We have some pretty amazing partners here in the Treasure Valley. FedEx is no exception! Recently, FedEx handed out reusable shopping bags to its employees. Each employee was asked to fill the bag up! Everything from hygiene items, new clothing items, bedding, and food was encouraged. Some of their employees went shopping together and some enjoyed their shopping trips alone as they contemplated what a homeless student or family might be in need of most. Have you ever tried to put yourself in a homeless student's shoes? Here at our office, we do this often, and are quickly moved to tears when we begin to think about how it must feel to surf from couch to couch; from park bench to parked car--with a reusable shopping bag full of a few small personal items and a sleeping bag your only worldly posessions.
With the days becoming darker and colder, most of us take comfort in the seasonal pleasures ahead; trick-or-treating with our kids, gathering with our families around a table full of hot, homemade food, and cozy Christmas mornings full of cocoa and presents. But not every person here in our valley has these comforts to wrap themselves in. Which is why the items companies like FedEx gathers are critical for homeless students and their families for surviving some of Idaho's most frigid days.
It takes a community to change the odds for kids and families. Thank you, Fed Ex, for being part of ours.