The Third Avenue Charitable Organization (TACO) and Grins 2 Go “” a mobile portrait studio franchise “” teamed up on Jan. 5 to help the homeless connect with their families by taking New Year’s greeting photos and sending them to their loved ones.
TACO hosted the event at First Lutheran Church at 1420 Third Ave. Every Monday and Friday, the nonprofit organization provides a hot meal for the homeless in the Downtown area. This is the second year in a row Grins 2 Go has participated in the photo greetings community service project, and they plan to do it every year for as long as they can, according to Grins 2 Go Vice President Venu Babla.
The professional, studio-quality photographs were taken in the service area and printed onsite with the help of a professional digital photography crew. The greeting cards, complete with envelopes and stamps, are ready to be sent out to friends and family within minutes.
Last year the project was able to take and send photographs of about 100 people. This year, Grins 2 Go hopes to surpass that number, Babla said.
Grins 2 Go, headquartered in San Diego, started about two years ago. Part of its core values is to give back to the communities it serves, Babla said. The New Year’s greeting card program is only one of its programs. In October, Grins 2 Go hosts Kids Watch Day, where it takes pictures for child safety ID cards while informing parents and community about safety issues, Babla said.
“For us, it’s just to give back and help somebody who can’t help themselves with something like this. We’re in the business of creating fun and memories, and this is our way,” Babla said.
This time of the year can be especially hard for the homeless. Many of them may be far away from any family or friends. With little or no money to communicate with loved ones far away, sometimes the only people they can connect with are those at the church Mondays and Fridays, said project director Jim Lovell.
“It’s very cold, it’s very wet and it’s very lonely. And so to be able to do this and connect with people”¦To be able to send a note home and a picture is really a powerful, powerful thing,” said Lovell.
TACO is the social ministry extension of First Lutheran Church. The church started feeding the hungry about 31 years ago. Many, but not all, who frequent the church for the free meals are homeless. About half of those who come to enjoy the friendly, warm atmosphere are seniors, the disabled and people on fixed incomes who are not on the street, according to Lovell.
TACO has been around for 10 years and has partnered with UCSD, The Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, the San Diego Pre-Dental Society and Cal-Western School of Law to provide a host of clinics for those in the community who could not otherwise get care, Lovell said. Last year, more than 400 new volunteers involved themselves with the church and the community, he said.
“[The volunteers] are people who are able to get in touch with the powerfulness of service in the community, the powerfulness of touching the lives of somebody else and being able to walk away knowing the power and the impact on themselves of doing that. We see ourselves as really being a place where the community comes together”¦to create a spirit of community that’s much greater than just being on your own,” Lovell said.