Nonprofit that feeds kids hopes to get help in return to repair broken-down transport van – WSOC TV

CHARLOTTE — Gwen Johnson has been serving the west Charlotte community, longer than she can track, and now the nonprofit founder is asking for the public’s help in return.

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Johnson serves hot meals in the Kid’s Café through on the nonprofit, the Parkview Community Foundation, and often takes on the role of a bus driver.

“A lot of kids come here and eat, and they don’t have a ride home, because they don’t live in this area,” she said. “I’ll take them home.”

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But the 15-passenger van Johnson has been using for years stopped working. Johnson said she was transporting children in the Ballantyne area when it broke down.

“Well, we just call her Betsy,” Johnson said.

“And I took it to two different places, and they said the transmission’s gone,” she said.

She said that federal funding helps to keep her nonprofit program afloat, but upkeep on the van has been through fundraising.

She’s hoping someone in the community she’s still serving will return the favor.

“Children are my heart,” Johnson said. “They come here if they need things that they know parents are not going to do right then. Or if the parents are working and can’t do it, they know I’ll make myself available to help them.”

If you would like to help, Johnson’s contact information is below:

Parkview Community Foundation, Inc.

1105 Pryor Street

Charlotte, NC 28208

704-391-8853

Email: parkviewcfi@gmail.com

(Watch the video below: Nonprofit helps provide homes for foster children by easing the process)