Nonprofit using grant to help homeless

Special to ViewSummerlin-area resident Tony Sipich, right, founder of nonprofit Homeless Helpers, hands out sandwiches in downtown Las Vegas, May 23. Sipich?s organization recently was awarded a $10,000 grant from CVS Pharmacy, and Sipich plans to use part of the grant to take five homeless children from the Clark County School District on a trip to Disneyland. Advertisement

If you were handed $10,000 out of the blue, what would you do with it? Put it toward a new car? Take an extended vacation? Pay down your mortgage?

When Summerlin-area resident Tony Sipich was awarded $10,000, he knew just what to use it for: taking homeless children to Disneyland. Sipich is the founder of a nonprofit organization, Homeless Helpers.

"The school district has about 5,000 kids it designates as homeless, but the kids I'm talking about are the truly homeless," he said.

He plans to take five children and two female chaperones -- Victoria Ray and Jane Davis, who oversee the mother and infant portion of Sipich's organization -- on the trip, leaving Wednesday. He sought out the most economical way to do the trip, so none of the $10,000 was wasted. Sipich said he'll pump the rest of the money into Homeless Helpers.

"It's pretty phenomenal, to give them (the children) an opportunity they would otherwise not have ... Disneyland, that's a dream," said Jura Leak, project facilitator for Title One Hope, an outreach program for the school district.

Leak reported that the number of homeless students in the school district was 5,606 as of the end of May.

Homeless Helpers, which feeds homeless people living on the streets, has seen grant money dry up as the economy struggles, so the award is a timely one.

The $10,000 is from CVS Pharmacy, the prize for being one of 10 finalists in its national contest honoring extraordinary caregivers. Sipich was selected from more than 4,200 submissions, following a nationwide search for inspirational stories of caring.

Sipich, 33, doesn't take a salary from his organization.

At first, his pastor, the Rev. Pete Seebold of St. Thomas Catholic Church, 5317 Smoke Ranch Road, allowed Sipich the use of the church's kitchen.

"We're talking maybe 50 sandwiches when this all started," Seebold said. "Now, it's serving thousands."

He said the operation outgrew the church's facilities and had to move into a larger space.

As for spending the money on Disneyland, Seebold said treating a child who wears the same clothes for three weeks straight should not be viewed as frivolous.

"This may be the only trip these kids ever get," he said. "They don't know what it is to have fun. They're too busy trying to find a place to sleep, food to eat."

Sipich also operates a one-man pest control business, 360 Pest Solutions, a job that allows him the flexibility to spend the majority of his time on Homeless Helpers.

"Sometimes I get up at 5 a.m. to do a job, then the rest of my day is free," he said. "I can do one on the way to the other."

He estimated that he spends 45 to 50 hours a week on Homeless Helpers, which "moves," as he calls it, up to 20,000 pounds of food a month.

Another term he uses is "shared maintenance." It means that Homeless Helpers works in concert with similar organizations, picking up the slack where one leaves off. Food bank Three Square, for example, does not pick up unsold food from businesses on weekends, so he does.

"We don't island ourselves, this is a collaborative effort," Sipich said.

Big supporters are Bimbo Bakerys USA at 300 W. Bonanza Road, Real Donuts at 1811 W. Charleston Blvd. and various locations of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets, which provide fruits and vegetables that no longer meet the company's strict adherence to freshness.

"A dated apple to them, it still has a week on it," Sipich said.

Sipich said he's driven to help the homeless after growing up in Chicago, where his single mother struggled to provide a good home for her two children.

"It's always been in my heart to do something like this ... it's part of my commitment to the Lord," he said.

For more information, call 400-3155 or visit www.home lesshelpersnv.org.

Contact Summerlin View and South Summerlin View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.