Happy New Year!
Archive for December, 2009
Great News Worth Passing On!
What great news!
Thanks to a generous friend of Union Rescue Mission we are closer than ever to raising the $500,000 we need to fully fund our budget in the final days of what has been the most challenging year in our history. Each gift we receive between now and midnight on December 31st will be matched up to $200K! Please make your year end donation today and share this opportunity (Click the buttons below to post to facebook or Twitter) to double the impact of a year end gift with others.
Blessings on you,
Providing Disaster Relief in the Philippines
Here is an update on the latest at Giving Children Hope (GCH), a partner of URM on many projects.
According to the Associated Press, at least 284 people have died or are missing after torrential rains and subsequent flooding pummeled the Philippines on Saturday.
Two new storms were brewing in the Pacific and threatened to complicate relief efforts in the Philippines, officials said.
Giving Children Hope is working with our international partners on the ground to strategize the best possible way to bring aid and assist those who have been affected by the disaster.
Right now we are accepting monetary donations to procure disaster relief items to send to the region. We are also accepting disaster relief products as donation.
Two Shipments of Medicines Leave for the Philippines
Today, in partnership with Cottonwood Church and the Mahal Foundation, Giving Children Hope has sent two medicine packages to treat people in Philippines who are still suffering from the aftermath of the two typhoons that hit their country.
This shipment was also made possible by Hawaiian Airlines who helped us send these life-saving medicines.
Thank you to all of our partners and our donors who made this possible!
2009.11.12 by Harmony Trevino
Ministry to Distribute Medical Relief
One of partners, Spread God’s Love Ministry, along with a team of volunteer doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists, and nurses will conduct medical, dental and eye care to remote areas of the Philippines which have been great affected during the recent typhoons. Relief goods such as multi-vitamins and medicines will be distributed to these areas.
The team will be treating 500-700 indigent patients in those remote areas which already struggle with problems with access to health care, malnutrition, food insecurity, economic stagnation and frequent natural disasters.
2009.10.29 by Harmony Trevino
First Shipment of Medicines Ship to Flood Victims
Giving Children Hope has sent its first shipment of medicines to help victims in the Philippines who were affected by the recent typhoons. Donate today and help send the rest of the medicines!
2009.10.27 by Harmony Trevino
Third Typhoon Headed Toward Philippines
Typhoon-weary Philippines braces for another strike
by Tim Ballisty , on Oct 19, 2009 12:22 pm ET
weather.com: The Philippines have been dealt blow after blow from Mother Nature in the form of powerful, slowly-moving typhoons. The past few weeks have been full of tragedy especially for the northern half of the country.
Two back-to-back storms (Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma) killed 858 people and inundated the homes of more than 7 million. Ketsana buried Manila and its neighboring towns/cities with excessive rainfall.
Parma just about a week later stubbornly stalled over Luzon for several days producing even more deadly flooding.
The news does not improve with Typhoon Lupit looming in the western Pacific.
Update from the Field: Diseases Plague Flood Victims
Recent news from the Philippines have reported that leptospirosis and other diseases have been spreading throughout the flooded areas.
Help us send medicines to these people affected by the aftermath of the flooding.
2009.10.15 by Harmony Trevino
New “Super Typhoon” Heading Toward the Philippines
According to Reuters, officials warn that Typhoon Parma, which is expected to make landfall Saturday, could be the worst storm to hit the Philippines since 2006. Thousands have evacuated from the likely path of the storm, which has been gaining strength. Officials worry that the storm could obstruct relief efforts in the area. This typhoon comes less than a week after Typhoon Ketsana left more than three-fourths of Manila underwater.
Help Giving Children Hope send emergency aid to these families in the Philippines.
2,260 Subway Sandwiches Served at URM!
Thanks to 100 volunteers from Subway restaurants, URM residents enjoyed delicious Subway sandwiches for lunch on Tuesday, December 22nd.
Subway restaurants have been great supporters of URM. This year they also helped raise about $14,000 to help with our Christmas Store!
Some of the leaders from Subway even joined us in our tradition of ‘ringing the bell’ to celebrate donations received; they have been strongly supporting Union Rescue Mission for 14 years!
Thank you, Subway, for all you do- you are greatly appreciated!
Merry Christmas!
Thank you, for all of your support to Union Rescue Mission! Christmas is approaching and Union Rescue Mission is a very busy place. For the first time in our history, we are housing over 1,000 precious people under our roof each night, and on Dec. 1st we opened another 660 beds at 4 Winter Shelters in Glendale, Culver City, West LA and downtown URM.
We are feeding an astounding 3200 delicious meals each day to our regular guests, and an additional 1,320 meals to our Winter Shelter guests from Dec. 1st to March 15th. The best news is that since opening our 5th floor wing especially for families new to homelessness last Fall, we have re-launched 41 families back into their own housing, complete with donated furniture from our warehouse.
Like all of our families, these precious children and their dad showed up at URM somewhat shell-shocked. Thanks to your support, they now have a place to call home.
As if that were not enough to keep us hopping, we stepped up to the challenge of opening up our 18th annual Christmas Store December 18th & 19th. We gathered gifts, transformed our URM Chapel into a Department Store like setting, and invited 1,000 families to come and shop, free of charge, for their own families. This allows parents the dignity of providing for their own children, and allows children to enjoy the gift of giving a gift to their parents.
We couldn’t even begin to take on these challenges without your support. If you’ve already sent an end of year gift,thank you! If you have not yet sent an end of year gift, I want to invite you to partner once again with us in this life-saving and life changing work.
Have a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!
Much love and appreciation,
Daily Grill Donates Hundreds of Coats to URM
While serving our guests a Veterans Day Lunch, Leslie Spivak, owner of The Daily Grill, had a great idea. “Why not ask people from all of our restaurants to each donate a coat or jacket?”
It only took a few weeks for the jackets to start coming in – last week, Union Rescue Mission received hundreds of coats all thanks to the great people at Daily Grill!
Subway to serve 2,000 Sandwiches
MEDIA ALERT – For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Kitty Davis-Walker
(213) 673-4585 or (213) 507-5562
Email: kwalker@urm.org
SUBWAY RESTAURANTS JOIN THE UNION RESCUE MISSION WITH
TOY DRIVE FUND-RAISER AND HOLIDAY MEAL SERVICE FOR THE HOMELESS
LOS ANGELES CALIF. – —– On Tuesday, December 22, 2009 Volunteers from Los Angeles-area SUBWAY restaurants will once again work with the Union Rescue Mission in down town Los Angeles to serve a meal and help brighten the lives of men, women and children experiencing homelessness during the Holiday Season.
For the 13th consecutive year, Subway volunteers will prepare and serve ham and turkey sandwiches for the homeless on skid row in Los Angeles. The annual Subway volunteer effort serves approximately 2, 000 meals. To date, Subway volunteers have served over 25,000 meals during this annual giving event. This year’s Subway volunteer meal service will take place on Tuesday, December 22nd at the Union Rescue Mission. Preparations begin at 9:00 a.m. with meals served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
In addition to the annual volunteer meal service, Los Angeles-area Subway store owners conducted a fundraiser and collected over $16,000 to benefit the Union Rescue Mission’s annual toy program for underprivileged children. Approximately 1,000 families will be invited to shop for Free toys and gifts for their children at the Missions 18th Annual Christmas Store. The (URM) Christmas Store is open to participants in the Mission’s programs as well as to a select group of organizations helping people who are experiencing homelessness and poverty in the Skid Row community.
The Union Rescue Mission (URM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving people who are experiencing homelessness, providing emergency services, comprehensive prevention and rehabilitation programs to break the cycle of poverty. (URM) is the nations largest and L.A.’s oldest rescue mission. Services for women and children, in particular have been expanded to meet the needs of this fastest-growing segment of the population experiencing homelessness. On any given night, more than 10,000 families and 18,000 children are without food or shelter in Los Angeles County.
The Union Rescue Mission receives no government funding and is solely supported through the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations. (URM) is located at 545 South San Pedro Street, in Downtown L.A., 90013.
For information about URM please visit the website www.urm.org or contact: Kitty Davis-Walker (213) 673-4585 or Shaeideh Prince at (213) 347-6352.
Wasabi Dare Brings in $50 Donation!
On Thursday, CEO Andy Bales was out to lunch for sushi and decided to challenge a friend to eat a heaping spoonful of wasabi for $20. Well, the challenge came back at him for $50, and he accepted. The video below was taken of him successfully completing the dare – and he was kind enough to donate the money to URM!
Disney Volunteers Deck the (Dining) Halls!
For the past two weeks, volunteers from various departments at Disney have given their time to helping out here at URM! They have spent 8 days working very hard in our kitchen. One of the kitchen staff said, “It’s really been great having them volunteering this week – they’ve helped out so much!” Disney also spent a day decorating our Dining Hall, so it is now filled with Christmas spirit every time guests come in to eat!
In addition, they even sponsored and hosted a Christmas Party for the kids at URM! It was a fun-filled event, with a carnival, music, treats and lots of dancing!
Thank you, Disney, for your continued support – we appreciate all you’ve done for us!
Annual Christmas Store Opening Up!
UNION RESCUE MISSION to hold 18th Annual CHRISTMAS STORE
ON DECEMBER 18TH & 19TH
“1,000 Families In Need Invited to Shop for Free”
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (December 18 & 19, 2009) — More than 2,000 children will receive Christmas gifts this year after their parents shop for presents at the Union Rescue Mission’s (URM) 18th Annual Christmas Store starting on Friday, December 18 at 9:00 a.m. to closing at 6:00 p.m. and again on Saturday, December 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at URM headquarters located at 545 South San Pedro St. in downtown Los Angeles.
Union Rescue Mission CEO, Andy Bales, said “It’s our joy to provide an opportunity for a unique shopping experience to 1000 families that might otherwise miss out on the joy of personally giving gifts to their children at Christmas”.
URM, and the Missions offsite facility for mothers and children, Hope Gardens Family Center as well as neighboring missions and service providers helping children and families on Skid Row will be invited to shop free of charge. With so many families in need this year, our goal for 2009 is to provide enough gifts to meet the needs of 1000 families. These families will be given tickets to shop for Christmas gifts in the Mission’s Christmas Store.
Mothers and fathers will be assisted by volunteers to pick one toy or gift for each of their children ages infant through 17 years. They will then be assisted in wrapping the gifts in the department store like atmosphere. While parents shop, kids will experience a visit to our Kid Zone where they will enjoy holiday crafts, games, and treats and also shop for their parents in their own special store.
Each Year URM’s Annual Christmas Store is made possible through the generosity of private donors, and partnering corporations and companies like Verizon, SUBWAY restaurants, Shea Homes and ERA Realtors to name a few.
Schedule of Events:
- Moms begin Shopping for their children…………………………9:30 a.m.
- Children retreat to Kid Zone….…………………………………..9:30 a.m.
ALL MEDIA are encouraged to attend.
Union Rescue Mission is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving people experiencing homelessness. Established in 1891, URM is one of the largest rescue missions of its kind in the United States and the oldest in Los Angeles. It provides a comprehensive array of emergency and long-term services, including food, shelter, clothing, medical and dental care, Christian recovery programs, transitional housing, legal assistance, education, counseling, and job training to needy men, women, children, and families. For more information please visit our website at www.urm.org