SPRINGFIELD – Willamalane partnered with The Hope Project, a non-profit organization in Lane County dedicated to quick response needs that provides any help it can. Together, the two organizations coordinated a holiday giveaway, providing free bikes, toys, socks, and jeans to Springfield families.
Kenny Weigandt, senior leader at Willamalane Park and Recreation District, said in previous years of this partnership, the organizations primarily focused on toys and bicycles. Now in its third year, The Hope Project wanted to expand on that. Levi jeans and Bomba socks were added to the mix.
“This year, what we did was create a room at the Bob Keefer Center. We performed some outreach to a lot of community partners that we already work with through some of our integrated programs, and we’re going to offer basically a one-stop shop for families to get some goods that they could use for making their holiday a little better this year,” Weigandt said.
Approximately 100 people benefited from the distribution that took place in waves on Thursday and Friday last week. The event was invitation-only, maintaining discretion for the families.
