[My heart feels heavy with joy and gratitude to finally see HOPE Lockers ready and available for use by the community. A journey that taught me so many things, got me close to people I would have never known, gave me friends who became my family, above all gave me an opportunity to grow. A experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. A shout to everyone (Sponsors, Friends, Family, Volunteers) who supported us in making this happen. Salt Lake City and the Community here – “ROCKS”.]

It was the summer of 2014, when my friend Leo Chan, mentioned about this group called ‘Legacy Initiative’ that works at the grass root level to empower the community by providing food and shelter, by developing sustainable pathways. I was excited to learn about them and wanted to get involved.

When  I asked Tedd Mills, the VP of Legacy Initiative, how can I get involved with your group? He asked me back ‘How do YOU want to get involved?’

That conversation and many conversation since then has refined my answer to “What do I want to do – in life, in the community, in my personal and professional life”.

Fall 2014 – April 2016, was the gestation period of HOPE Lockers. The journey from an idea to sketch diagrams, fund raising, meetings, re-sketching, meetings, going back to the drawing board, to actually building these lockers was exciting, fun and challenging.

I honestly believe, when everyone puts their best foot forward only “THE BEST” can come out of such an effort. This Saturday when the Lockers are unveiled and made available to the community for use, I feel grateful that I had the opportunity to be part of this project and work with some incredible and inspiring fellow volunteers.  And yes, when each one of chooses to do the BEST, BEST becomes the norm. That’s my HOPE for the community and everyone who finds these lockers useful.

This post is dedicated to those inspiring volunteers – my HOPE Lockers Team, its Sponsors, and Supporters.

THANK YOU.

Pictures by Laurel Flood and Revolution United