When Dawn Sweatt, a partner at San Jose law firm Berliner Cohen, tried to teach her two young sons a lesson about compassion and generosity, they managed to surprise her.
With the family sheltered-in-place, her sons Colton, 10, and Hayden, 9, wanted to make in-app purchases on their iPads while gaming with their friends. When their mom said no because money around the house was tight, they countered with a plan to empty their piggy banks and spend their own cash. If they were so eager to spend their money, she volleyed back, maybe they maybe figure out a way to use their money to help the people around them fighting coronavirus.
And the boys did just that, hatching a plan to spend their money not on games but meals — for firefighters, law enforcement officers and healthcare workers. The boys emptied their banks, rolled their coins, counted the bills and came up with a grand total: $529.
As the plan came together, Sweatt started calling restaurants to see if any could help, and Steve Angelo, owner of Purple Onion Cafe in Los Gatos, was thrilled by the idea. He said he would not only provide the meals, but for every two meals the boys bought, he’d throw in a third on the house.
The family picked up the first set of 10 meals to take to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office in Cupertino on Wednesday morning. They will next deliver 10 meals to San Jose Fire Station No. 30 on Auzerais Avenue and then 30 meals next week to a hospital.
Sweatt said it wasn’t too difficult to illustrate to her sons what kind of impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on first responders and front-line healthcare workers.
“I reminded them how their dad’s best friend is sheriff’s deputy on duty all week patrolling and cannot go home to his family because his wife is high-risk and cannot be exposed. So he camps in his driveway each night in an RV. He does not get to hug and kiss his family,” she said. “I also reminded them how their best friend’s dad is a San Jose firefighter and for the first time in his life he is fearful to go to work, and when he’s at work he’s fearful to come home and expose his family to the virus.”
The boys also made thank you cards to attach to each meal and said Wednesday that giving back to the community felt good. They’re hoping to engage their school community at Campbell Christian School to take on a similar challenge this spring.
HUNGER AT HOME SHIFTS INTO HIGH GEAR: Mary Ellen Duell and Thom Duell of the Garage Band, along with special guest Robert Berry, will perform in a concert streaming on Facebook at 7 p.m. Friday to benefit Hunger at Home, the San Jose nonprofit that has temporarily expanded its mission because of the coronavirus pandemic. A link will be provided during the show for viewers to donate.
Hunger at Home — the San Jose nonprofit that takes excess food from stadiums and hotels and provides it to community groups — has continued distributing food to its 22 nonprofit partners, but it’s now also directly preparing ready-to-eat meals for up to 5,000 people every day, including many restaurant and hospitality workers who have been laid off or furloughed.
Using a commercial kitchen in San Jose, Hunger at Home Executive Director Ewell Sterner and COO Dinari Brown have enlisted their network of Silicon Valley chefs to help prepare more than 130,000 meals since March 19. And while there was a large influx of donations at the beginning of the crisis, when restaurants, hotels and other venues first closed, that food has been depleted, and Hunger at Home has reached out to food distributors to keep everyone supplied.
TWO FOR THE BOOKS: Shop With a Cop Foundation Silicon Valley Executive Director Darrell Cortez doesn’t want kids to go without reading just because schools are closed. So the foundation — which annually pairs low-income kids with law enforcement officers for a holiday shopping spree — partnered with Disney and ABC7 to procure 1,000 new Disney-themed books.
The books are being placed in SHIP Kits, boxes that contain nonperishable food, hygiene necessities like toilet paper, paper towels and hand soap; and “boredom busters” like decks of cards, coloring books and jump ropes. The kits, aimed at hourly wage-earners and families in need with kids under 12, are the work of a new nonprofit created by developer Urban Community in partnership with several San Jose businesses.
Meanwhile, Hicklebee’s owner Valerie Lewis emailed to say that the iconic Willow Glen bookstore has launched a “Keep Kids reading” book drive and teamed up with the Santa Clara County Office of Education to distribute them to low-income students. Volunteers will hand bags of books to families that are picking up meals at various sties around the county. You can donate to the drive through Hicklebee’s website or by calling the store at 408-292-8880 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.