In light of our “new normal” as a society due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we here at Colors4Change are working in new ways to continue our mission of helping the community. Right now we are living in a very unprecedented time, a time in which we must help out neighbors more than ever. Colors4Change, as many know, delivers colorful art supplies to communities in need. During this difficult time staying true to that mission is tough, but part of that mission is still and always will be honored. Serving others and delivering items to those in need is the foundation of all that we do. The uncertainty of this time is the scariest aspect of it all, so we want to add as much ease and comfort as we can to families who need it more than ever.
With that said, we have shifted to providing non-perishable items to people in our community that need it the most. We understand that there are plenty of organizations whose primary function is to do so, but because of the sudden influx in unemployment, the number of citizens without enough money to buy food is increasing. We started with a simple call to action for our Colors4Change community to donate. We have received an outpour of canned and non-perishable goods we donated to places like Hesed House, Loaves and Fishes, Edwards Hospital, and even some local families in Naperville. At that point, we knew we were making an impact on the lives of the people in our community.
RunRaiser
What we all realized though is that there were so many workers on the front lines who were running out of health equipment. Jack, a Colors4Change board member, had the idea of doing a “RunRaiser”. The concept was people would pledge a dollar amount per mile of a half marathon Jack ran. Through this fundraiser, we raised over $3,000 and were able to get over 5000 masks to donate to Edwards Hospital and Tabor Hill Assisted Living and other senior assisted living facilities in the Naperville area. This also brought the community together because community members on the day of the event also ran their own half marathon. Even though the runners couldn’t run side by side, it was a touching addition of unity that we needed. Without much certainty, it is hard to say when we will get back to normal operation. However, there is one thing we know for certain, as an organization, both in Illinois and New Jersey, we will continue to serve our local community in any way possible through absolutely any obstacles we face. On behalf of Colors4Change, stay healthy and safe, we can’t wait for the great things yet to come.
