Cinco de Mayo was an interesting event this year. That didn’t stop our team at Kenney Communications from celebrating – safely – with a drive-through donations drive, collecting monetary, clothing, home goods, hygiene, and food donations for One Heart for Women and Children.
The Cinco de Mayo party was hosted along with E2 Destination & Event Management, GMF Consulting Incorporated, Wildly Different Team Building, Two Left Feet DJ Services, Matt Jylha Photography, and Florida Event Décor.
In the parking lot of The Florida Mall, a DJ from Two Left Feet spun fun, party music, while Cinco de Mayo themed statues and decorations lined a coned drive-through area. As guests drove through the queue, volunteers cheered for the donors with signs saying “UR THE BEST,” “HONK IF YOU ARE HAPPY TO BE OUT OF THE HOUSE,” and “HANDS IN THE AIR IF THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN REAL CLOTHES IN A MONTH.” Volunteers gave out prizes and specialty sunglasses with the logo “SHADES OF HOPE” on them. Once the vehicles arrived at the end of the queue, our Kenney Communications team (wearing masks and gloves and using plenty of hand sanitizer) retrieved the items for donation from the vehicles. From there we sorted and organized the donations and put the items into the truck. Guests circled around to the exit of the queue and received a drive-through ice cream treat from Jerry’s Food Truck.
With the combined efforts of the community, our travel and tourism industry partners, matching donations from generous sponsors, and support from online donors, the event raised over $46,300 and a full box truck of items for our neighbors. Stephanie Bowman, founder of One Heart for Women and Children says, “Thank you for all the support and love! And a huge thank you to the team that came out to make it all happen. We could not do any of this without each and every piece of the puzzle.”
Through it all, the resilience, spirit, and generosity of the tourism industry and the Orlando community continues to thrive and stay strong through these tough times. We continue to spread joy, dance, laugh, and serve our community. We have come together now, more than ever to support each other to make it through until we can welcome our beloved travelers again.
More Information about One Heart for Women and Children
One Heart for Women and Children is a non-profit organization founded by Stephanie Bowman out of downtown Orlando to support families as they transition and overcome many hardships of daily living in the Central Florida Area. The organization has established partnerships with many Central Florida resources to educate, empower, and mentor men, women and children.
One Heart for Women and Children provides clothes, food, school supplies, personal hygiene items and household items to families and individuals. They also offer a full spectrum education and prevention services to families including: Life skills and Parenting Classes, Youth Education and Outreach, and Drug and Alcohol Prevention.
Their outreach usually supports over 3,000 people per month, however in the past few months they have seen this number increase dramatically to providing food and resources to over four times that amount – over 12,000 individuals served with the demand rising daily to over 20,000 meals. They are committed to continuing to provide food and resources to ALL in need as Central Florida families continue to be impacted by the current economic situation.
One Heart’s wholistic approach to serving the community declares that every piece of the puzzle is necessary to complete the mission – Faith, Resources, Hope, Support, Community.
If you or anyone you know is in need of assistance, the community food pantry is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday from 11:00am to 3:00pm at their downtown Orlando location.
The thrift store is open on Saturdays from 8:00am to 2:00pm.
If you would like to get involved, One Heart For Women and Children is still accepting financial, home good, hygiene, clothing, and non-perishable food donations. Physical items can be dropped off to their pantry Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. They have also received a generous offer from one of the local partners – to match dollar for dollar all donations (with an unlimited cap) until Father’s Day. Financial donations can be made online at www.oneheartforwomenandchildren.org, mailed, or hand delivered during donation hours.
One Heart for Women and Children is located at 2040 N Rio Grande Ave, Orlando, FL 32804. www.oneheartforwomenandchildren.org
The Central Florida Tourism Collective is a group of like-minded tourism interests united in wanting to give our followers & visitors a reassuring message of life here in the heart of the Sunshine State’s main industry: https://www.facebook.com/CentralFloridaTourismCollective/
#SupportCFLTourism
Twitter version:
A Message from the Central Florida Tourism Collective:
Central Florida comes together to support One Heart for Women and Children in a fun drive-through donations drive on Cinco De Mayo. #SupportCFLTourism
