NOVEMBER 30, 2020
DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM
DOWNTOWN NEWS 7
A volunteer from the nonprofit Brown Bag Lady passes out Vans to a homeless person. Photo courtesy Brown Bag Lady
help provide shoes to homeless people, her initial reaction was shock. “I was just shocked when they told me the amount of shoes that they were donating,” Norvell said. “Honestly, I just—I couldn’t believe it. “And then to hear that it wasn’t just shoes; it’s raincoats and baseball caps and hoodies and socks, because a lot of people will donate shoes but forget about socks.” Norvell, who runs the Instagram account for Brown Bag Lady, was shocked that Vans picked her organization, because she is still learning how to post and “learning about hashtags.” She said she was “humbled that Vans believed in her” and “energized” her to know that they believed that she’s “going to do the right thing with their merchandise.” “If you donate $100, I want to know $100 is really going back to the community, because I have a full-time job,” Norvell said. “I work at a law firm in Century City. All the volunteers have full-time jobs.” Norvell said she ended up crying when a Vans representative said the company would donate more than just shoes over a Zoom call. “When she told me, my heart was pounding and I started crying and it was embarrassing,” Norvell said. Since COVID-19, Norvell and her team have gone to Skid Row every Sunday, not just the first of the month. They have not missed one since March, feeding around 200 people each weekend. It’s this dedication that also led to a previous partnership with Lays and an appearance by Norvell on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.” “It’s crazy, the fact that I was on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show,’” Norvell admitted. “I’m not some fancy, shmancy (person).” For more information about Brown Bag Lady, go to brownbaglady.org or follow @brownbadlady_ on Instagram.
On March 20 of this year, Norvell was given the news that her office was going to start working remotely and that everyone would get a pay cut. When she settled with the news, she realized that with restaurants closing and everyone in a state of panic it was unlikely that anyone would feed the homeless. “It was a Friday night, and I went out and I got some food. … They swarmed by van—it’s a noticeable camouflage van, so they swarmed it,” Norvell said. “I was like, ‘You guys, what is going on?’ They’re like, ‘Everybody is scared of COVID-19. No one’s coming out.’ And I was like, ‘What about the churches? What about the heavy-knitted nonprofits that I hear about?’ They’re like, ‘Nobody’s coming out—they’re scared.’” Norvell took it upon herself to dress in a full hazmat suit to still be able to provide meals during the early stages of the pandemic. “Starting March 20 to March 27, we went out every single night,” Norvell said. “I’d wake up and I’d make a batch of penne pasta with ground turkey (and) add tomatoes. We do a salad and some garlic bread—that was Monday. Tuesday I’d make chili, put it over rice, add some cheese and give everybody crackers. I cooked every day for seven days.” By day eight, Norvell was exhausted—but she knew she had to keep going. People reached out by social media and asked to help by providing cookies and other foods. When Norvell heard earlier this month that Vans wanted to partner with her to