OUR INITIATIVES
Coco’s Angel’s first drive took place in December, 2020. When we learned about the lack of donors for the yearly Christmas drive for hundreds of foster children in LA County due to COVID-19, we started a GoFundMe with the target of raising at least $15,000 to get Christmas presents for the foster children. To our surprise, we ended up raising over $50,000 as we brought awareness to the severity of the foster children’s circumstances. We combined lists from hundreds of children to purchase up to three items that each child listed on his or her wish list – whether it was airpods, bikes, or Barbie townhouses.
Previously, foster children would only receive a general gift according to their age group, even though they made wish lists every year with specific items, due to a lack of funding. A few volunteers including my sister and I wrapped each gift and hand delivered it to each foster child in Los Angeles County.
We rented and decorated the bus to resemble Santa’s workshop, and dressed up as Santa’s elves. We brought a boombox to play Christmas music as we drove to Compton, South Central, Crenshaw, and East LA from morning to night over the span of a few days. We also gifted decorated Christmas trees to the foster families who did not have Christmas trees in their homes. Many of the foster children were in tears, cheering as we drove away that it was the best day of their lives.
Easter egg hunt
partnershipS
makes
perfect
Coco’s Angels’ second drive was alongside the LA agency Guardians of Love, in which we helped set up an Easter egg hunt drive-through in April 2021.
We decorated an Easter-themed tunnel that included a DJ booth, a mariachi band, and volunteers who dressed up as dancing rabbits and eggs to spread the cheer.
Children who drove into the venue with their foster families were provided with free lunches, cookies, ice cream, and Easter egg hunting supplies to participate in a scavenger hunt at their homes.
OUR BACK-TO-SCHOOL DRIVE
This past August of 2021, alongside the Guardians of Love Agency and the LA Mission, we helped run a back to school event where 1000+ foster kids/children in need were able to receive the vital resources they needed for this school year including backpacks, clothing, snacks, and so much more. Especially with the pandemic, foster students have endured incomprehensible circumstances. Last year, in an effort to limit the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) school districts were forced to close and for many households, distance learning became the new normal.
This past August of 2021, alongside the Guardians of Love Agency and the LA Mission, we helped run a back to school event where 1000+ foster kids/children in need were able to receive the vital resources they needed for this school year including backpacks, clothing, snacks, and so much more. Especially with the pandemic, foster students have endured incomprehensible circumstances. Last year, in an effort to limit the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) school districts were forced to close and for many households, distance learning became the new normal.
Parents found themselves working from home under tremendously stressful conditions while trying to juggle their new duties as de facto teachers. Almost overnight families were thrown into chaotic circumstances which impacted their ability to work, make rent, buy groceries, pay their bills, access healthcare services and navigate their way through the crisis. For these families the pandemic exacerbated issues of poverty, childhood hunger, and mental health and prevented disadvantaged children from achieving their full potential in the education system.
“When a child lacks essential fundamental needs such as clean, properly fitting shoes and clothes and even a backpack, it diminishes their self-esteem and causes students to shut down. It can cause a sense of inferiority and anxiety. It can also cause envy of other students and even prompt behavioral outbreaks. When you eliminate the worry of having basic school preparations, such as supplies, shoes and clothing, you afford students the ability to solely focus their attention on learning rather than the aforementioned.”
LASHON SANFORD
Principal, Compton Avenue Elementary School