PTA H.E.L.P.S.
by Lorine Parks
HOW DOWNEY WORKS TOGETHER IS WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL
“Other school districts in California are looking for worthy local projects: the Downey Unified School District already has this.”
So spoke our Dr. John Garcia, Superintendant of the Downey Unified School District, praising PTA H.E.L.P.S. The acronym stands for Health Education Local Pantry Service, and as the word “pantry” suggests, this volunteer pantry group stocks its shelves with donations from community organizations, churches, and individual citizens. Annual food drives at the schools of Downey Unified School District are a primary source of donations.
Dorothy Pemberton, outgoing president of the Downey PTA Council, and Beth Gendreau, Director of PTA H.E.L.P.S, showed us a slide presentation where tables in the PTA H.E.L.P.S room were covered with bright orange and yellow bags filled with non-perishable canned goods, for distribution at Thanksgiving.
“We give each family six bags, five of non-perishable canned food and one with hygiene products,” said Beth. “And a $15 gift card for toys and presents.”
The H.E.L.P.S Program’s clients are residents of Downey, and families whose children attend Downey schools. Clients are assisted every other month and given special baskets of food as well as gifts for the children at Thanksgiving, when a complete Thanksgiving dinner is provided. At Christmas, over 300 families are provided food to ensure a happy holiday.
Each of the holiday food programs continues to grow. Approximately 25 families were assisted with holiday baskets the first year of our program,” Beth said. “625 families were supported during the 2015 season.”
“We negotiate with local grocery stores for prices,” Beth added, “and we buy when there is a sale.” PTA H.E.L.P.S operates year-round as a solely volunteer program, from their office in the Barbara Riley Center in Apollo Park.
The history begins in the late 1950’s, when the Downey Council PTA opened the Downey Thrift Shop, to help in the financial support of their philanthropic projects. They also ran an emergency food program and a holiday basket program.
The PTA Council also provided clothing to children who were referred to them from the schools. As the outreach grew, The Assistance League of Downey took over that part of the operation under Operation School Bell, which continues to give clothing to the needy children of Downey Unified School District. Downey Council PTA continued the emergency food program under the acronym H.E.L.P.S.
PTA Health Education Local Pantry Service is a unit of the Downey PTA, staffed by volunteers who donate their time and energy to assist people in need. “This program is organized and run by volunteers, many who simultaneously serve on individual school boards,” said Dorothy. “Many are retired teachers and principals, and administrators who want to continue helping.”
Families qualify by requesting referral forms from their child’s school or if they do not have a student attending Downey Unified School District, and are a resident of Downey, they can obtain an application from the Barbara Riley Senior Center located in Apollo Park. Proof of residence and identification is required for each member of the household each time the form is brought in to receive food.
The city of Downey may be perceived as affluent, but many residing families still struggle to put food on the table in time for the holidays. “Our purpose is to provide temporary emergency aid,” said Beth. “Approximately 750 Downey families are assisted with non-perishable food items and bread. And one household can be helped only every other month.”
PTA H.E.L.P.S works closely with another Downey group, TLC, which stands for True Lasting Connections. TLC volunteers also liason with the social service agencies, to bring needy families medical as well as mental health care. “They two groups are tightly woven,” said Dr. John. “They are amazing partners to work with.”
All 19 schools in the District are involved, with canned food drives and fund raisers. Slides showed Warren Key Club members, Stauffer Middle School and Rio San Gabriel Elementary students, to cite only a few. Warren High School alone gave 24,000 canned items to HELPS. “We contributed $42,000 last year,” said Dorothy.
Not content giving only emergency food supplies, PTA H.E.L.P.S. also contributes financially to subsidize health programs within Downey schools, including: dental screening, Red Ribbon Week (drug awareness), Grad Night, and G.O.O.D. (Gangs Out of Downey).
Continuing the tightly woven metaphor for Downey in general, many other organizations welcome the opportunity to participate. For example, the Downey Fire Department contributes, with their Toys for Tots Drive. And the Downey Federal Credit Union (DFCU) not only serves the financial needs of the community and organizations in the city, but wants to be an active member of the city. Their members raised funds by dining out at participating restaurants, for example, resulted in the donation of 1,344 meals. Over all DFCU has donated 27,000 meals to PTA H.E.L.P.S.
This program’s costs are kept down by the dedication of volunteers, PTA’s, schools, contributions by the City of Downey, businesses and organizations, such as the Rotary Club of Downey.
We have here in Downey a community working together, “a fine example,” as Huell Hauser would say, “of California’s gold.”