040220 SWB DIGITAL EDITION

20 x April 2 — 15, 2020 x www.SouthwestOrlandoBulletin.com
Two years ago, Danielle
Newbold of Windermere was
driving in Orlando with her 9-yearold
son, Miles. They were stopped
at a traffic light, and a homeless
man approached their vehicle.
Miles insisted that they give the
man some money. Danielle explained
that she was hesitant to
hand over cash for fear the man
“would spend it on something that
may hurt him.” Miles became very
upset.
Danielle was home-schooling
Miles, the oldest of her three children,
and saw this experience as a
teachable moment. She suggested
they do a research project about
how to better help the homeless
population.
Within a year, what started as
a one-semester project became a
501(c)(3), not-for-profit agency named
Miles To Go. Its mission is
to “spread love one person at a
time” by hand-delivering tote bags
packed with essentials like water,
food, toiletries and clothes to the
local homeless community.
SOUTHWEST
“At first we were collecting the supplies
and storing them in bins in my
home,” Danielle said. “But we quickly
outgrew that space.”
SPOTLIGHT
Miles To Go!
Teachable Moment Turns Into Nonprofit
by Leona Braun
Windermere
residents
Danielle
and Miles
Newbold create
the nonprofit
Miles To Go
to help supply
homeless men,
women and
children with
basic necessities.
When Miles’ home-based project
took off, his younger siblings began
to understand what a huge impact
their big brother was having. Violet,
now 8, suggested they include a
teddy bear for the women’s shelter
bags in case the recipient has a
child. The youngest child, Reed, at
7, became concerned that children
in foster care were lonely and didn’t
have things of their own.
The teachable moment became a
family charitable organization with
Mom running the operation.
“My son hired me at age 10 to
work for him,” Danielle said.
Soon Danielle realized there was a
need to differentiate the bags of 14
essential items between male and female
supplies. Now there are three
colors of bags. The original black totes
are for people encountered on the
street. The purple bags are for women
in homeless shelters like Harbor
House of Central Florida, a domestic
abuse shelter. The new, red bags are
slated to go to children in foster care.
Coalition for the Homeless of Central
Florida and Covenant House Florida
for homeless youth, also receive bags
for distribution.
This past November, Miles To
Go moved into its own offices in a
space shared with Orlando Body
and Movement Therapy in Suite 170
at 6651 Vineland Road in Orlando.
Danielle has an office and her supplies
there along with a boutique,
where people can purchase Miles To
Go items, including T-shirts. All funds
go toward buying more supplies and
totes for the charity. For a suggested
donation of $30, one can purchase
a filled tote to keep and distribute
from his or her car.
Danielle believes you need to “find
the good in people” and engage
them in helping to ease the desperation
of homelessness.
Miles is very proud to have the notfor-profit
named for him and thanks
his mom for helping it grow into a
charity. His current duties at Miles To
Go involve graphic design, including
the charity’s logo.
“My classmates know about what
I do and like to help out, especially
with bag packing,” Miles said.
He hopes the momentum follows
him through high school and
beyond.
Miles To Go gets assistance packing
the tote bags from Girl Scout
troops, high school students in need
of community service hours, church
groups, and friends and neighbors.
On Feb. 24, a family fun and packing
event was held in front of the organization’s
offices. More than 300
bags were packed and are now
ready for distribution. Some went
right into the cars of volunteers, so
they could immediately be handed
to someone who could benefit from
the bags’ contents.
“We are overwhelmed by the support
of our community and estimate
400 people came out,” Danielle
said. “While this was a free event,
there were fundraising activities like
a silent auction. Together, we raised
almost $9,000.”
To find out how to give back to
your community, visit Miles to Go’s
website at milestogocharities.org.
Inquiries for the purchasing or filling
of tote bags can be directed to
milestogocharities@gmail.com.
Of course, you can also visit
Danielle at her office. She would
love to tell you more about the organization
and how you can “spread
love one person at a time,” too. ª