Huge thank you to all of the people who have already donated winter apparel to this cause!
For the past 13 years, the teams behind Project Neighborly Needs have collected and handed out approximately 15,000 articles of winter apparel, as well as prepared full Thanksgiving meals to thousands of families.
“When I was three years old, I saw a homeless man without shoes. Even at that age, I felt the need to help him, insisting that my grandmother go to the store to get him a pair of shoes. I did not understand why I had shoes and he didn’t, and it seemed easy to just go get him some.”-Hallalah Hasam
Hallalah Hasam, a current massage therapy student here at WellSpring, has dedicated her time year after year to help run Project Neighborly Needs. She is a close friend to Sulaiman Salaam, the initial motivator and director of Project Neighborly Needs. She said she decided to join Sulaiman with Project Neighborly Needs because she has always been a giving person and she and Sulaiman have a history of helping each other with projects such as this. In other words, this isn’t Hallalah’s first time being associated with a charity, as you could read about Hallalah’s experiences with the Ronald McDonald House as well as Scholastic Books on her resume.
On top of handing out donated winter apparel, Project Neighborly Needs also hosts a Thanksgiving Dinner. In the first year, Hallalah estimates that they accommodated about 50 families. Each year, they have progressively added more and more families , and here in 2014, Project Neighborly Needs plans to feed 300 families a Thanksgiving dinner.
Hallalah is truly a giver at heart, and says that she believes that the reason we are given hearts is so that we can give help to others. Hallalah mentioned her favorite part of the day during Project Neighborly Needs is each moment that you see the person’s face who is receiving their donated items:
“The feeling you get when you see them is when you really understand the impact that Project Neighborly Needs is having – that is the greatest feeling, knowing that YOU gave them the hope that they are leaving there with.”
In addition to spending her time here at WellSpring pursuing Massage Therapy, Hallalah still makes a way to donate her time and energy to Project Neighborly Needs again and again.
What can YOU do to help?
Feeling the Thanksgiving spirit? Swing by WellSpring’s KC campus to donate any of your old coats, hats, gloves, etc.
The donation tables will be set up at the Emanuel Center on Prospect Avenue from 10AM-2PM on Saturday, November 22, 2014.
If you are interested in helping prepare the Thanksgiving dinner or donate your time in any other way, please call Sulaiman Salaam at (816) 589-1858 or Call Hallalah Hasam at (816) 260-0439.