Vessel of Humanity and Compassion

For those of
you the don’t know me, my name is Tremaine Brown, founder and executive
director of the Vessel of Humanity and Compassion. Thank you all for joining us
for this exciting and important opportunity to make a lasting impact in the lives of many.

A little back-story as to how WE arrived here. On May 13th,
2013, I became a single father, and my reason was born. Needless to say, my life
changed forever that day in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I had 24
hours to figure out what type of father I wanted to be, and what type of human
I wanted to present to the world. Better yet, what type of world I wanted to
present to my child. I walked out of Northwest Texas hospital on May 14th
with a really vague plan. I started planning our very first Christmas toy
drive. Our first toy drive amassed about 75,000 toys, and my plan was to impact
as many lives as WE possibly could. For about a month prior to Christmas, I
personally delivered toys from house to house, and then on Christmas morning,
every year WE have visited both local hospitals, the Ronald McDonald House,
Martha’s Home, the Salvation Army, and a several transition homes and centers
for foster kids. WE have since then added CASA of the Texas Panhandle and Arrow
Children and Family Services. Twelve Christmases later, WE have delivered
almost 1 million toys. Our mission has grown more and more over the years. WE
now have facilitated 10 years’ worth of spring break and summer lunch programs
to the tune of over a million lunches served. Highlighted by nearly 100,000
lunches during the height of the pandemic. WE also have nine years of community
Trunk or Treats where WE have given away about 3000 brand new winter coats to
the kids each year. WE have had nine years of citywide Easter Egg Hunts. Nine
years of Back to School drives, which culminate with our Braids and Fades
Backpack Giveaway where WE invite cosmetology schools, local barbers,
hairstylists, and braiders to cut, style, and braid about 1000 kid’s hair and
give away over 3000 brand new backpacks filled with school supplies right
before each new school year. Oh, yeah! WE also helped our city by picking up
700,000 pounds of documented trash from some neglected neighborhoods over
several months during the pandemic. Fun times! Thank you, Jacob Breeden and Dan
Zwinck!

Now, my reason is 12 years old, and has started middle
school. It has always been on my mind as to how WE can make a lasting impact
and possibly change the trajectory of some children’s lives, forever. Then, the
Unity Learning Community was born. With the help of some very special people,
WE assembled a team of five dedicated teachers, two counselors, and one master
instructor. With a catalyst grant from the Amarillo Area Foundation, and
donations from Amarillo National Bank and the Ware Foundation, the Gilliland
Foundation, Matt and Jill Griffith with Rockrose Development, and in-kind
donations from patrons of my restaurant WE started our initial class of 12
students, which grew to 20 after WE realized that WE couldn’t turn away
siblings of our initial group that were probably suffering due to the same
learning hurdles. WE had a wildly successful first semester of learning, and WE
have continued our program through the summer.

If you’ve noticed, throughout this letter I’ve chosen to
capitalize the word WE. I do that in all my letters, because during this entire
mission, it has never been me. It has always been WE. Now, I need your help to
ensure that no child is left behind due to issues in the family dynamics that
WE have all but proven that WE can fix. Thank you for your time and stay
Blessed!