His birthday gift: a food donation
High school senior giving to SAVES
PALMDALE — Recent Palmdale High School graduate Raymiro Gomez-Galiano will celebrate his 18th birthday on Sunday by giving to others.
Gomez-Galliano will host an event in partnership with the City’s South Antelope Valley Emergency Services, or SAVES, to support people experiencing homelessness.
“It’s different than most people would celebrate their birthday and I’m actually really excited because it’s something that we need,” Gomez-Galliano said. “It’s something that our community needs because of everything that’s going on.”
The food drive is scheduled from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the parking at SAVES, 1002 East Ave. Q-12.
“We’re going to have a lot of COVID precautions,” Gomez-Galliano said.
There will be five separate tables with food, cake, personal hygiene products and other items.
Gomez-Galliano worked with his alma mater to arrange for students to donate unopened food and clothing during set up from 2:30 to 3 p.m.
Gomez-Galliano raised money via social media. They collected $430.
“We’ve already funded our supplies,” Gomez-Galliano said.
The teen hoped to raise more money to cover hot meals.
Gomez-Galliano now attends the University of Southern California as a Non-Governmental Organizations and Social Change major with a minor in Social Work and Juvenile Justice.
Gomez-Galliano volunteered for the Palmdale City Library, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic he has not been able to contribute as much to his community.
Gomez-Galliano did not stop there. He launched NewColorsProject, an umbrella organization that produces micro-organizations, or projects.
One of those projects is called New Hope. Through New Hope, Gomez-Galliano and his volunteers raise funds to organize food, clothes, body essential drives to support people experiencing homelessness community around Los Angeles County.
They partnered with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and received training from their national field director.
“We’re going to learn how to create a successful food drive,” Gomez-Galliando said.
Another projects is called aprende ingles, through which Gomez-Galliano and his volunteers, help Spanish speaking individuals throughout the United States, including California, Texas, and Tennessee and the and countries like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico learn English.
“Every week, for one hour, the tutors are paired with a student who will have a personalized curriculum,” Gomez-Galliano said. “So the tutor will teaching them exactly what they want to learn.”