Oct. 7, 2025
From 50 paper bags to housing lifeline: Operation Helping Hands turns 15 with record gift
At the nonprofit's first gala, Judicate West co-founder Var Fox pledged three-year scholarships for two students--its largest donation to date--boosting Operation Helping Hands' mission to keep housing-insecure community college students in school.
Fifteen years after it began as a garage project with 50 brown paper bags, attorney Kim Valentine's Operation Helping Hands has become a lifeline for housing-insecure students across Southern California, helping them stay in school and out of homelessness.
Valentine, the founder of the Mission Viejo-based Valentine Law Group, launched the effort in 2010 by filling bags with hygiene items and blankets alongside her children. They handed them out to homeless individuals the next...
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