After consuming a giant meal, attendees at last week’s free Thanksgiving dinner at Malibu United Methodist Church also got to take home clothing, toiletries and some goodies. Among those goodies were festively packaged homemade bags of trail mix in a basket marked “trail mix to go.” All of the bags disappeared in about five minutes.
The bags of trail mix were the handiwork of Malibu resident Dylan Friedman-Almond, a fourth-grader, and her friend Lily Johnson; this marks the fourth year that Dylan has made trail mix for the homeless.
“I think all the people were really grateful that they got the trail mix,” Dylan said. “We write little notes on each bag that are all different, like ‘Happy Thanksgiving — you rock!’ or, ‘You’re fantastic!’ I wanted to make people feel that they’re loved, because they don’t have a family.”
“We try to write things that are inspiring and nice,” said Lily, who has helped out before. “The trail mix went quickly because people remembered it from last year.”
Dylan and her mother, Dana Friedman, began volunteering at the annual Thanksgiving dinner when Dylan was a three-year-old in Malibu Methodist Nursery School. Friedman said her daughter would observe the homeless and day laborers eating, and ask, “What will they have to eat after they leave?”
“And so, the idea was born to make some food they could take with them — something nutritious that would last and could be carried easily,” Friedman said. “But Dylan also wanted to make it personal, so she came up with the idea of making custom bags of trail mix with a personal note attached to each one.”
The first year of the Trail Mix Project, Dylan was in second grade at Juan Cabrillo, and got her fellow students in on the project — families donated the ingredients, brought them to the school, and students made up the bags, which were then delivered to the Methodist Church in time for Thanksgiving.
When Dylan changed to a new school, Westland, she launched The Trail Mix Project there. This year was the school’s 3rd Annual Trail Mix Project. The first two years, they donated the bags of trail mix to the MUMC Thanksgiving. However, this year Westland decided to donate the trail mix to LA-based homeless charity Hope Gardens.
Each of the 140 students at the school brings a baggy of one favorite trail mix ingredient, the school organizes the donated items on long tables and each pupil assembles a custom bag of trail mix.
Although Dylan supported the donation to Hope Gardens, she was sad the Thanksgiving crowd at MUMC would miss the bags of trail mix. She decided to make up bags at home with Lily’s help and deliver them. Unfortunately, demand far exceeded supply.
Next year, she said she hopes to expand the trail mix project by asking other area schools to participate. Lily’s mother, Stephanie Johnson, said the Trail Mix Project also hopes to have a website up soon.
Dylan first became concerned about the homeless at the very young age of three.
“She saw people in our community standing on the corner with a sign; or noticed people pushing carts, and would ask who they were and where they lived,” her mother wrote.
“And then the poignant questions came. ‘If they’re homeless, where do they go to the bathroom? Where do they take a shower? Where do they get a glass of water?’ It became such a concern that Dylan started carrying money in the car in case we passed someone asking for help,” Friedman said. “The money she carries in the car is her own money — not our money. Every week, she takes part of her allowance and puts it in a separate box for the homeless.”
About two years ago, Dylan and her mother also began volunteering at the weekly MUMC Wednesday night dinners for people in need. She bakes a batch of pumpkin muffins and brings them every week, handing them out and chatting with the attendees.
“She got to know quite a few of the homeless people in our community by name,” Friedman said, “And looks forward to going on Wednesdays whenever possible with her school schedule.”
One of Dylan’s acquaintances lives on the beach in a tent. When she found out the tent blew away, she got her dad, Brent Almond, to help find a lightweight and easy-to-put-up replacement.
“I’m just here to help out — it’s Dylan who’s taken the initiative and is committed to doing the work,” Friedman said of her daughter. “I’m proud of her and happy for her.”
