Visiting the Exceptional Children’s foundation in Culver City this month was a truly notable and very humbling experience. BOA donates proceeds of every quarter’s profits to a local charity we resonate with. This quarter we had the privilege of working with the Exceptional Children’s Foundation. The ECF works with tons of local businesses in our community (Such as Surfas and Stones Candles; Two businesses we HIGHLY admire) so we were naturally excited to learn we were alongside with them as donors while learning about the ECF vision and culture.
When I arrived at the ECF I was greeted by a warm hello from reception and a waiting room sign yielding “Welcome Ruby Rodriguez” (That’s me!) After just a few moments two very lovely women of the association; Debbie Winter and Lisa Kelly came out to welcome me. We stepped into the office for a moment where we made our introductions and then commenced a tour of the grounds.
The beautiful facility is a center-based safe haven for numerous adults living with developmental disabilities. Places like ECF have given the opportunity to children and adults to flourish in their own skin exhibiting their skills for art, painting, cooking, cleaning, packaging, building and sharing. Though many jobs are present at the facility, a couple I really loved noticing were opportunities to label and package every day products we all use, collaborating on gorgeous art pieces (they even have their own amazon gallery) and building products such as accordion folders.
My tour included a quick over view of plenty adults enjoying arts and crafts, a full café, tons of hard workers and what seemed to be like a very lively and fun social hour. At the conclusion Ms. Winter handed me a set of art post cards produced by the talented adults at the facility and thanked me with extreme authenticity. It is completely apparent this is more than an occupation to the members of the ECF, but more so a genuine movement to better the community. The generosity and kindness exhibited by the ECF and their staff is next to none and we are truly grateful to have been accepted and treated with such positivity from a great cause very dear to our hearts.
Thank you again to all the staff and members of the ECF. To donate to the ECF please visit the link below: https://www.ecf.net/donate/