Every year since 1997 my husband and I have had a family get together in our back yard. Somewhere around the year 2000 the small family get together turned into a big family and friend annual bash. We thought with all these wonderful people in one place at the same time we could really do something good. So, we invited them to help us help others. We did this by including on our invitations a diff
erent drive every year to help others in need. Some years we collected can goods for local food pantries. Some years we collected coats or hats & gloves for the homeless. A couple of years we collected toys for children. Finally, in 2016 I realized that there are a lot of people who were willing to help others. So, after our party in August I started to organize a homeless drive. I received deliveries almost daily at my home. People I didn’t even know were coming by and dropping off items for the homeless. My heart was filled with such happiness to know that there was so much humanity around me. We were able to fill over 400 bags of hope and handed them out on the streets of nearby communities in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We visited homeless shelters to drop off warm clothing, bedding, hygiene products and to find out how we could help. We sat outside of food pantries and handed out hats, coats, and gloves to those who needed it. We also handed out flyers to let people know where they could find their local shelters, food pantries, soup kitchens, treatments centers and other social service/community outreach programs. This was an amazing, eye opening and humbling experience for me. With the help of many volunteers, local businesses and vendors we were able to reach out and help many people and hopefully touch the hearts of a few. In December of 2016, with the help and support of my wonderful husband Mark, my beautiful daughter Kira Mae and numerous friends and family, I formed the Homeless Heart Foundation Inc.
