As Julie and I were ending our OSB shift at Inglewood Middle School one day last week, we were approached by a man on his evening neighborhood walk. He stopped when he saw our OSB sign to ask what we were doing. We explained ALE and OSB, and his mouth dropped. He said he had just donated. He described that an association (I thought he said Lake Washington SD, but I’m not sure) he is involved with has a donation board with six or so organizations to choose from to donate to, and he picked ALE! He said he works for Salesforce and has put in for matching funds.

He was so taken aback and excited to run into us. He also said he was a child of school lunch programs and sure could have used some new clothes at that time. We explained how we are so grateful for his donation since we cannot fundraise as we have in the past and are dipping into our reserves to be sure to serve our community at this time of great need. He immediately recognized the problem. He asked to take pictures of us to post to encourage others to donate, too.

-submitted by Vanessa Stothers, ALE member 2020-21 (also appeared in the MEU 11/2)