Hooked on helping

Tom and Donna Page prayed on their honeymoon for God to provide them with a joint ministry.

“We wanted something that we could do together,” Tom Page said, “because we are each other’s best friends.”

That ministry came to them in the mail, in the form of a marketing piece sent out by the Covenant House Florida, a shelter for homeless and runaway teenagers. On the mailer was printed a prayer that touched Tom’s heart.

The mail piece inevitably got lost in a move, but the words of the prayer stuck with Tom. So, on their honeymoon, he and Donna discussed it and decided they would go and find Covenant House.

“It turns out they are right around the corner,” Donna Page said.

'We are blessed'

Covenant House Florida, located near the intersection of state roads 50 and 436, is one of the largest private agencies serving runaway and homeless youth in the state of Florida.

“Our agency’s mission is to provide unconditional love and absolute respect to the suffering children of the streets,” said Maria Shorkey, director of community relations for Covenant House Florida. “In Orlando, we reach out to youth ages 18 to 20, including parenting youth and their babies. Last year, Covenant House Florida provided shelter to 155 different youth in Central Florida.”

The Pages’ first involvement with the agency was at Christmas a couple of years ago. Donna said Covenant House tries to provide their residents with as close to a traditional holiday as possible.

“We had contacted them and they had a ‘wish list,’” Donna said. “Socks, underwear, toothbrushes, toothpaste, backpacks, those kinds of things. So, we got the list and went to Walmart.

“We told our kids, we are blessed, you have what you need, this is what we are doing (for Christmas),” Donna said. “And everyone said, ‘Great!’”

The Pages brought the donations to the center and then helped with the wrapping of the items.

“We were wrapping pencils!” Donna said. “It was extremely humbling. That’s really what got us hooked. We were able to put a face with the issue.”

Parties with a purpose

Fast forward to May of 2010, when the Pages decided to open their Baldwin Park home to their friends and neighbors to raise donations for and awareness of Covenant House’s mission and needs, with their first annual sing-a-long party with a Wizard of Oz theme.

The invitation included a request that attendees bring items, such as socks, to donate to the agency.

“We had a bounty of stuff,” Donna said.

The Pages repeated their movie-themed party again just last month, this time asking their guests to come dressed as their favorite “Grease” character, and to donate $50 cash per person.

Despite a torrential downpour just prior to the start of the party, which included carnival games in the backyard, about 100 people attended.

“We raised a little over $6,000,” Donna said. “The rain didn’t hinder our guests from playing the carnival games, and enjoying the performance of the Winter Park High School Band and professional baton twirler Jen Marcus. Silva Entertainment did an excellent job of motivating everyone with “Grease” trivia, singing and dancing. It was fun!”

The hosts dressed the part for the party. Tom was “Coach” and Donna was “Blanche,” Principal McGee’s assistant, played by Dody Goodman in the 1978 film.

People were asking about next year’s theme, Donna said. Maybe the Blues Brothers, she hinted.

A passion to serve

The Pages are now helping with the planning of the second annual Agape Ball for Covenant House Florida, which will be held in August.

“It is a prom-like event for the youth,” Donna said. “The community gathers through donations of formal wear, hair styling, make-up, a deejay and food. This is an event where young adults from the community are encouraged to attend.”

“Covenant House Florida depends on the support of the community,” Shorkey said. “Individuals can assist through group volunteer projects or by volunteering on a regular basis. We have on-going volunteer opportunities available working directly with the youth and behind the scenes.

“We have a very diverse volunteer community that ranges from retired seniors to working professionals with a variety of careers such as business owners, lawyers, college professors and professional photographers to name a few.”

Learn more

Covenant House Florida offers a one-hour program and tour called Mission: Possible! for people to get a first-hand look at their work. Attendees get to meet Jim Gress, the executive director, as well as some of the other staff and one of the residents. Contact Maria Shorkey at 407-736-9001 for more information or visit www.covenanthousefl.org