Jules Thomas – Fall 2020 Award Recipient

Our first Get Involved Foundation award recipient for the Spring 2021 cluster is Jules Thomas, a homeschooled junior and Founder/CEO of Onyx Village Connection. 

Jules always valued community service. From a young age of 4, he engaged in the community every Christmas Eve by making soup for the homeless. When he moved to East Palo Alto, he saw the need for food among some of his neighbors, all while seeing restaurants dispose of their food. So, Jules became inspired to bring the food from these shops over to those who needed hot meals.

This is where Onyx Village Connection came into place. Jules started this organization in an effort to close the gap and bring excess food over to the people who have a hard time getting consistent supplies of food. Now, Onyx Village Connection continues to grow beyond food. They are able to accept not only food but also clothing and other basic needs donations to continue to improve the lives of the people in his community.

In an interview with Jules, he said that the best part about working on this project is being able to see the smiles and hopeful faces of the people he gives food to. Seeing people happy just to have food, or hats, or other basic necessities really inspires him to continue going on with his organization.

Something that Jules learned in his project is to be nice. He learned that everyone has a story and different situation, and it is important to just listen and understand where every person is coming from. Instead of degrading others or making assumptions, strike up a conversation, listen, and be nice. At the end of day, Jules now feels a sense of fulfillment knowing that he has helped others gain access to a hot meal.

Even though Onyx Village Connection has already done so much in the three and a half years since its inception, if Jules were to improve on his organization, he would hope to get more funding. In the future, Jules plans to first attend community college in order to stay around to work with Onyx Village Connection. When he transfers, his mom will continue to help out but he will always be a central part of the organization. See his award interview here.