CHRISTMAS IN COMPTON: Compton born recording artists collaborate with non-profit to provide to needy

Jan. 4, 2010 - PRLog -- December 23, 2009 The parking Lot of Mount Pilgrim Church in the city of Compton starts to fill with  families waiting for Christmas to arrive.  Inside, the church's reception hall, a lady in a red santa hat along with other representatives from the Institute for Maximum Human Potential (IMHP), Black Wall Street, and Christian Records work frantically to prepare the stations for the families.  

Along one wall is a mountain of clothing donated by Black Wall Street, Famous Stars and Straps Clothing line, Christian Audigier, Karl Kani and several individuals.  Volunteers are assigned to separate the clothes into male and female and arrange them on tables by size.  Meanwhile other volunteers are frantically sorting toys donated by Mattel, Highway Patrol, IMHP, The Game, and several other individuals into male, female and gender neutral sections.

The event started and chaperones were assigned work with the families to select their toys, clothing items, and other goodies such as music CDs donated and distributed by up and coming singer Moi.

“It was very important to me to give back to the community where I was raised,” said gospel rap artist Eastwood in between helping a young man select a toy for Christmas, “I wanted to make sure that this year Christmas came to Compton to let my community know that there is hope.”

IMHP President Delores Brown and several more volunteers followed her in with more toys she picked up that morning. “I want to make sure we have enough for everyone,” She said relaying that several toys had been stolen from the agency prior to the event, “No child deserves to leave without a toy.  We were lucky to get some donations from Mattel and other kind individuals and agencies, but we wanted to make sure that nobody left empty-handed.”

Once the Family had selected their choices they had the opportunity to have their pictures taken with The Game, Mr. Eastwood, and Mrs. Brown.

Other local celebrities were on hand to help with the toy and clothing giveaway including baseball legend Lenny Randle and his son Bradley who is currently a student athlete at UNLV.

Dontay Kidd of Black Wall Street beamed as he watched the vision come together.  He had spent the last few weeks soliciting the majority of the clothing given away at the event.  “I am so happy we were all able to do this.  The Game and I grew up here in Compton.  We knew that it was time to show our town some appreciation, so when the opportunity arose to do this event I told him he had to be a part of it.”  And he did, The Game ended up staying after all the families had received their items to encourage some of the young children who were dancing in the Church parking lot.

“It feels good to be here and to be a part of this,” he said, “Hopefully we will be able to do this again.”
                     
If you would like more information about this event or to schedule an interview with Mr. Eastwood, Dontay Kidd, and/or Delores Brown, please contact Amanda Seon-Walker at 323/567-9883 or email awalker.imhpla@gmail.com                                                          
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The Institute for Maximum Human Potential (IMHP), a 501 (c) (3) corporation, is a human service, community, and economic development agency focused on enhancing the well-being of individuals, families, and neighborhoods by addressing human rights issues.