Awash in a sea of turquoise hats and shirts worn by volunteers, Long Beach City College was taken over by a sense of giving on Tuesday afternoon, bringing families, volunteers and local organizations together for a day of beauty, support and giving back to the community.
LBCC and community organization AOC7, in partnership with Thrive Causemetics and Beauty 2 The Streetz held a food and essentials drive on the TCC campus, aimed to address basic needs insecurity across Long Beach.
The event had free food, free essentials giveaways, information booths and free makeup with tutorials courtesy of Thrive Causemetics and its turquoise clad volunteers and makeup artists.
The event was part of Giving Tuesday, an annual event that happens the days after Thanksgiving, where people are encouraged to donate time, goods, or money to local causes.
This movement refocuses the days after Thanksgiving on community support rather than holiday shopping.
Medina Adams who attended with her daughter, Leaira Adams, said the event offered a chance for both of them to join a supportive community.
“I think this is amazing,” Adams said. “Our community needs this, especially in my situation, dealing with my daughter with autism.”
Leaira, an affable child who coaxed smiles out of everyone she greeted, laughed as her mother applied makeup to her face during one of the hourly tutorials.
“It was hard to get her here,” Adams said. “I got her here and we got a chance to experience this makeup. She was so excited. She got to meet people, so I’m excited just getting her out of the house and being able to find a community where she can learn cool stuff like this.”
Adams hopes to see more events and activities that support children with autism and “young Black males and young adults who need guidance and help.”
Medina Adams applies eyeshadow to her daughter Leaira during a makeup tutorial at the Food and Essentials Drive.
Thrive Causemetics which was in attendance is a Los Angeles-based beauty brand that donates one product for every product purchased and has partnered with Beauty 2 The Streetz for over four years for Giving Tuesdays events and other events.
Volunteer Caissie St. Onge said she came out because “it’s so fun to give things to people,” adding that “everybody deserves a little treat.”
On her experience so far, St. Onge said “Amazing! It’s so wonderful to meet all the people in the community and see so many beautiful faces, and everyone’s been so friendly and welcoming.”
St. Onge added that being essentials insecure can ruin a day.
“You know how it is when you run out of something and you don’t have the thing that you need and what that does to your day? So, it’s just nice to be able to give things to people that they can use and that they need,” said St. Onge.
Beauty 2 The Streetz founder Shirley Raines said her nonprofit grew out of her own pain and trauma, including experiences with homelessness and loss.
Shirley Raines, right, founder of Beauty 2 The Streetz, and Karissa Bodnar, left, founder of Thrive Causemetics speak to the attendees and volunteers at the Food and Essentials Drive on Tuesday, thanking them for their time, and celebrating Giving Tuesday.
“It felt like a purpose for my pain,” Raines said, describing how the organization has expanded from serving Skid Row to supporting unhoused and housed communities across Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Raines said that essentials insecurity stems less from a shortage of goods and more from uneven access and unequal generosity within communities.
She said there is “enough for everybody” if people and institutions commit to sharing resources with unhoused residents and families who lack basic items.
“There’s no lack in this world. It’s just people who don’t want to give,” said Raines.
As the event wrapped up, the feelings of generosity, beauty and community care were still visible on the attendees’ faces who smiled.
Marianne Mychaskiw, a beauty editor and volunteer for Thrive Causemetics, helps an attendee with her makeup during a makeup tutorial.
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