CRC CARES Hosts School Supply Drive for Inter-Mac
Last night, CRC CARES hosted a school supply drive for school children in the Honduran Los Castaños de Choloma neighborhood of Inter-Mac in conjunction with a company happy hour at popular Arlington restaurant, Mussel Bar.
School children at Inter-Mac's Los Castaños de Choloma neighborhood enjoy recess outside.
Over 700 supplies were collected, including calculators, notebooks, writing pads, pocket folders, highlighters, pencils, colored pencils, pens, colored markers, crayons, rulers, pencil sharpeners, pencil-top erasers, scotch tape, and compasses.
CRC CARES matched all donations on a one-for-one basis, and also sent soccer balls, which are popular among the local school children in the Inter-Mac community.
Los Castaños de Choloma is a 3,629-unit, workforce housing community that provides safe and affordable homes to low-income families in Choloma, Honduras. With much of the low-income population living in informal, makeshift housing and often lacking basic services like clean running water, electricity, sanitary plumbing, and even sufficient shelter, Inter-Mac, an affiliate of CRC Companies, sought to bring these basic living essentials to the Choloma workforce community. In partnership with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Inter-Mac developed a 27-year financing model that would allow families with incomes of one-to-three times the minimum wage in Honduras to buy a basic, 380-square-foot home.
Typically, individuals working in low-wage jobs in Central America cannot access the mortgage financing from local banks to purchase a basic house. The gated community, constructed by local development partner HOLA Realty, provides a truly safe and secure atmosphere for families, encompassing a new elementary school, central playground, soccer fields, basketball courts, retail, daycare center, onsite police station, church, and bus terminal.
A preschool class at Los Castaños de Choloma.
CRC CARES Serves Lunch at DC's 'So Others Might Eat' Kitchen
In partnership with CBG Building Company's "Team CBG," which runs internal team building and culture initiatives, the CRC CARES Foundation served lunch at So Others Might Eat (SOME) yesterday.
During our day volunteering, CRC CARES members worked both lunch shifts at the SOME Kitchen in downtown Washington, DC and made a monetary donation to cover the cost of the food being served. Volunteers were staffed on different crews responsible for a wide array of duties including food prep, drink service, food service, and cleanup. Through SOME's and CRC CARES' hard work, over 500 of the District's neediest were able to enjoy a warm lunch in a safe and clean environment.
SOME attracts a host of well-known volunteers including President Barack Obama, seen here on January 17, 2010.
Founded in 1970 by Father Horace McKenna and an interfaith group of priests, ministers, and lay persons to help the poor and homeless of our nation's capital. SOME meets the immediate daily needs of the people they serve with food, clothing, and healthcare. They help break the cycle of homelessness by offering services, such as affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment, and counseling to the poor, the elderly, and individuals with mental illness.