Our Wisconsin location recently held & concluded a winter clothing drive at our Neenah location named, Mission: We Hear You. This heart-warming idea is the brainchild of Darrian Adler. Darrian is customer service rep from one of our client care teams, as well as being the CEO & music producer at Inner City Sound LLC. Mission: We Hear You came from what she saw as a young, 18-year old starting her career in Minneapolis. According to Darrian, “When I was walking into work, I’d walk past people who were freezing… who had stayed there all night, overnight. Some of them even losing their lives.” Those images have stayed with Darrian through the years.

When Darrian moved to Wisconsin and started Inner City Sound, she knew what she wanted to do. Inner City Sound (ICS) is a Midwest-based record label, connecting artists to opportunities in their area.  As ICS has grown, they’ve started a community-driven initiative to address homelessness in the areas we work & live. For the last two years, ICS has collected & donated school supplies, toys, food, hygiene products and clothing. These items have been donated Pillars and the Harbor House in Appleton, Wisconsin. In both years, ICS donated so much that both locations stopped accepting donations for the remainder of the year! This year, ICS decided to go to the streets with direct giveaways to the homeless people in the Fox Cities area (this includes Neenah).

“A lot of people in Wisconsin don’t see it. They think only the bigger cities or the warmer places have homelessness. No. It’s everywhere,” Patrick Wenborg from Pillars said. “It’s hiding more in Wisconsin especially during the colder months but you can go underneath some of the viaducts, the bridges. They’re living under there to keep warm.” Darrian, Patrick and a handful of other volunteers sorted through almost 1000 donated items to get people the things they need to stay warm this winter.

Pillars Warming Shelter hosted an event on behalf of Mission: We Hear You on Sunday, November 20, where the majority of the items collected were given to those in need. The direct giveaway eliminated roadblocks some people in need face. No ID or proof-of-need was required to get things like jackets, blankets, gloves and even hand warmers. “…you have to prove that you either work enough hours or not enough hours. You have to prove what your expenses are. You have to have the transportation to get down there,” Darrian said. “These are all hoops that people have to jump through and when they’re in that state they just don’t have the ability to… I think it’s about time that we think about grassroots in a different way.”

In true Alta fashion, our employees heeded the call to help Mission: We Hear You. As many of you know, what makes Alta special is our willingness to give and help those in need. Our Guiding Principle of Community supports that desire we all have to help those around us. Darrian reached out to AltaHOPE a few months ago, asking if she could place boxes at our Neenah office to collect donations. Within about two weeks of collecting, almost 1000 items were donated by our employees!

Inner City Sound does collect donations year round. Visit Inner City Sound’s website to learn more about how to donate and help people get vital supplies this winter. You can also follow the organization on social media to see their latest charitable efforts.