Local business steps up to support homeless families
VENTURA COUNTY — This October, the Ventura County community is invited to join the WALKtober 5,000 Challenge. The City Center, Local PODS® Moving & Storage, KVTA, and KCOP are challenging the Ventura County community to join them in a daily 5k run or walk to raise funds for Ventura County homeless children and families. Participants are encouraged to get family or friends to sponsor them and donate via www.gofundme.com/thecitycenter.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to set some fitness goals while also helping local homeless children,” said Tom Spence of NewsTalk 1590. “No child should be homeless. Ever.”
NewsTalk Host, Tom Spence of 1590 KVTA, and Jay Scratch, of KOCP 104.7, are challenging each other to run 5k a day in October, with each presenter hoping to raise at least $5,000 for The City Center to help local homeless families become self-sufficient.
With more than 6,394 students identified as homeless in Ventura County in the 2019-2020 school year, the need for services supporting local homeless families is considerable.
Dedicated to improving Ventura County, Local PODS Moving & Storage is sponsoring the WALKtober 5,000 Challenge. “We are delighted to support the incredible work of The City Center,” said Steve Yapp, owner of Local PODS Moving & Storage. “To know that PODS is helping homeless families become self-sufficient is humbling. We are honored to be involved with The City Center and its 100% success rate.”
“We are so grateful to our local PODS for sponsoring this fantastic WALKtober 5,000 Challenge,” said Jim Duran, Executive Director of The City Center. “The City Center receives no government support, so these donations are critical to allow us to own our building and help more homeless children and families.”
About Local PODS Moving & Storage — Steve Yapp is the owner of three Tri-Counties PODS® franchises that serve residents and businesses in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.
Dedicated to the local community, Yapp’s franchises have donated hundreds of PODS containers to nonprofit and charitable organizations throughout Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego and Los Angeles counties since opening their doors in 2005.
A partial list of recipients include: Boys & Girls Clubs, FOOD Share of Ventura County, Casa Pacifica, Toys 4 Tots, California Strawberry Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Relay for Life, C.H.P. Holiday Toy Drive, Salvation Army, Santa Maria Good Samaritan, Oxnard Downtown Management District, Boy Scouts of Ventura County, California Visitors Center, Simi Valley Days, the Oxnard Salsa Festival, and Catholic Charities.
A moving and storage leader for nearly 25 years, PODS offers flexible, personalized solutions tailored to our customers’ unique needs. When PODS pioneered portable storage in 1998, we introduced the world to a new way of thinking about moving and storage, with unlimited time, control, and flexibility. Today, PODS provides residential and commercial moving and storage services in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the UK. The PODS network has completed more than 1.2 million long-distance moves and more than 5.4 million initial deliveries. Whether it is a long-distance or international relocation, across-town move, or renovation project, PODS provides customers with a personal moving and storage team ready for any situation. To learn more, visit PODS.com
About The City Center — The City Center, led by Executive Director Jim Duran and his team of case managers, therapists and mentors, have worked tirelessly to equip homeless families with children to rebuild their lives and become independent. The City Center is much more than a 30-room transitional living facility, it provides homeless families with a safe place to stay for one to two years, as well as in-depth mentorship, counseling, and assistance. Not one of the 272 graduates of the City Center have ever returned to homelessness.