M.V. Generosity Helps Urban Homeless Kids

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

Homeless teens in Las Vegas are spending the holiday season a lot more comfortably thanks to the efforts and generosity of members of the Moapa Valley community.

Earlier this month, Logandale residents Jane Smith and Cindy McMurray took a large load of socks, hygiene products, hats, scarves, and other needed items to the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) in Las Vegas. All items were that were donated by Moapa Valley residents in a drive coordinated by Smith and McMurray.

Smith said that residents were exceedingly generous and she was able to collect around 1,000 pairs of socks, 3 ½ large boxes filled with hygiene items, and several large bags of other donations to help youth who have been kicked out of their homes or are homeless for other reasons.

The idea for this project occurred to Smith last summer . She was watching a newscast that featured an interview with Lanette Rivera from NPHY. She was shocked when she heard Rivera say that there are over 14,000 homeless teens in Nevada from age 12-18. She listened as Rivera explained how these teens become homeless and told some of their heartbreaking stories.

Smith said that she remembered the interviewer asking Rivera what the kids asked for most. Rivera’s reply was that their most requested items were socks and hygiene items.

After seeing that interview, Smith said that she reflected on what she had heard. As the summer progressed, she just couldn’t get it out of her mind and knew she needed to do something to help.
Smith realized that she didn’t have the first idea how to organize a project on the scale of what she was envisioning. In talking to her neighbors, it was suggested that she meet with McMurray, who lived only a few houses away and was serving as the area’s LDS Relief Society president.

Smith said she went and knocked on McMurray’s door, introduced herself, and explained what she wanted. McMurray invited Smith to come to church on Sunday and tell her story and explain her goals to the women in the Relief Society there. Smith did that and the project took off from there.

After speaking to the Relief Society, Smith made fliers and placed donation boxes around town. “We got off to a bit of a slow start,” she said. “I told the businesses where I placed the donation boxes that I would be by every other day to check on them and every time there were only a few items.”

As time went on, however, word spread and pretty soon donations were flooding in. “After that, every time I went the boxes were full,” Smith said. “In addition, people were bringing bags and bags of items to my house, until my guest room was almost completely full, thanks to the generosity of our community.”

In addition to the socks and hygiene items, people brought backpacks, notebooks, underwear, caps, scarves, and other items. One donation that particularly touched Smith was a donation of 20 homemade individual filled bags one lady made that included a note inside for each recipient.

When the deadline for the project was reached, Smith and McMurray had to borrow a trailer to haul all the donations in to NPHY.
“They were so surprised when we pulled up with 1,000 pairs of socks and a whole trailer full of other donations,” Smith said. “They said it was by far the biggest donation they had ever received and they were thrilled.”

While they were there, the two were given a tour of the NPHY facility. Smith said she was impressed with the facility, which contains a full kitchen, several showers, and even a serenity room where teens can think and meditate.
“As large as our donation was, we learned that with 14,000 homeless teens at any given time, they are always in need of even more,” Smith said. “But that every little bit helps.”

The project was such a success that Smith plans on making it a yearly event. “I learned a lot this first time, including the fact that I need to do more advertising and have more drop-off boxes,” she said

Still, she is very touched by the generosity she witnessed. As she talked about it at the food bank she volunteers at, fellow volunteers listened, the idea spread, and the Calvary Baptist Church in Las Vegas decided to join in and help out. Smith said that church was able to collect an additional 280 pairs of socks and next year plans to make collecting items for NPHY a fun contest between all the area Baptist churches.

Smith wants to thank all in the community for their help and generosity. She said this experience has been life-changing for her.
“I felt very rewarded personally and I was just blown away by how generous this community is,” Smith said. “Our little valley was able to contribute an overwhelming amount of items just basically by word of mouth.”

More information on the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth can be found at www.nphy.org. NPHY can always use donations of any size. In addition to socks, hygiene items, and other personal items, they particularly appreciate donations of gift cards to fast food restaurants in denominations of $5 or $10 at the most to give to kids in need of a meal.