Published  January 11. 2021. in San Leandro Times: Letters to the Editor 

Moira Fry​
April Showers, San Leandro

San Leandro Workers

Benefit April Showers.

Editor:

The year 2020 is finally in the rearview mirror, and I think we are all very happy to be finished with it. But things happened in 2020 which bring a smile and make things feel a little less bleak.
I work with IHN/April Showers and we provide the homeless and mar­ginalized folks in this area with a hot shower, services, clothing and, since Covid, food to go.
With the county health department orders we have all been under since last March, it did not look like Christ­mas was going to be very warm or „. jolly for our homeless guests.
Enter the City of San Leandro City Employees Association (SLCEA). In normal times, these workers who place a certain amount of their paychecks all year long in a fund to celebrate the holiday season with their families would have gathered for a group party at Christmas. In the year of Covid, that option was off the table.
The members of SLCEA could have elected to roll their savings over and had a super great party in 2021 or '22, but they didn't. They gave their 2020 Christmas funds to April Showers to give our homeless guests a wonderful Christmas surprise.
IHN/April Showers is grateful for the donation they provided. We received the donation shortly after the county went into our second lock-down. This second wave required restaurants to close for on-site (outdoor and indoor) dining. Restaurants were consigned back to take out/delivery food only.
With the funds provided by the generous donation from SLCEA, April Showers was able to purchase "to go" Christmas meals from three wonder­ful local restaurants to provide food which was healthy, nutritious and quite extra-special for our guests.
The restaurants benefited from the purchase, but each of them also helped defray some of the costs and for that I will always be a grateful patron at all of them.
Our guests received a Christmas meal way above the normal "soup to go" we offer each shower event.
This effort was funded by the San Leandro City Employees Association. The IHN/April Showers group of volunteers is in awe of your generosity and appreciative of your consideration. We are grateful to Sons of Liberty, Rubiano's and Paradiso for filling the orders and making sure we were able to cover the bill!
We all look forward to a healthy, Covid-free 2021 (eventually!) but the chance to offer a homeless person a meal I would have ordered delivered to my home was priceless. Thank you SLCEA again, from the bottom of my heart.