Jacarrie Carr, founder of Kicks for Kids, delivers gifts to a home.
Through his Community Task Force MKE organization, Black activist Vaun Mayes has always been an advocate for the Black residents of the central city. His work involves being face to face, not committee to committee or task force to task force. Wherever there is need for help, he will often show up. For Vaun Mayes, the Black Lives Matter movement does matter, but the safety and wellbeing of his inner city neighbors matter more. During COVID, the central city has experienced significant setbacks including an increase in crime, a deteriorating infrastructure and a loss of Black-owned businesses.
For the sixth year in a row, Vaun put together RBGiftMust2020, spending weeks to gather donations from all over Milwaukee and the outskirts. On a freezing Christmas Eve in Sherman Park, Vaun and his volunteers lined up 40 vehicles loaded with gift bags and other items. The caravan traveled through some of the neighborhoods who have suffered the most: Burleigh and Townsend, and the side streets in between from 29th to 40th. Volunteers from The People’s Revolution Milwaukee also joined in.
Residents and children left their homes to greet the caravan and gratefully accept gifts. For a few hours, the streets were filled with love for community. When the night ended, the volunteers had delivered 800 gift bags, $1,000 cash, 12 bikes, 23 scooters and probably enough goodwill and hope to last for months.
Said Preschool Teacher Nickey Berry, “To see our people there, giving and not taking, to hear the laughter and the smiles on the families faces is priceless.”
Said County Supervisor and MPS School Board member Sequanna Taylor, “To the village: I am grateful to know these individuals, and their hearts to help others is Beautiful.”
Black Fitness Trainer Dave Stribling commented, “These people came to the Hood and went door to door passing out toys for kids! I've never seen nothing like this. It feels good to see positive things in such a negative city.”
