Maribel Padilla, founder of the Brown Bag Coalition, places a cool cloth on the neck of a man who sought help from the Coalition during one of its water run stops to support the homeless in the city of Calexico, California, as temperatures on that day reached nearly 120 degrees. Photo by Darren Simon
On a sweltering afternoon as temperatures in Calexico, California topped 118 degrees, a group of homeless sought shelter under trees just off Third Street and Paulin Avenue in the city’s busy downtown a couple of blocks from the border.
They knew to be there around 5 p.m. That’s when a familiar white van from the Brown Bag Coalition (Coalition) would arrive to provide welcome relief – water and Gatorade, popsicles, washcloths dipped in cold water and other supplies.
When the van arrived, Brown Bag Coalition founder Maribel Padilla and her volunteer that day, Jose Read More
