On this week’s podcast, The Word on Long Beach:

:15—New Image Emergency Shelter was founded by identical twin sisters, Brenda Wilson and Lynda Moran in 1989.  The organization operates exclusively as a charitable organization servicing homeless and low-income individuals and families with children.

Twenty-seven years ago, the organization began a holiday tradition.  The goal was to make sure children in difficult situations do not feel left out and instead, feel the joys of the season.  This year, however, has proven to be very challenging.

New Image typically has well over 40,000 toys and gifts for children by this time of year.  But this year they are currently just over 5,000.  Lynda Moran says because of the delays in shipping and with the gift-giving event taking place on Dec. 18 and the Marriott in Long Beach, the best way the community can help is with a monetary donation.  You can donate here.

If you would like to drop off a gift in person you can do so at 4201 E. Long Beach Blvd., suite 218.  Or if you would like to volunteer to be an Elf and help escort children through their personalized shopping experience, you can call 522-822-7657.

16:35—Earlier this month, Long Beach Business Journal Reporter Alena Maschke wrote an article regarding crime trends, which you can read here.

Long Beach has now surpassed the shootings that occurred in 2020 and we still have four weeks left in 2021. In this segment we offer an opinion piece on how addressing systemic issues and following the principles outlined in the study presented by the John Jay College Research Advisory Group on Preventing and Reducing Community Violence, could better serve communities that experience increased violence.

https://soundcloud.com/thewordlb/giving-back-and-healing-communities?si=df20c068b4f949dd8488309a67db5285