OC Rescue Mission in Need of Cold Weather Donations

As Thanksgiving approaches temperatures will continue to drop below 30 degrees overnight, so the Orange County Rescue Mission is working to make sure needy families have what they need to stay warm on the streets.

The Orange County Rescue Mission is asking the community to help fill its immediate need for blankets, sleeping bags, jackets, umbrellas, rain gear and food to help the homeless this Thanksgiving season.

“As weather temperatures drop, the need for donations rises, and becomes a real life-and-death situation for many,” Jim Palmer, President of The Orange County Rescue Mission, said. “The community’s support during this time in the form of food donations, cold weather item donations and monetary donations will make all the difference in the lives of those living on the streets.”

During the holiday season homeless families in Orange County also depend on food donations from the Orange County Rescue Mission's food box program for weekly meals. The food boxes provide more than 120,000 meals to needy families throughout Thanksgiving and Christmas, but donations of canned meat or tuna, canned chili or soup, spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce, canned fruit and vegetables, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, rice, pasta or beans, milk, cheese and eggs and fresh produce are also needed.

“These outreach programs will not only allow us to help the homeless of Orange County to stay warm, dry, and fed through the cold, rainy months ahead, but also allow our organization to reach more people in need,” Palmer said. “Often these assistance programs are the first step to many of these individuals changing their lives for the long term.”

Anyone interested in donating to the Orange County Rescue Mission can drop by the mission's Village of Hope facility located at 1 Hope Drive in Tustin, Monday through Friday between the 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.