Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
On Friday, May 21, HOPE Ministries held our annual Kids in a Box homeless awareness event at our Raymus House Family Shelter. Kids in a Box gives us the opportunity to engage our community to raise awareness of the needs of families who have found themselves and their children homeless. We feel that it is important that the needs of these families be brought to the attention of our community and to give the opportunity for people to step forward and help.

This year the inclement weather, cold and the threat of rain, impacted our turnout for Kids in a Box. We were blessed by the participation of the East Union Cheerleaders, who braved the cold weather to help our families and to show their support for the people in our shelters. Their efforts raised $725 for the operation of our shelters, and perhaps more importantly, gave them a chance to interact with the families living at Raymus House.

We want to thank the East Union Cheerleaders for their involvement in our event. We would also like to thank our sponsors, who made this event possible. We thank our Gold Sponsors, the South San Joaquin Irrigation District and J.R. Simplot Co. for their ongoing support. We also thank our Silver Level sponsors, Community Pet Clinic McKinley, Sausser and Mello Insurance, In-N-Out Burger, New China Restaurant, KFC, Taco Bell, Safeway, Target and Stockton Ports Baseball. The compassion and support of these businesses is a wonderful reflection of our community and we are so grateful for their involvement in our work with homeless families.