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“Love thy neighbor.”
Regardless of whether you’re a religious person, I think it’s important to keep in mind one aspect of the ten commandments I personally agree with most.
To me, taking from a city (or town, or wherever you live) the wonderful things it provides without giving back love and support for the community in that place you inhabit feels selfish and almost irresponsible.
On top of that being the case in “normal” circumstances, I’d double down on that statement after the spread of COVID-19, which has made things quite a bit more difficult for those neighbors we ought to love.
Here in Los Angeles/Santa Monica, our team at Advertise Purple has had wonderful times and made great memories within the Los Angeles and Santa Monica areas.
So while we’re no longer seeing each other daily (besides on Zoom), if you ask anyone who was working here pre-Covid, you’d know how much we love one another like family.
Our leadership has always urged us to extend that love a bit further, not only to one another but to the rest of the city and neighborhood we (used to) call home. How can we do that? Through philanthropic efforts like spending time and money to help.
What is Dreamcenter?
Long before COVID-19, Dreamcenter was serving as a resource center focused on providing support to those affected by homelessness, hunger, and the lack of education through residential and community outreach programs.
Of course, these are problems that deserve our attention on a daily basis, pandemic or not. And this is an organization that knows the best ways to maximize output of volunteers and money donated to make a clear change.
But what about now? After the novel coronavirus has shocked our nation and world? People are clearly more at risk than before… and before, it’s not like things were perfect either.
So, this begs the question.
What specifically is Dreamcenter doing for COVID-19 relief?
- They will continue to meet the needs of the community of Los Angeles through food distribution on and off campus while still complying with health and safety regulations from the CDC, city and state.
- Through the Mobile Food Bank initiative, their food trucks will be distributing groceries to 22 sites on a weekly basis.
- They are now in the process of reopening their campus and accepting new intake. They anticipate a surge in people seeking their residential programs due to losses and challenges encountered during the pandemic and are slowly and carefully adjusting to accommodate new residents.
- They are partnering with other organizations in whichever ways they can to feed/shelter/clothe and in other ways support those in need.
How Advertise Purple plans to help
Next week, we are going to talk with Michael Germaine from Dreamcenter.org about the specific needs of Dreamcenter over Zoom. He will go into detail about areas that need the most support and how donations can lead to clear progress in the right direction.
We’ll then work together as a team to pool together as much as we can in, in funds, to provide Mr. Germaine’s team with the help they so urgently need.
Again, if you or your company is interested in helping out those in LA and Southern California who are in need, please go to their wonderful website at www.dreamcenter.org and donate. It is an incredible opportunity to “love thy neighbor”.
And we hope through this love, we’ll find some kind of hope. Hope that things aren’t going to be so chaotic forever. And that dignity and kindness will carry the day.
