RE LOG - Spring 2017

SPRING 2017 Ransom Everglades LOG 21 would give it out to people. It started out kind of small. At first, we’d give out 10 takeaway containers. But over the weeks doing it more and more, even- tually we got 200 individuals. We’d cook the food on Saturday mornings and give it out on Saturday evenings, every week- end. My whole family would help out and bring food. They were used to working together. It was just a family project, but we loved it. It brought us even closer together. We felt from those people appreciation, gratitude, thankfulness. We learned a lot. When did this informal giving become the Joshua’s Heart Foundation? When I was seven, my aunt heard about 501(c)(3)s and incorporating on the radio. She told us about it, and we decided to fill the forms out and register for it, and Joshua’s Heart was born. Around that time, we were actually stopped from giving food out in downtown Miami. We had be- come pretty popular, and the city told us we had to stop because of local ordinances. We were giving out Styrofoam containers and there was a littering ordinance, and there were also special rules on feeding the hungry in public places. I had to figure out a way we could continue doing what we’re doing to help people. And that’s where the idea of the distribution, which is our main program, came from. How do distributions work? We distribute food – mostly non- perishables – to people in need. We do distributions across South Florida in different locations: schools, community centers, church- es, gymnasiums, auditoriums, parking lots – anywhere they have a big enough spaces. We sometimes pay for the locations, often find ourselves partnering with other organizations. Working with others who want to change the world is really powerful. Coming together helps us make a greater change. The only thing we have to buy are the food supplies, and the U-Haul to pick up and transport the supplies from our warehouse to the distribution site. If the event is outside, we have a tent where we place the food under. Sometimes Story continues, page 66