While many kids were enjoying the first few days of their Christmas vacation, a group of students from Sunnyside High School spent some time giving a special gift to a Fresno family! The Hope Rises Campus Outreach Club became aware of a family living in a neighborhood not far from their school; a father living with his three sons (two of which suffer from Cerebral Palsy). As a single parent, life had become quite overwhelming. This team came in and did a mini home makeover; removing trash, patching walls, cleaning, painting, trimming trees and helped the family get a fresh start. The gift was much appreciated, and more important than that, a connection was made with a family and a relationship has been established. (see project photos)
But looking a little closer we began to see a bigger story. Matt Roper, advisor for Hope Rises said, “Working on a project like this really changed the kids’ perspective. Most of my students come from humble means. I try to show them that even though they might not have much, they still have much to offer.”
One of the students who helped on this project was Honey Vang, who comes from a family of 11 children. The father is out of the picture and the mom has trouble making ends meet. This past Thanksgiving, Hope Rises provided the Vang family with a meal and later Honey said it lasted a couple weeks! As a way of saying “thank you”, Mrs.Vang baked egg rolls and other desserts. Honey was also touched, by the way her family was blessed and wanted to do something that would help another family. She was really moved by the condition this family was living in and realized that although she was going through a tough time, there were others who were going through much worse.
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Honey will graduate from Sunnyside High School in June. She would love to attend UC Davis
and someday become a nurse. She will be the first person in her family to attend college.