When DBDG volunteer Anne-Marie was doing duty as a parent volunteer at her daughter’s school dance (she likes to volunteer…) she knew exactly what to do with the perfectly good leftover food that was in danger of being thrown out.
She scooped up all the leftover taco fixin’s (meats, tortillas, rice, beans — and even some wayward glitter), loaded it into her car and headed home.
The following day, DBDG held it’s first Drive-By Pop-Up on Skid Row — serving taco plates to 100+ homeless.
As we began to set up, street resident Dino greeted us and volunteered to pop up our table.
In fact, he himself just popped up, instantly offering to help!
Nicole was another 'pop-up' helper, assisting DBDG in feeding her neighbors.
Nicole also ran double-duty as friendly security to a few sweet-talking patrons who wanted seconds before we'd passed out firsts.
Young Drive-By Do-Gooder Theo spent the afternoon assembling and serving hundreds of meat tacos (despite being a vegetarian!)
We served over 100 guests with tacos, rice, cookies and all-important hydration.
We never go to Skid Row without ample supplies of water.
With zero water fountains on the streets, H2O is always in high demand.
Why this matters:
Dino & Nicole: When you have very little, it’s hard to find opportunities to give. But when we set-up on Skid Row, both Dino & Nicole saw an opportunity to give what they could: their time.
They immediately offered to help and we were happy to have the extra hands to help us keep up with the fast-paced food service line!
After volunteering with us, they both had huge smiles on their faces. Nicole commented that it “felt so good to be able to do something to help others.”
Theo: DBDG loves to cultivate the next generation of volunteers.
Volunteering with DBDG gives young adults an opportunity to meet the residents of Skid Row and to witness their everyday struggles —
and to understand that often even their most fundamental needs (such as hydration and hygiene) are not met.
We hope that time spent volunteering with us will help to build empathy in the next generation of DBDG volunteers.
* We are happy to log Community Service Hours for our teen and adult volunteers.
Contact us if you'd like to join us on a "Drive-By" or help in any way
