‘Changed my heart’: Results of Fresno Mission drive in thousands

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – After celebrating Founders Day of Caring with a donation drive, the Fresno Mission is overwhelmed with ways to give back.

Making a difference, one donation at a time.

From gently used clothing items to hygiene products, Desmond Camacho with the Fresno Mission said the donation drive made a significant impact on people needing extra help.

“When we look at preparing for the year and also the different times that are coming up, the generous donations allow for us to go ahead and be able to go out and prepare for those areas of need,” Camacho said.

Camacho said the mission received around 4,000 to 5,000 donations and counting.

He said these events are life-changing.

“When people come to the mission, sometimes as they are without, their, they may feel less than, what we really wanted to go out and do is we try to switch that so that they can see that they are valued, that they are cared for,” Camacho said.

That sentiment resonates with Jeffery Gonzalez.

“The experience from getting help to giving help has been one that I’ve never, I’ve never experienced in my life,” Gonzalez said.

He said the resources the Fresno Mission gave him brought him out of a dark place.

“I’d still be homeless, living in an abandoned cars or jail. God used the mission to change my mind. Changed my thinking, changed my heart. It’s changed my attitude, my outlook,” Gonzalez said.

Nicole Martinez works at EZ/47 Coffee Shop inside the Mission’s City Center.

She gives back one latte at a time.

“To be able to buy like affordable food and to have coffee, that makes them feel like special and just like human,” Martinez said. 

For more information on how to donate to the Fresno Mission, you can visit their website.