As you’ve heard, seen, and hopefully experienced – you know it’s our job to be helpful.

We’ve surprised Honda drivers with free gas, helped teachers with school supplies, given away free pumpkins and trees during the holiday seasons, donated books, clothing, groceries, food, and our time, to people and organizations in need all over San Diego County.

We know that you have also given back to your own communities. In an effort toward helping the helpful people in San Diego County, we were able to give back to over 150 people of the unhoused community in downtown San Diego. We are also helping residents of all ages with access to FREE BOOKS to help expand and share the importance of reading and learning to everyone!

We met Chris Richardson and his community organization, Black Titan, last summer at a community beach clean-up. We came across their team picking up trash to keep their beach clean. We rolled up our sleeves, put our work gloves on, and worked alongside to help get the beach in better shape. Black Titan’s mission is to increase public and community relations within under-served communities. They hope to teach and inspire the younger generation while providing assistance to vulnerable individuals in need to improve their communities.

We learned that Black Titan does a lot more for their community than hosting volunteer clean-up events. They also help with food, clothing, hygiene kits, and more for the unhoused community that we see everyday in Downtown San Diego. Also, they rely on their volunteers and their own community to help with donations. When they feel they don’t have enough, Chris and his team reach into their own pockets to make sure everyone is able to receive a little bit of help.

So, we wanted to help Black Titan and Chris. We hosted an event for the downtown San Diego Community where people were able to stop by and receive free clothes: shirts, socks, underwear; free food (everyone loves pizza!), and something to help them look, but most importantly, feel their best – free haircuts. Working alongside the Black Titan team, over 150 people came by to pick up necessities, fill their bellies, and clean up their hairstyle or facial hair as needed. Folks who stopped by said, “No one really thinks about giving us underwear. We don’t always have the best resources to get them and they’re not usually donated to groups or to people like us. So, thank you for this, it really means a lot.” And, “We see Black Titan a lot, but it’s nice to see a big company like the Honda people here, too. It shows we matter. We appreciate you.”

The best accolades, and support came from Chris’ mom (who helped with the haircuts), and his grandmother, who also volunteered with us during this event. Grandma shared, “My grandson is the best person in the world. He doesn’t do this for the recognition. He does this because he cares. He really, really cares about our community, and he doesn’t want to see people go without, when he knows he can help provide even just a little bit. You guys (Helpful Honda) being here, shows he matters, what he’s doing matters, and that people see him. They see what he’s doing, and that you want to help him succeed. Thank you for helping my grand baby.”

Next up – helping as many people as we can with access to books throughout San Diego County! We partnered with San Diego County Library and their Little Free Libraries Initiative (LFL). The LFL book-sharing program is simple: Take a book; Leave a book.

San Diego County Library has been working hard to bring Little Free Libraries to underserved areas across the county. From San Ysidro to Oceanside, no one is left behind when it comes to benefitting from the power of reading. To support the city library’s efforts to provide the local community with free access to books, we made a donation of over 600 books that are being distributed at Little Free Libraries across San Diego County!

We started with a special unveiling of the new Little Free Library outside of Hamilton Elementary School in San Diego, and we’ve been busy dropping off books to Little Free Libraries all over the county including Vista, San Diego, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, Chula Vista, and more.

Below, you can find a list of locations where we’ve donated books, so if you need something to read, or want to make a donation of your own, make sure to stop by the closest Little Free Library near you. We put a special little stamp inside our donated books, so if you spot ours, snap a photo and tag us online so we can share it, too!

So, what’s next for us? In honor of Teacher Appreciation week (May 2nd-6th), we want to surprise a few lucky teachers with $5,000 worth of needed school supplies, teaching materials and more. Who should we help? Well, that’s where you come in! Tell us about a teacher that has gone above and beyond, inside and out, of their classroom to ensure their students get the best help they need to succeed in their educational journey and they might be on the receiving end of a Random Act of Helpfulness.

Teacher Appreciation nominations are accepted until March 31st, 2022: FORM

You can see how we’ve helped San Diego teachers last year, by checking out some of the surprises: HERE

As always, to find out what we’re up to next, how you can ask for help, or if you just want to say, ‘Hi,” you can make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to find out where we’ll be next, and how you can ask for your own Random Act of Helpfulness.

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Little Free Libraries

Lauderbach Park: 333 Oxford St. Chula Vista, CA 91911
William Heise County Park: 4945 Heise Park Rd, Julian, CA 92036
Waterfront Park: 1600 Pacific Hwy, San Diego, CA 92101
Promenade Park: #128223 – in process, not Installed
SBCS – Ken Lee Building: 430 F St, Chula Vista, CA 91910
Vallecito County Park: 37349 Great Southern Overland Stage Route, Julian, CA 92036
Felicita County Park: 742 Clarence Ln, Escondido, CA 92029
Lemon Grove Park: 2271 Washington St, Lemon Grove, CA 91945
Heritage Park: 1339 E Palomar St, Chula Vista, CA 91913
Dos Picos County Park: 17953 Dos Picos Park Road, Ramona, CA 92065
Los Penasquitos Ranch House County Park: Canyonside Park Driveway, San Diego, CA 92129
Heritage Park: 2454 Heritage Park Row, San Diego, CA 92110
Tiffany Park: 1713 Elmhurst St Chula Vista, 91913
Lake Morena County Park: 2550 Lake Morena Dr, Campo, CA 91906
Goodland Acres County Park: 8848 Troy St, Spring Valley, CA 91977
Sweetwater Summit Regional Park: 3218 Summit Meadow Rd, Bonita, CA 91902
Flinn Springs County Park: 14787 Old Highway 80, El Cajon, CA 92021
Chollas Lake Park: 6350 College Grove Dr, San Diego, CA 92115
Sweetwater Community Garden: 5354 Sweetwater Rd, Bonita, CA 91902
Pine Valley County Park: 28810 Old Hwy 80, Pine Valley, CA 91962
Clark Monroe Middle School: 4388 Thorn St, San Diego, CA 92105
Tijuana River Valley Regional Park: 2721 Monument Rd, San Diego, CA 92154
Louis A. Stelzer County Park: 11470 Wildcat Canyon Rd, Lakeside, CA 92040
Tijuana River Valley Community Garden: 2100 Hollister St, San Diego, CA 92154
Symthe Elementary: 1880 Smythe Ave, San Ysidro, CA 92173
Hamilton Elementary School: 2807 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, CA 92105