Raye of Hope

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

For the past six years, Raye Johnson has experienced a different Christmas than most 10-year-old girls. While others are home playing with their presents, sitting by a warm fire or cozying up to a Christmas movie, Raye and her family spend the day driving to Spokane with a horse trailer filled with hundreds of care packages donated by the community for Raye to give to the homeless population.

Raye’s parents, Kyle and Trina Johnson, who operate Maker’s Long Acres farm in Sagle, say the annual tradition has become a mission of love for Raye, and they dutifully provide assistance all along the way.

Raye Johnson gives hugs and care packages to unhoused individuals in Spokane on a past Christmas Day. Courtesy photo.

“It just makes me sad seeing the homeless people not having a home, or a roof over their head, or a warm place to stay when it’s minus-12 degrees,” Raye told the Reader. 

Raye started the tradition at just 4 years old, with the idea coming to her while eating at a restaurant in Spokane with her parents.

“I saw that there were these two homeless people, so I took off running and was like, ‘Hi, do you guys need something, because I have some stuff for you guys.’” Raye said. “I went to the truck and grabbed them some stuff.”

“What she wanted for her birthday was to put packages together for the homeless,” her father, Kyle, said. “She’d won tickets to a rodeo, so for her birthday, we put together gift bags to hand out on our way to Yakima.”

From humble beginnings of only 10 gifts that year, the number has now multiplied to hundreds of packages. Called Raye of Hope, the family farm website makerslongacres.com serves as a landing page for donors to help with the endeavor.

Raye built on the program and, now in its sixth year, she has streamlined the process. Raye gives each care package away inside a stocking or drawstring backpack, and sets a goal to meet before every season. Last year, she gave away more than 700 packages to more than 400 people. This year, the goal has been scaled back to give away 300 backpacks and stockings to 150 people.

“She personally handles all of it herself, too,” Kyle said.

Raye said she doesn’t accept monetary donations, but instead, new items like hats, gloves, snack items, blankets, tarps, scarves and personal care items. 

“The reason I don’t choose to give away healthy stuff is because they always get things like cans of beans and apples,” Raye said. “One of the ladies I talked to said she hadn’t had Cool Ranch Doritos in 20 years. It’s Christmas, it’s a special day.”

“That’s why she only gives away new items,” her mother Trina said. “Would you want a pair of ratty old socks in your stocking?”

Last year, due to such an overwhelming amount of items collected for her giveaway, Raye began storing the goods inside a mini storage unit because there wasn’t enough space in the family home to contain them all.

“She contacted several mini storage businesses, and some offered discounts, but she just kept trying, telling them, ‘I’m a kid, I don’t have the money to pay that.’”

A mutual friend put Raye in touch with Jeff Gardner, the manager of Troy’s Mini Storage in Sagle, who ultimately donated the use of a large unit for her campaign each season.

“We really enjoy supporting the community in every way we can,” Gardner told the Reader. “Giving up some extra space so she can provide for so many? We love doing it.”

Garnder said that Troy’s Mini Storage owners Troy Krumenacker and Kathy Pizzolato support Raye’s mission wholeheartedly.

Because of the time and energy it takes to collect donated items from the community, package them into hundreds of stockings or backpacks then give them away, Raye begins the process early — usually between October and Thanksgiving. Then, on Christmas Day, the whole family helps Raye load everything into a large horse trailer, which they drive to several hot locations in Spokane in order to give the care packages away to unhoused people on the street.

Raye said she enjoys meeting new people, but relishes when she sees familiar faces from years past.

“There was one guy who had no legs and was in a wheelchair, and he was there for about three years,” Raye said. “Everyone knew him and he didn’t even remember his own name sometimes.”

“He went by the street name, Top Hat,” Trina added.

“What’s kind of hard is not seeing the people she saw before,” Kyle said.

Last year, Raye didn’t see Top Hat, causing her to wonder if he might have passed away, but she was pleased to hear that he’d been placed in a home and was safe.

“I’m also shocked at how many elderly people there are,” Raye said.

“She talks to them all,” Trina said. “A lot of them don’t have family and she listens to their stories. A lot of them started out by living in their car because of housing market changes or their rental sold.”

While most of those Raye gives packages to are grateful and thank her with a hug, she acknowledges that some are not especially receptive.

“They’ll say, ‘I don’t want a backpack from a little girl,’” Raye said. 

“She then tells them, ‘OK, well, you’re still going to get one, thank you,’” Trina said.

Raye also said she prays with those who need a little extra help.

“She’s not daunted by anything,” Trina said. “There was one guy she was trying to help at Camp Hope when it was still in its inception. She was yelling to him, ‘I’m a farm girl, I know a thing or two about tarps and ropes,’ and pretty soon she had that thing strung up for him.”

Asked how members of the regional community should address homelessness, Raye said they should “see the bright side. People need to find happiness, try to help and have more compassion.”

After being praised for raising such a conscientious young person, both parents quickly waved off that suggestion.

“No, no, that’s all her,” Kyle said. 

“She’s not scared of much,” Trina said. “She just loves them. She’s always been incredibly empathetic, incredibly kind. She’s the kind of girl who does stuff. If she sees a need, she finds a way to meet the need.”

Raye’s ultimate goal is to establish a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization so she can accept monetary donations to ramp up her program, eventually expanding to give away items not just on Christmas Day, but several different holidays throughout the year.

When asked why she cares so deeply for the homeless population, Raye responded simply: “Because they’re humans. They’re not cockroaches.”

For those interested in donating to Raye of Hope, visit makerslongacres.com to learn a little more about Raye and her mission to help the homeless, each and every Christmas.