ENP Partnership churches El Encino and Clovis Hills teamed up with First 5 Fresno County, Love Inc, EOC's WIC and Early Headstart, Healthy Smiles Dental, FIRM, Victory Outreach, Fresno State and Central California Legal Services (whew! Now, THAT's partnership for ya!) to put on an equipping and distribution outreach in Southeast Fresno...and what a fantastic day it was!
The morning started with some AMAZING workshops (in both English and Spanish, might I add) by WIC and Early Headstart! Did you know that SO many FREE services (i.e. free cheese, milk, bread, etc. as well as classes to prepare 3 year olds for preschool) are available to women and children in Fresno County, but often they are not known about or taken advantage of? Well, that was remedied on Saturday morning by signing up families for these free services that will impact their lives for the better. Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM) offered a libertaing class in Hmong for women who suffer from postpardum depression, something that is often suffered through in silence. And, Central California Legal Services did a Spanish presentation that focused on learning how to save on PG&E and phone bills. These were all great informational resources for those in challenging times.
The children who accompanied their parents were kept busy, too! Fresno State students held a hands-on nutrition workshop for the kids. Do you know how to prep and make fruit parfaits? Well, these kids now do! And, they were even able to run off those fruit parfaits by engaging in El Encino and Clovis Hills' weekly Saturday Sports program.
The day culminated with each family receiving FREE donated diapers, wipes, baby clothes and food.
In all, over 300 parents and kids along with nearly 75 volunteers were blessed with a great morning!