Holiday donation drive to help homeless in our community
CLAYTON, CA (Nov. 5, 2021) — A small group of Clayton residents is doing some big work to help the homeless.
The grassroots effort began six months ago when Clayton resident Vince Martellacci saw messages on Nextdoor expressing concern about the growing number of homeless in Concord, but offering no real solutions. No stranger to activism, Martellacci began a group within the Nextdoor platform called Elevate Collective and invited those who had commented on the homeless situation.
Soon, about 20 members came together, who all wanted to help in both big and small ways.
Funded by just one or two members, they started out with a delivery of coffee and pastries to about 20 homeless people living near a freeway overpass. Then they led a food drive, collecting non-perishable items and taking it to Friends Feeding Friends, a charity working with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Concord. But they are not done.
“In an effort to scale our efforts up, we are running a huge food and clothing drive,” said Martellacci. “We want to collect so much that we exceed what Friends Feeding Friends can take, so we can offer them to other East Bay charities such as Monument Crisis Center.”
Community involvement
The goal is get the whole community involved, including local businesses. They will collect non-perishable food items, warm clothing and blankets through Dec. 31. They currently have three drop-off locations. These include Stealth Sports Center at 3517 Clayton Road in Concord, a residence at 37 Jalalon Place in Clayton and Contra Costa Coffee at 2238 Oak Grove Road, Walnut Creek.
They also take financial donations at elevatecollectiveclayton.com.
Martellacci spent time with homeless people while in college in Santa Barbara. “I can’t un-see that they are people,” he said. “This is a natural next step, a reckoning, a way to make things right.”
With the help of residents and small businesses, the group hopes to elevate their small beginnings into something bigger.
“Because others have been so willing to help, I feel compelled to keep going,” he added. “I owe a big thank you to Clayton residents.”
Kara Navolio
Kara Navolio is a freelance writer, telling stories of real life heroes and interesting people for several local newspapers since 2015, including The Pioneer and Lamorinda Weekly. She is also the editor of a local magazine, Northgate Living, and her debut children’s picture book Everybody Can Dance! was released by Brandylane Publishers, Inc. in May 2019. She has lived in Walnut Creek with her husband for 30 years and is the mom of two now grown children.