What a big day!
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Thanks to a large Cal Recycle Grant, we were able to expand our school pantry program by opening our 10th and 11th school pantries at Marsh Elementary in Antioch and Martin Luther King Jr Middle School in Pittsburg. Our 11th pantry at Martin Luther King Jr Middle School was our first in Pittsburg Unified School District and our third middle school pantry. The principal, Angela Steven-Stevenson expressed her gratitude to White Pony Express for helping the families at her school as she highlighted their school is the only school in Pittsburg Unified that is near public housing.
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Our new school pantries made the news!
Read more here:
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Love is in the Details
Episode 1: The Presentation Outfit
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At White Pony Express, we believe deeply that
how
we do our work is just as important as
what
we do. We realized straight away that one of the most powerful tools for helping people lift themselves out of poverty, was to increase their sense of dignity. “Delivered with love” became a cornerstone of our food rescue program, and our mission. When we opened the food program, we saw how much bigger people’s lives became when they were able to choose what they wanted to eat, versus just accepting whatever was handed to them. When we began the White Pony General Store to distribute new and pre-loved clothing in 2014, we applied this same giving principle. At every Mobile Boutique event we host, we only offer clothing to our guests that we would wear ourselves or give to a loved one. In this first installment of our series “Love is in the Details” our volunteer stylist Brenda Barnhart explains how she makes “Presentation Outfits” to offer our very best to the women and girls who attend our events.
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Our friends and long-time WPE volunteers, the Kirkpatricks, are retiring. Learn more about their wonderful contributions to White Pony Express.
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It's a new era for the White Pony General Store!
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This past year we have expanded our partnerships to include major shipments of surplus clothing, overstock and other donations of NEW clothing, shoes and toys. Most of these gifts arrive on pallets, which has created a new realm of exciting work and play for us. To track all these wonderful donations, we’re implementing a new inventory system, and we’ve got lots of fun new retail-oriented tasks. Simultaneously, several of our key volunteers are in the process of retiring so we’ve got many openings!
White Pony General Store would like to recruit volunteers who enjoy working with clothing, shoes, books, and toys. We currently have openings in our Children’s, Teens (boy/girl), Women’s, Men’s, Toy, or Book departments. Tasks may include cleaning and polishing shoes, using a steamer and iron, doing laundry and sorting and folding clothes. We also need people who have an eye for quality, style, fashion, and beauty, and people who can lift up to 25 pounds. There are many shifts and times to fill and we can work with your schedule to find a good fit.
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We’re thrilled to announce that on Saturday, September 26th we will be holding our first fundraising gala to benefit White Pony Express! The event will be held at The Roundhouse at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon and we’ve got
Elevents
on board to produce it with us. We are creating key volunteer committees for the event, and are holding our first meeting in January. If you are interested in helping out in little and big ways, or you or your company are interested in sponsorship opportunities please contact Erica Brooks at
[email protected]
.
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Join our Year-End-Campaign to help bring joy to our neighbors and community this holiday season!
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Follow us on social media below
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White Pony Express is an independent nonprofit public benefit 501(c)(3) corporation
EIN 46-5220565
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