The event was held at Reflections Barbershop on Elden Street in Herndon. Photo contributed
In December, LifeJacket successfully completed its eighth annual Red Sunday event.
The goal of the nonprofit is to eradicate hunger and homelessness by reaching out to assist residents in the immediate and surrounding areas.
Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care and education. When people are poor, they are essentially an illness, an accident, or a paycheck away from living on the streets. Knowing this, the organization makes Red Sunday its top priority. It is the nonprofit’s biggest yearly event where time is set aside to feed the needy people in the community and distribute grocery store gift cards.
Occuring usually a week before Christmas, Red Sunday aids in alleviating some of the financial stress people can experience in these communities and are usually more heightened during the holiday season. This year, the event was held at Reflections Barbershop on Elden Street in Herndon, a neighborhood with an 8.1 percent poverty rate, one of the highest in the area.
Volunteers gathered in front of the shop welcoming community residents with food and offering prayer, if they wanted it. As time went by the influx of people dramatically slowed. The boxes of prepared food and donated gift cards barely showed signs of being handed out. “My strategy team advised me that there were community residents that had no transportation to come to us and receive groceries,” said Gloria Yates, executive director of LifeJacket. An hour into the event, it was realized that many of the would-be recipients did not have transportation. After a half hour of strategy and some volunteer restructuring, Yates made a decision to go mobile.
“It was my natural instinct to change our strategy to meet the needs of the people,” said Yates. “That’s the whole purpose of the event, to reach the residents in need.” Prepped with 500 plates of food, gift cards, ranging between $10 and $20, the group of 40 plus volunteers were dispatched into the community to deliver plates to the residents, rather than the residents coming to get the food. “We served 350 persons and provided $2,000 in gift cards,” said Yates.
The groups moved across both Loudoun and Fairfax counties, by car and on foot to shopping centers in the area to ensure that those in need also received meals, pastries, breads and gift cards. The day ended at Embry Rucker Community Homeless Shelter in Reston, where over 50 residents were served meals and provided gift cards.
This year’s efforts were made possible by corporate sponsors Freddie Mac and Walmart Foundation in Sterling; contributions from Chipotle, Grupos, IHOP, Joe's, Bertucci’s, Fuddruckers Restaurants and Harvest Breads; gift card donations from members of Healing Waters Church, Wegmans, Giant, Harris Teeter and numerous community volunteers.
To help decrease homelessness, LifeJacket seeks grants and donated houses. The houses will be used as places to provide food and temporary shelter to those who are experiencing homelessness. For more information contact, Gloria Yates at yateshelplifejacket@gmail.com or call 703-953-2817.