Young donor provides Easter baskets for children at City Mission
Courtesy of Cindy Fox
Natalie Grasso prepares an Easter basket for one of the children in Washington City Mission’s Women with Children Shelter.
Courtesy of Cindy Fox
Natalie Grasso and a group of friends assembled Easter baskets for children at the City Mission Women with Children Shelter. In front is Vienna Grasso; second row, from left, are Brianna O’Neill, Natalie Grasso, McKenna Hindman, and third row, from left, are Liam O’Neill, Hayley Hindman and Julianna O’Neill.
Courtesy of Cindy Fox
The Easter baskets assembled by Natalie Grasso and her friends for City Mission’s Women With Children Shelter.
Courtesy of Cindy Fox
Seven-year-old Natalie Grasso gave up some of her horseback riding lessons in order to use the money to purchase items for Easter baskets for children at City Mission’s Women With Children Shelter.
Easter morning will be “egg-stra” special for the 27 children living in Washington City Mission’s Women With Children Shelter, who will have Easter baskets, thanks to the kindness of 7-year-old Natalie Grasso of Peters Township.
The second-grader at Bower Hill Elementary School made the decision to give up a couple of horseback riding lessons and instead used the money to purchase Easter baskets and goodies after she found out the City Mission provides shelter for homeless children, not just adults.
Natalie had accompanied her grandmother, Cindy Fox, to Washington City Mission’s Sweet Sunday fundraiser in February, where Fox had helped to make auction baskets for the Sweet Sunday basket auction.
After the event ended, Natalie asked her grandmother about the City Mission and learned that the nonprofit provides food and shelter for people who would otherwise have nowhere to live and had no idea where their next meal would come from.
“Kids, too?” Fox recalled her granddaughter asking.
“Yes. Kids, too,” she replied.
That conversation inspired Natalie to spring into action to help children at the mission.
“It really hit her. The next day she messaged me and said, ‘I really think we need to do Easter egg baskets for kids because the Easter Bunny might not be able to find them, and that worried her,'” said Fox. “I said that would be great, and she enlisted her friends to help her.”
It’s not the first time Natalie has helped out other children. When she celebrated her fourth birthday, Natalie asked family members to make donations to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh instead of getting her gifts. She also has used birthday and Christmas money to make donations to dog rescue shelters.
For the Easter baskets, Natalie and her family contacted the City Mission and asked for the ages and genders of the 27 children living at the shelter.
Natalie, her younger sister, Vienna, and her friends visited department stores and candy stores to purchase toys, jewelry, toiletries and candies, and family and friends donated items.
On a recent Sunday, the kids gathered at Natalie’s house and filled and wrapped the baskets – each basket was assembled specifically for a child at the shelter – and then Fox and her husband, Dr. Craig Fox, delivered them to the City Mission.
“They didn’t take it lightly. They were so serious about this job and they were totally into it. Nattie has such a giving heart. It makes me so happy that she’s doing this,” said Fox. “My dad instilled in me the importance of helping people. We did things to help people all the time when I was a kid, and I’m glad to see Nattie helping people.”
Natalie has been riding horses since she was younger than a year old, and she rides Western and competes in show jumping, Fox said.
The City Mission was grateful for the efforts of Natalie and her friends to make sure that children who will call the shelter their home this Easter wouldn’t miss out on Easter candy and gifts.
“When the mothers in our shelter saw how much had been donated for their children this Easter, they were amazed. Several of them said that when they leave the mission, they want to pay the kindness forward,” said Sheila Namy, City Mission’s Manager of Women With Children Services. “These donations are transforming lives.”
One resident told Namy she has never been able to provide her children with much at the holidays, and was grateful that they would receive a basket while staying at the shelter.
Families with children are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population, accounting for 37% of the nation’s homeless, according to data from familygateway.org. More than 2.5 million children are homeless each year in America.
The Women With Children Shelter, which opened in 2018, is an 11-suite residence where families can find shelter and stay together. It provides child care so that mothers can participate in long-term programs that improve their chances of transitioning to independence.
In 2022, 65% of the families in the Women With Children Shelter successfully completed the City Mission program and moved out into their own home, said Gary Porter, City Mission Communications Manager.
“Thank you, Natalie, for your compassionate heart for the hungry and the hurting,” said Porter. “Together, City Mission along with our friends in the community, can make the world a better place, one person at a time.”