GI Go Fund Teams Up with Goldman Sachs and The Mission Continues to Assemble Hundreds of Care Packages for Homeless Veterans
Newark, NJ (PRWEB) July 02, 2013 -- Over 30 members of Goldman Sachs took part in an effort to help veterans currently living on the streets by joining The GI Go Fund and The Mission Continues in Newark City Hall to assemble over 200 care packages for homeless veterans.
The care packages were developed by the volunteers so that they may be distributed during homeless veteran outreach events in the area. They include clothes donated by Harley-Davidson and Bravado, as well as non-perishable food supplies donated by Operation Gratitude.
The effort was part of the company’s Community TeamWorks program, which is a global volunteer initiative that allows members of the company to take a day out of the office and spend it volunteering with local nonprofit organizations. In 2012, more than 25,000 individuals from 48 Goldman Sachs offices around the world partnered with more than 950 non-profit organizations on a diverse array of community service projects.
This event was coordinated in conjunction with the Mission Continues, an organization that grants community service fellowships to Post-9/11 Veterans, empowering them to transform their own lives by serving others and directly impacting their communities. The care packages were assembled with the assistance of Mission Continues fellows in an effort to help other veterans get back on their feet.
The GI Go Fund is a nonprofit organization that helps veterans and their families with finding employment, going to college, connecting to healthcare, and finding housing opportunities. The organization has made waves in recent years since forging a historic partnership with Mayor Cory Booker and the city of Newark to head its Veterans’ Office, utilizing a smarter government approach to find real solutions to the city’s veteran population.
“It is appalling that men and women who served our country in uniform with honor, courage, and commitment, must return from duty and distant battlefields to homelessness and apathy,” said Mayor Booker. “These are men and women who made enormous sacrifices and fought in battle to protect our liberties, our homes, and our streets. Too many of them return to enjoy precious few liberties, lack homes, and are forced to sleep in our streets. My administration is committed to giving our returning warriors the love and respect that they have earned.
“We are proud of how Goldman Sachs and its Community TeamWorks program has partnered with our GI Go Fund to provide care packages for homeless veterans in the City of Newark. I value the work done by GI Go Fund Executive Director Jack Fanous to develop this important partnership, and I urge Newark residents to support the GI Go Fund and all of our veterans.”
"When you prepare these care packages, remember that these packages are intended for Americans who at one point fought for you and I,” said GI Go Fund Executive Director Jack Fanous to the volunteers. “Do not think about the tattered clothes they wear today, but the uniform they once wore for you. Do not think of the bridge they sleep under but the bunker they once slept in to protect us. Always remember that these packages are meant for a hero; a man or woman who loved you and this country more than themselves, and with this package we can begin to say we love you too."
The packages will be used as part of the organization’s Midnight Mission for Homeless Veterans, an innovative outreach service that has scores of volunteers going out before dawn to places with high volumes of veteran homelessness to provide them with emergency supplies and access to VA medical assistance. Some packages were immediately delivered to the St. Bridget Support Center, a local food pantry that provides services to the city’s homeless population.
In addition, the care packages will be used during the organization’s Stand Down for Homeless Veterans later this fall, which is a one day event that links homeless veterans to food, clothes, legal aid, haircuts, and emergency medical aid.
Communications Team, GI Go Fund, http://www.gigofund.org, 1-866-389-4446, [email protected]
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