2020 was a bad year for Oregon. Already pretty badly hit with COVID-19, the state was also facing the wrath of severe Climate Change in the form of raging wildfires!
To add to all this, there were protests and riots almost every single night, making the atmosphere in Portland extremely negative!
That is when the founders decided they had to do something that would uplift the community. The criteria were simple, the program had to be supported by the community and would be for the community. And Operation HOPE was born.
H.O.P.E. stands for Health Outreach Partnership and Encouragement
Health: One component has to be geared towards the health of the people
Outreach: We had to reach out to the communities that had been disproportionately affected
Partnership: The community is our major sponsor. So we partnered with Non-Profit Organizations, County, and groups with hobbies to collectively make bags.
Encouragement: Another component of the project was to ensure we make goodie bags that make the recipient feel good. A personalized note, handwritten card, or origami all form a part of the encouragement we provide
We, this in mind we created Operation HOPE and ran the project from October 2020 to February 2021 distributing 5031 bags across 64 different organizations around the Portland Metro region!
Since the first program ran during the COVID Winter and was focused on the homeless and elderly community, we included masks and sanitizers as the Health component. Warm items like a mitten, beanie, or socks formed the 3rd item in the bag. Little treats such as hard or soft mints form the 4th item in the bag. Finally, handwritten note cards and origami created by the community formed the most important ingredient of our little goodie bag.
This summer, we are creating similar bags for high school kids who are affected by school closure and are part of the federal lunch program! If you like our ideas, volunteer for Operation HOPE Summer today!
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