Saturday, May 23, from 12:00–3:00pm
by Melanie Jongsma
LANSING, Ill. (May 18, 2020) – “We are very grateful for the We Win Foundation helping out Lansing residents during this pandemic,” said Cathy Hallow. Hallow is a real estate broker and owner of Hallow Homes in Lansing (3365 Ridge Road, Unit 3). The We Win Foundation (Women Entrepreneurs, Women’s Investor Network) empowers women through educated real estate investing, and Hallow has worked with them for years.
So when Farrah Ali, who co-founded We Win with Gina Diaz, called Hallow to ask for her help setting up a food donation event in Lansing, Hallow said yes immediately. Ali is “very invested” in Lansing and the owner of several properties here, so it made sense for Lansing to serve as the location of the pilot program.
“With the whole corona thing happening, we were like, ‘What can we do to help immediately?'” explained Ali. The group of investor-entrepreneurs decided on a food giveaway because it would be straightforward and simple.
The plan is to give away 250 boxes of food. Each box will contain a variety of easy-to-use nonperishables, such as canned vegetables, pinto beans, rice, noodles, salt, sugar, cooking oil, peanut butter, jelly, and bread. Volunteers went shopping for all the items, which will be delivered on Wednesday to a central location where the volunteers will then hand-pack the boxes and load them on a truck.
Those volunteers are all friends and family of Andrew Holmes Mastery and the We Win members—this is not an anonymous handout; it’s a personal commitment. These investors were all invested in by others—people like real estate tycoon Andrew Holmes—and now they want to do the same for others. By looking for meaningful ways to help their communities, they are not just giving away food— “It’s feeding the soul,” said Ali.
The response they received from Village officials also made Lansing a good place for the first distribution event. The Lansing Police Department helped work out the logistics, and Mayor Patty Eidam and Village Trustees will be on-site helping to load food boxes into people’s vehicles.
The We Win Foundation plans to continue organizing similar events in other villages throughout the year, using what they learn in Lansing to fine-tune the event and help even more people.
Ali’s reason for organizing the event might also be her philosophy of investing: “We’re grateful for what we have. The next step is giving back.”
The We Win Foundation food distribution event will take place at Lansing’s American Legion (18255 Grant Street) on Saturday, May 23, from 12:00–3:00pm, or until the boxes are all distributed.
