If you missed us on KSBY, you can catch us here! Plus so much more!
- Rosemary Cleaves
- Sep 1, 2025
- 9 min read
Teachers’ School Supplies Drive – Success!
The Teachers’ School Supplies Drive was a roaring success. Lisa Arakaki ,Project Leaader, tabulated the donated items and nearly $6,000 of school supplies were donated by all of you from all over South SLO County and beyond!
Many thanks to Lisa Arakaki for running this drive and to Susan J for offering her garage to stage, sort, pack and store the school supplies! And for the many volunteers who helped by being drop off locations, pick-up people, sorters, packers and drivers! It really does take a village!
We were on the NEWS! KSBY came to film one of our sorting and packing days and here’s the link to the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfNJUTvlAKw
Next Potluck
Our next potluck will be hosted by South SLO County Womenade on October 9th at 6PM at the 950 Room at 950 Cypress Ridge Parkway in Arroyo Grande.
Our potlucks are our main method of raising funds for our clients. We, like most non-profits, depend on our donors and volunteers to be successful in helping all the people we help in our community. From time to time it is important to expand the organization’s reach and to foster a stronger sense of community and support. Have you noticed - So often when we ask someone “Do you know about South SLO County Womenade?" And they say "no".
We invite each and every one of you to help us reach new audiences and boost new attendees at our next potluck events. Please seriously consider inviting a friend to join you. Start talking with them about it now! We’d love to meet them and them to meet us! Evites will go out the last week of September for the October potluck. You can email us if you'd like to be on the Evite list! sslocwomenade@gmail.com
Projects Update
We Love Educators – Lisa Arakaki project leader
Are you looking for a way to show support for South SLO County educators? Consider volunteering in an elementary classroom through Womenade's "We Love Educators - Volunteers for Teachers" project! We work closely with the school district's Human Resources office to match volunteers with teachers who request in-class help. Our priority is to honor volunteers' desired schedules, school sites, grade levels, and subjects as much as possible.Lucia Mar Unified School District ( LMUSD) vets all volunteers directly, including fingerprinting processed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI. Go to LMUSD's Human Resources web page for thorough instructions to register as a volunteer: Lucia Mar Unified School District Visitors & Volunteers - Human Resources Questions? Email Lisa Arakaki, project leader at WeLoveEducators@gmail.com
Laundry Pop-Up
Laundry Pop-ups have become very popular. In Nipomo one of the last families that came in was a young Spanish speaking mom with five small children. They brought in some very dirty laundry. It looked like a bed was set up in the back of their truck. The team was concerned that the family might be living/sleeping in their vehicle. A woman who comes in occasionally to do pet bedding was there. She is a social worker who helps people find housing in Santa Barbara County. She was able to speak to the mother and found out that they have a place to live, but are behind on their rent. We shared the list of places that Womenade supports, and are hoping the mother can find help with her rent.
Our teams are working together and Terri and Beth also covered the Arroyo Grande Pop-up. We were greeted at the door by one of the regulars, Jessie. He had his laundry in the machine and was waiting for us to get there. We had at least 5 people turn down our offers for help. Two people took information and said they would be making a donation. One of the last ladies who came in told me twice that she had been praying for help to get her through the week financially. She thanked us repeatedly.
The next Laundry Pop-Ups are:
Saturday September 6th in Nipomo
Saturday September 20th in Grover Beach
Our Laundry Pop-Ups need volunteers to sign up to help. Here is the Sign Up Genius. It’s been updated for the remainder of 2025! Won’t you help?!
Nipomo Food Distribution – Rosemary Cleaves, Sue McCutcheon, and Mary Anne Morgan - project leaders
The August Food distribution was on Tuesday August 12th. Our numbers rebounded to 376 families with many new faces. However, not surprisingly, we continue not to have many farm workers.
We work with the SLO FoodBank and the Lucia Mar school district to make the Food Distribution happen. Thank you SLO Foodbank and all our fabulous volunteers! Many thanks to the Lucia Mar School District and Nipomo Elementary School for renewing our site contract to use the school parking lot for our distributions! Let us know if you want to be on the substitute list. The next distribution will be on Tuesday, September 9th from 4:30 to 6:30 PM.
Help and Items Needed
A project leader for the Toiletries Drive next April – Training and assistance available
Volunteers to prepare weekly weekend food bags for children who don't eat on the weekends
Volunteers for the Laundry Pop UP Sign up here: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0B44AEA82DAAF9C52-50105745-2024
Toilet paper
Diapers
Pack n Plays
Child safety items – drawer and cabinet locks and gates
Laundry detergent
Update on Funds Received
7/1/25 TO 7/31/25 $13,732.48
1/1/25 TO 7/31/25 $77,123.37
2/1/2019 TO 6/30/25 $729,917.87
Thanks to July Donors
Barbara Schader, Fran Norris, Rosemary Cleaves (2), Karen Kolba (2), Sheila and Richard Semana, Ann Tompkins, Mary De Jong, Marilyn Mullany, Lola Zybura, Joann and Stan Benson (2), Olive and Mike Shu, Elaine Stewart, Bluma Felix, Cory Gonzalez, Wendy Castleman (2), We Love Educators, Christine Mateer, Linda Fibich (2), Gail Applegate, Candace Guldeman, Marcella Gelman (2), Lisa Murdoch (2), Madeline Stevenson, Jann Jeffries, Barbara Crawford, Carol Chenot (2), Marilyn Knollenberg, Mary Anne Morgan and Madeline Fay, Jordis Daigle, Gwen Carton, Lisa Arakaki, Ann Mathias, Deb Sherry, Susan Josephson (3), Nicole Pazdan, Susan McCutcheo (2), Lynette Roberts, Caity McCardell, Teri Howes, Cathy Walker, Kathy Gibbs, Dana Robertson, Anita Shower, Jessica Griffiths, Debra Jackson, Libby Cabral, Tara Mattina, Kathy Forenza, Shirley Horacek, Marilyn Mullany
Where the Money Went
Casa Solana – Renée Poirier – Executive Director
Casa Solana was able to provide a gift bed to a woman in her 30's, She has a four year old who is currently in foster care. She is working hard on her recovery and hopes to be reunited with her daughter after completing the program. $800
Nipomo Family Resource Center – Advocate Mary Mullany (supervisor)
Food for clients $23.70 SLO Foodbank
Single mother needs support with her electricity bill this month. $300 PG&E
Single mother needs help with car insurance payment in order to continue working and providing for her family. (job requires a lot of driving and Insurance is a necessity) $104 Cost U Less Insurance
Oceano Family Resource Center – Advocate Stella Medina
A Family of three with one income. Family car broke down, and the repair cost is negatively impacting the family’s budget. The house needs to be baby proofed to ensure his safety $100 Amazon
Family of 4 -- father is disabled and on dialysis. Mother lost job three weeks ago. They need support with rent this month. $300 People’s Self Help Housing
Single mother finally working full time and paying her bills without assistance. Got a flat tire and is stranded. Needs help with paying for the tire. She will pay for the service. $116 Nipomo tires
Arroyo Grande Family Resource Center – Cinthyia Ortiz-Corona
Single mother currently struggling with expenses. She requested support with passport expense. She is currently living paycheck to paycheck.$135 US Dept of State
Single mother on limited child support income, struggling to find affordable childcare. Requesting support with purchase of US passport for children. $235 US Dept of State
Family struggling with ongoing immigration status and financial strains. Parent requested support with partial rental assistance this month. $300 Kim Mistreta (landlord)
Lopez High School – Keith Gledhill- Principal; Aurora Munoz – Admin
End of year Field Trip Scholarships to Six Flags $100
Lopez High School Wolf Den – Heidi Boatman
Students requested laundry detergent.Purchased 5 bottles of detergent $70.95
Department of Social Services – Theresa Johnson – Division Manager
Elderly, disabled veteran client has been sleeping on a heavily soiled mattress for several years, posing significant sanitary concerns.He lacks the financial means to purchase a new one.Need a firm mattress due to back injury. $395 Amazon
PT needed to attend an appointment in SLO, and to apply for SS card replacement SSA, and see a GA worker and attend job center. $5.50 Bus pass
Vehicle was stolen with all belongings.She needs to get an ID, so the bus pass helped her to get to DMV $5.50 Bus Pass
PT is homeless and was recently released from ASH, has multiple appointments to attend including DR., RX, Homeless Coalition and pick up ID that was mailed to Prado $5.50 Bus Pass
C.A.R.E.4Paws – Libby Williams-Cabral – area administrator
Garnet lives in AG and needed help with his 11yr old beagle-mix Levi. Levi has a large mass that had started to bleed during their walks. They needed help having this mass evaluated so they could come up with a plan for a growth-removal. We were able to share additional resources and are helping them plan for the surgery. $125 VCA Arroyo Grande
Nipomo resident, Christy brought her very sick 3 yr old kitty into the Nipomo Dog & Cat Hospital needing emergency care. She only had $300 and her cat "Gar" needed emergency care. The vet was willing to do surgery pro-bono but they still needed the precursor diagnostics prior to heading into surgery. This story is a sad one...as surgery revealed the cat had cancer spread throughout his abdomen. The family opted for humane euthanasia to end suffering. This family was very grateful to have answers and to have been able to receive immediate care.$200 Nipomo Dog and Cat Hospital
People’s Self Help Housing – Caity McCardell - Director of Resource Development
Client is a husband and father of 6 children. He recently had to pay a significantly large amount to get his wife’s car fixed. The car is a work and family car. Client is now feeding his family with all food bank items. He is requesting financial assistance to be able to pay for staple foods that the food distributions do not provide. He is requesting a $500 food gift card that will feed his entire family for the week until next paycheck. $500 Walmart
Client is trying to climb himself out of a financial hole after losing his job almost a year ago, collecting benefits, having a car accident, and getting behind in utilities. Social Worker is requesting $500 towards his overdue water bill. Avila Beach CSD
Laundry Pop Up
In Nipomo the morning started a bit slowly, and we assumed it was because the day before was a holiday. It was probably a good thing. Fourteen of the 30 washing machines were out of order. One broke down while we were there. Imagine how frustrating it is to have to do your laundry at an Laundromat and then to have half the machines out of order! It was probably a good thing that it was a little slow; There was a bit of a rush around 10 and every working machine was in use. A group of four young men came in and had to wait for machines but they were so happy that their laundry was going to be paid for that they didn't mind waiting. $192.50
In Arroyo Grande, our team was greeted at the door by one of the regulars, Jessie. He had his laundry in the machine and was waiting for us to get there. We had at least 5 people turn down our offers for help. Two people took information and said they would be making a donation.. One of the last ladies who came in told me twice that she had been praying for help to get her through the week financially. She thanked us repeatedly. $281.75
Hearst Cancer Research Center – Julie Neiggemann and Ashley Hahn
Low income cancer patient who rents a room in Oceano needs a microwave and air fryer for cooking easily.$103.29 Target
Family Care Network – Lupita Ducharme
Parent requested support in finding a safe and engaging activity for their child for the remainder of summer. Boys and Girls Club was a great option for this child. $150 Boys and Girls Club
Foster Youth does not have a vehicle or easy mode of transportation. She requested help with transportation for appointments and work and to promote health and wellness. We were able to do that by supporting her with a bike. $300.10 Walmart
Former foster youth who fled domestic violence with her young son. She's in school full time and has not secured employment yet. Asked for assistance for swim lessons for son- a positive activity for him. $106.50 Rec Department
One of our most independent foster youth. Has no family support. He's working full time but still needs some financial assistance. We supported him in purchasing his gear and background check for the EMT program.$344.12 Amazon
Single mother with high needs child and limited work hours due to caring for her son. She's working hard to do all the right things, but just had one looming bill that was proving to be a barrier for her. We assisted her in paying off the utility bill that had gone to collections and was keeping her from completing the housing application process. The payment of the utility bill secured HASLO housing and she is now in a stable home with her child. $600 PG&E
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