Segoviano’s initiative warms homeless with more than just blankets

On Saturday, Garfield senior Nancy Segoviano took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles for her annual blanket distribution. After weeks of preparation and blanket gathering, Segoviano inspired community board members and high school students towards her cause. After Segoviano was invited to the Educational Service Center East and spoke in front of LAUSD principals, she was motivated to see that such important community members shared an interest in her cause.

“When I walked into the meeting I thought people were just going to listen in that moment, applaud and go about their day,” said Segoviano. “I shared my personal story but I had no idea that would inspire them greatly to the point where I had Monica Garcia a representative of Board District 2 in LAUSD personally hand me blankets and district members driving to Garfield to drop off blankets for my cause.” 

After having collected 130 blankets, 80 socks, 50 beanies and 10 scarfs, Segoviano felt something was missing. So she rolled up her sleeves and with the help of a few friends, Segoviano proceeded to make over 100 lunch bags to distribute along with her blankets. She collected over $309 for the lunches. This was made possible through the generous contribution of Garfield students and staff. 

“I thought about the lunches last minute because I didn’t think we’d have enough blankets, but it turned out to be better than I expected,” she said. “I watched the homeless enjoy their sandwiches and knew that the last minute hard work was all worth it.” She then proceeded to say “I spent what I needed on the food and the rest of the money went towards buying more beanies, scarfs and blankets.”

Hearts were touched, tears were shed and most importantly students from Garfield High School experienced the wonders of giving back to their community.

—Donnaldo Escobedo