Friends In Deed has been lucky enough to count many artists among its volunteers, but what has been a first for us is for an artist to use materials from the Food Pantry with which to create art! Along with her volunteering at Friends In Deed, Carolie was teaching a sculpture class with Art Division, …
Gentle and soft spoken, Merl is a long-term and very much loved guest of The Women’s Room. She has continued to visit and get support from Friends In Deed during many years of housing insecurity and serious illness. Merl particularly enjoys the art activities that TWR provides. We have often said that art is as …
Photo credit – Frank Styduhar. From the collection of Lorenzo Hernandez. Lorenzo had realized his old friend Joe – a man in his nineties – was no longer mobile. Lorenzo began picking Joe up and taking him to Friends In Deed’s Food Pantry to get groceries. It was here that our then Food Pantry Manager, …
Merria is the youngest of seven children in an athletic family and much of her childhood was spent going from one sporting event to another, cheering on her older siblings. She decided she wanted a more official role – and Merria the cheerleader came into being! The spirit of cheerleading has never left her. In …
With a good job as a probation officer, Ransome had a stable life. Unfortunately, after taking sabbatical leave, he had problems getting his job back. Without an income, the challenges posed by the bureaucracy of the system became insurmountable and the inevitable homelessness that followed only made things worse. Ransome tried multiple agencies to try …
As happened with so many people during the stay-at-home order at the beginning of the pandemic, Julius found his primary relationships came under great strain. His girlfriend continued to work as a cosmetologist, and this meant a steady stream of clients visiting their home. Not only did the risk make Julius uncomfortable, but he also …
We have a very diverse pantry community. The three main languages spoken by our pantry community are English, Spanish, and Mandarin. We will also regularly hear Armenian, Korean, and Arabic to list a few more. It is fun to watch our community as they wait for their turn to pick up food. As one would …
Tim (Director of the Food Pantry) says: “One of the great things about the work I do is getting to help young people learn about hunger, poverty, and what Friends In Deed does every day. Over the ten years I’ve been in charge of the Food Pantry program, I’ve had countless opportunities to speak with …
Friends Western School’s Story – Community Connections Read More »
Stacy was invited to a Friends In Deed board meeting in 2016 to be introduced to and get to know the organization, and she must have liked what she saw, because by the end of the meeting she had volunteered to take on the role of board secretary! She continued in that role until 2020, …
Stacy’s Story – Past and Future Commitment to the Community Read More »
Pasadena Community Gardens originated as one person’s dream. She had moved into a condo but desperately missed her garden. Her husband refused to consider moving again, so she had to think creatively – and a community garden was the result! The community shares knowledge, helps each other, and experimentally grows produce you’d never find in …
