La Palma Group Gives HOPE to the Hungry and Homeless

By Larry Caballero

Volunteers from La Palma and surrounding communities begin arriving at 5:30 am at the parking lot of St. Irenaeus Catholic Church in Cypress to get ready for the 1500 hungry and homeless people who will be arriving before 8:00 am on the first and third Saturday of each month to receive food, used clothing, and small furniture items such as end tables and lamps. Financial assistance is also provided for temporary shelter, utility bills, transportation and medical expenses. The lucky ones may even find a job from the referral service that is also available to them.
Helping Other People Everyday (HOPE) was founded in 1976 and is a community service, parish based, non-profit recognized agency that is dedicated to serving the needs of the less fortunate. Volunteers provide services regardless of race, creed, age or national origin. No fees are ever charged, but a picture ID or proof of residency is required to be sure that the recipient lives in the local area. If he doesn’t, then he will be assisted in locating a food distribution center nearer to him.
Once the recipient is registered, he will be given color-coded tickets to alert the volunteers to his individual needs. An orange ticket will get him a bag or a shopping cart filled with food, a pink ticket is for diapers, a red ticket for clothing and a blue ticket for a homeless person who is given items that would not need refrigeration. Senior residents who are unable to leave their homes, or have no transportation, will have food delivered to them.
The program is supported by donations from individuals, government grants, local businesses, schools, food banks, service clubs, parish members and fundraising efforts of the more than 60 volunteers who participate. Several food outlets donate food such as Olive Garden, Marie Callender and Pizza Hut.
Volunteers are always needed to help in the collection and sorting of food, to prepare and distribute food bags, and to plan and implement fundraising events. For every $25.00 contributed, the program can acquire 250 pounds of groceries at the Orange County Food Distribution Center.
The food bank operates from a space on the parish property, rent free, and serves over 450 families. In addition to the scheduled food distribution, emergency food is available at the church rectory. More than 11,500 clothing items and more than 200 furniture items are distributed annually. Other services include counseling, bus fare vouchers, urgent medical care and shelter for women and children.
Mary Ellen Oves, Assistant Principal at Canyon High School in Anaheim Hills, has been a HOPE volunteer for at least 15 years. She said that she couldn’t think of any other place she would want to be on a Saturday morning than helping those less fortunate than she. “This is my way of giving back to the community,” she said.
Virginia has been coming for over 25 years, first as a volunteer, and then for herself to help feed her family of nine. “People would be starving to death if it were not for programs such as HOPE. It’s grown a lot since I first started coming, and people appreciate the fact that the volunteers don’t look down at you.”
Sister Margarita of Saint Irenaeus said, ”It’s a wonderful demonstration of people helping people in their community.”
Former HOPE President and La Palma City Councilmember Ralph Rodriguez is proud of the program and its volunteers. “We take our responsibility very seriously, and we are confident that we are abiding by state and federal regulations. We just follow the rules.”
The Holiday Distribution in December is a much larger project with the La Palma Kiwanis members serving a pancake breakfast, the distribution of presents to the children, and the arrival of Santa. “On that day, the volunteers become Santa’s little helpers.”
HOPE also supports seven other charities during the holidays, and if you are interested in becoming a volunteer, you can email Rodriguez at ralph.rodriguez@ca.rr.com.