Try Freedom Stories

10/01/2021

We are so happy to partner with LoveOrange to spread the word about our city-wide day of service tomorrow, October 2nd! There is still time to volunteer:

What would happen if our entire community came together to help one another— from businesses and residents, to schools, service groups, and the faith community? Orange is adding its name to the growing list of cities who are part of "Love Our Cities” Initiative. With the support of sponsors from...

09/23/2020

Igniting Potential is finally here! 👏👏👏

Today only - every dollar donated to KidWorks during Igniting Potential will be DOUBLED thanks to a generous donor! 🎓
Donate in the link o the bio!

09/23/2020

KidWorks started as a neighborhood mentoring program in Santa Ana with a mission to restore at-risk neighborhoods... one life at a time. But when Covid-19 hit, Kidworks had to figure out how to continue helping children and teens without any face to face interaction. They found that their services were needed now more than ever.

09/20/2020

Congratulations Power of One Foundation!

We are speechless.

We have incredible news! Senator Tom Umberg chose Power of One Foundation as Nonprofit of the Year in their district. We are beyond honored & humbled!

A huge special thanks to Richard Santana. You not only advocate and fight for us, you volunteer and work along side us. We are so grateful for you.

We are proud to stand along the other nonprofits of 2020 and celebrate them as well! Congratulations to all!!

We in turn promise to continue working tireless to improve these sobering statistics:

1 in 8 Californians struggle to find enough food to eat

4.6 million Californians faced food insecurity, 1.7 million being children (before the pandemic)

1 in 6 Orange County children live in poverty, at risk of hunger

Thank you to all the volunteers that stood with us on the front lines these last 6 months. We would not be here without you.

Thank you to all the financial donors who contributed to Power of One and kept us afloat. You allowed us to reached places that we could only dream of reaching in a short amount of time.

Thank you to all the partners who saw our vision and joined our team to fight hunger in Orange County.

A special thank you to ONOLB who was the launching pad for Power of One Foundation. ONOLB is a major part of who we are. You are greatly appreciated Juanita Stocker and Joyce Hall. We are so honored to be a part of a foundation with such rich history in Orange County.

Thank you to the City of Santa Ana and Costa Mesa for standing by outside and providing valuable resources and support we do badly needed. We are forever indebted to you. Words do not express our heart felt gratitude.

Thank you to Magnolia Science Academy, Santa Ana College, Main Place Mall, IKEA Costa Mesa and Orange County Fairgrounds and Event Center for believing in us and allowing us to hold weekly distributions on their grounds.

We will continue our fight against hunger and we ask that everyone continue to stand with us.

09/08/2020

Deaths among homeless individuals are up - and it's probably linked to covid. There are many great organizations to donate to or volunteer with locally. I'll post links below.

According to data from the coroner’s office, 146 homeless people died between April and August. During the same period last year, there were 82 deaths among the homeless.

07/31/2020

A program to help unemployed people land their dream jobs.

07/20/2020

Have you seen our new website? It's looking fresh! Please let me know if there is anything else you would like to see or learn about on the site. http://www.tryfreedomstories.org/

06/29/2020

OneOC prepared the Emergency Volunteer Center years ago and mobilized it in March. Amazingly, they have connected 1800 local individuals to volunteer opportunities in OC. Try Freedom Stories interviews Cassi Palmer about how they have helped organizations get the volunteers they need during the pandemic. It all begins with conversations "you need to hear from your community. Let the community lead the way. And then as an organization, we look to see how we can help those nonprofits who are fighting those battles".

06/23/2020

If you live in Orange County, you have probably seen the massive food distribution events during the Covid-19 pandemic. Molly Thrasher interviews Shawnee Brooke of the Power of One Foundation. Since Covid-19 began, they have fed over half a million people! This quote from Shawnee really sticks with me "It's a season of change, people wanting to know, to be educated, to change, and come together. There's a movement in this country of communities wanting to help communities".

06/17/2020

Follow up from our Orange Signs interview: The project raised $31,000 to feed families in Orange County and support our local farmers! Amazing work! And the orange signs continue to be a cute, quirky addition to our town.

05/01/2020

Try Freedom Stories interviews The Community Foundation of Orange and the Orange Homegrown Farmers and Artisans Market about their collaboration to raise money for Covid-19 affected farmers and Waste Not OC Coalition. Try Freedom Stories is dedicated to showcasing local, grassroots solutions to social issue problems. We believe the problems in our society can only be solved by utilizing community knowledge as well as getting the buy-in from local communities.