CHAMPS Male Mentoring, a mentoring program dedicated to creating a community of men who support each other and empower youth on Chicago’s South Side, today held its annual Christmas Toy Drive and Celebration, an event to celebrate the season and gather program mentees, mentors, and their families for a meal and toy drive. The event was hosted in partnership with The Healing and Chicago rapper G-Herbo. Through its Community Credits program, DoorDash provided $3,000 in meals from Litehouse Whole Food Grill in East Hyde Park for 150 CHAMPS families and mentors.
“It brings us so much joy to gather our CHAMPS family no matter the occasion, and we are grateful to all of our great partners who made this special day a reality for our mentees, mentors, and their families in celebration of the holiday season,” said Vondale Singleton, Founder and CEO of Champs Male Mentoring. “We’re thankful to DoorDash’s for their continued partnership and providing us with the funds necessary to purchase delicious meals from local favorite Litehouse for our young men and their families to enjoy.”
Through the Christmas Give Back, a partnership and fundraising effort between CHAMPS Male Mentoring, The Healing, and G Herbo’s Swervin Through Stress, the three organizations are committed to raising $25,000 for Christmas gifts for local students and necessary household items to ensure the community has a happy holiday season and necessities for the winter months.
“CHAMPS Male Mentoring is doing incredible work to empower young men in Chicago. It’s a privilege for DoorDash to have the opportunity to partner with them once again to support a great local restaurant and create community for their mentors, mentees, and their families,” said Alexi Madon, Government Relations Manager of DoorDASH.
As part of its larger commitment to empowering communities that have been hit hardest by the pandemic, DoorDash launched the Community Credits program in January 2021 as an innovative way to support nonprofit organizations across the city. DoorDash awards Community Credits to individuals and organizations that are helping those in need gain access to meals and other essentials. By providing local organizations with these resources, DoorDash enables nonprofit partners to do more of what really matters: support their communities.
Through its community engagement programs, DoorDash has partnered with a wide variety of organizations in Chicago, including United Giving Hope, LaTanya and the Youth of Englewood, the Good Hope Free Will Baptist Church, Greater Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, the Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce, Heartland Alliance’s NEON Program, John A. Hamline Elementary School, South Side YMCA, Ravenswood Elementary, Sarah’s Circle, TCA Health and more. DoorDash also donated over $3 million in gift cards through the program to bolster local outreach and encourage community vaccination efforts to fight COVID-19 across the country.