Another Single Mother’s Family Helped by EHHF

 Another Single Mother’s Family Helped by EHHF  Single Parent Families Helped
May 192013
 
Single Mother Helped By EHHF

May the 18th, Saturday afternoon, the weather is beautiful. Most people are enjoying a relaxing weekend. Most, but not all.

The Founder and staff of Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation have chosen to spend their Saturday afternoon delivering furniture, a TV set, clothing, toys and good news to a struggling single mother and her three children. (The mother is separated, alone with three young children, unemployed and starting over with nearly nothing.)

EHHF Delivers Furniture To The Disadavantaged Single Mother's Family

EHHF Delivers Furniture To The Disadvantaged Single Mother’s Family on a Saturday afternoon

EHHF Delivers Furniture To A Disadvantaged Single Mother's Family

EHHF Delivers Furniture To A Disadvantaged Single Mother’s Family

The photographer arrived late so you can’t see the struggle with the sofa set and the rug being unloaded from the truck and carried upstairs through the narrow passage way. The photos show the staff of EHHF already exhausted after contending with the sofa set and rug and lugging upstairs the last of the heavy items: the TV and its stand. (The stand was too heavy but provides much needed storage for toys and children’s clothing.)

EHHF Delivers Clothing To The Disadavantaged Single Mother's Family

EHHF Delivers Clothing To The Disadvantaged Single Mother’s Family on a Saturday Afternoon

The pictures, tell the story: one disadvantaged single mom’s family celebrated a little Christmas in May.

EHHF Founder With Single Mothers Family

EHHF’s Founder (seated on the right) With the Single Mother’s Family whose needs were met thanks to the assistance of Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation.

The furniture made the family’s apartment a home. The TV – not connected properly yet at the time the pictures were taken – will help keep the children entertained. Groceries have surely relieved some of the mother’s stress.
Children‘s clothing and toys were of course a different story altogether. The mother’s face lit up when she’s seen them. The little girl wondered how she’ll look in a new dress… The youngest of the three children was interested in toys only…

EHHF Delivers Clothing To The Disadvantaged Single Mother's Family

EHHF Delivers Clothing To The Disadvantaged Single Mother’s Family on a Saturday

Single Mother Helped By EHHF

EHHF Helped This Single Mother Find Employment And Chldcare

The much less photogenic highpoint of the afternoon must have been the moment when the Founder of Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation told the mother that she’s been hired and her children will be well taken care of while she works…

If helping one single mother get back to self-sufficiency involves furniture – and other goods’ – delivery on a Saturday afternoon that’s a small price to pay for a brighter, safer future of FOUR!

Single parenthood is often a Catch 22 situation. As a sole provider, the single parent absolutely has to work; a single parent of small children can’t leave them unattended while she (or he) earns a living. As much as earning a living is a must; forcing a single parent to endanger his or her children is simply unconscionable. Empowering single parents of young children has to consist of both: employment and child care. It takes sensitivity, compassion, material and moral support – a Saturday afternoon and sometimes, a lingering backache – to create actual solutions, one individual case at a time.

Help is needed badly.

If you can help, a donation of goods will be appreciated.

TV Set And A TV Stand Provided By EHHF

The TV Set And A TV Stand Provided By EHHF (in addition to the sofa set, rug, clothing, toys, groceries and more)

The greatest need right now: cash donations for rent payments (EHHF receives requests for help paying single parent families’ rent all the time!) and jobs. (If you are hiring in San Fernando Valley or Los Angeles area, please contact us. We have many job requests from allover the country but not enough of them to organize a nationwide referral system just yet.  Locally, in Los Angeles County, EHHF has a list of single mothers ready to start working immediately.)

Help Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation distribute the help where is needed most and then you too will experience the satisfaction of knowing that you ensured a family’s future, and sometimes even saved lives….  (Depression, desperation and in extreme cases, suicidal thoughts are not uncommon among disadvantaged single parents.)

EHHF didn’t start its activities with a photographer at hand and cared more about providing relief than creating photographic records of its charitable deeds. We’re catching up. There’ll be more recipient stories and pictures on our Website, soon…

EHHF Provides Food And Joy To Underprivileged Single Parent Families

 EHHF Provides Food And Joy To Underprivileged Single Parent Families  EHHF Events
May 052013
 
Before EHHF Event

Anticipation before Shop EHHF’s Food Pantry event

On the afternoon of May 4th (Saturday) 2013 as neighboring stores begun to close, Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation’s Thrift Store and Donation Center on Vanowen Street in N. Hollywood filled up with single mothers, a few single fathers and a whole bunch of kids. The single parents – either unemployed or under-employed – came to receive food. The children – like ALL children regardless of circumstances – came hungry for gifts and treats…

EHHF May Give Away

Single Mothers Lined Up For EHHF’s Help And RECEIVED IT

EHHF Supporting Single Parent Families

 

NOBODY walked away disappointed even though this Shop EHHF’s Food Pantry event wasn’t exactly as planned. Instead of the imperishable food items, participants received Food 4 Less gift cards with which they’ll be able to buy the exact food items they need. (The Whole Foods gift card we received will be used to purchase fresh foods for June’s Shop EHHF’s Food Pantry event.) In addition, each single parent family present (pre-qualified Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation’s members / recipients) received delicious low-calorie drinks made especially for children (thanks to Trader Joe’s) and sweet treats from Porto’s Bakery and Café.

EHHF's beneficiaries

EHHF’s beneficiaries enjoyed the event

Everybody was delighted also by Build A Bear’s generosity! The unexpected gift of beautiful and fuzzy teddy bears made children laugh and caused many an adult wipe off a tear… The bears – as well as Build A Bear’s gift cards – were a hit with all: the young and the grown up!

EHHF's Free Furniture Drawing

EHHF’s Free Furniture Drawing

Just as Shop EHHF’s Food Pantry event was winding down, there was one more very welcome surprise. A drawing for free (donated to Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation by various private donors) furniture! Since many of the single parent families – due to such circumstances as a divorce, for instance – are starting over with nothing – or next to nothing – and don’t have such basic items as a dining table, chairs, a dresser or a sofa, a gift of free furniture restores a sense of normalcy in their daily lives. All participants were excited by the prospect of winning. The youngest of the attendees drew the names of the lucky recipients. The delivery schedule is being worked out as we speak and yes, EHHF will deliver the furniture directly to the recipients!

EHHF's Event Comes To A Close

Shop EHHF’s Food Pantry event Comes To A Close

Needless to say, this non-typical Shop EHHF’s Food Pantry event was a relief and joy to Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation’s members / recipients and brought them one step closer to recovery…

Struggling Single Mother's Family Helped By EHHF

Struggling Single Mother’s Family Helped By EHHF

EHHF Provided Food And Joy To Underprivileged Single Parent Families in May 2013, again. As with all charitable events, plenty of work and considerable good will of the business community went into the preparation of the monthly Shop EHHF’s Food Pantry event. Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation thanks the donors whose commitment to the welfare of single parent families (and underprivileged children!) made this event possible. EHHF thanks: Trader Joe’s, Costco, Food 4 Less, Whole Foods Market and Build A Bear for their big-hearted support! Not to be amiss, thank you to all private persons who donated – and donate! – goods to Enlightened Helping Hand Foundation’s Donation Center. Your gifts make tangible difference in daily lives of the many single parent families EHHF serves.