Sisters Keisha and Robin Daniels, who grew up in Watts, wanted to do something for the neighborhood.
Along with their neighborhood friends, the Daniels wanted to find a way to give back to their community to help families and anyone they could reach within their community.
That’s why they Started Sisters of Watts, organizing community giveaways and events and in 2016, decided to make their work more official by forming a nonprofit, Sisters of Watts. Joining them in this venture were their sisters, Pennie Daniels and Jessica Crummie; their cousin, Joann Smith; and two neighborhood friends, Tamatha Clemons and Tamicha Citizen.
They have been featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, KCRW, and most recently, the Super Bowl in six short years.
Sisters of Watts was one of 56 nonprofits picked of 400 to be recognized with a $10,000 grant from the Super Bowl LVI Legacy Program last year and featured in a video about the program.
“We put the ‘unity’ in ‘community,'” Keisha Daniels, a Cal State LA alumna, quips in the video. “Together, we can change the world.”
The Daniels’ nonprofit does giveaways with hundreds of items such as grab-and-go meals and school supplies and organizes family events, including during the holidays.
“Focusing on our youth…that is our core thing, and we’re providing services that they’ll be able to use,” Keisha Daniels said in an interview.
When the COVID quarantine first began, she said they began to work with another nonprofit to offer a grab-and-go lunch program for students every weekday with a different meal each day, such as hamburgers, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot dogs, and occasionally, Taco Tuesdays.
They give out hundreds of Easter baskets and Halloween buckets filled with candy during those holidays.
The back-to-school season involves giveaways of backpacks filled with school supplies, and this past Christmas, they collaborated with their city council to create a Winter Wonderland event.
Sisters of Watts requires no sign-ups, meaning anyone and everyone is welcome to come and get what they need. However, the people served are asked to sign-up to get notices about future events.
Keisha Daniels said she gets back as much as she gives.
“It’s a good feeling. When your heart is in it, it is fulfilled in the way that you know that you made a difference,” she said. “Whether it was one person or 100 people, [you had] the opportunity to provide some type of assistance, or some type of love, some type of care, some type of, ‘I’m here for you.’ It all matters.”
Community News produces stories about under-covered neighborhoods and small cities on the Eastside and South Los Angeles. Please email feedback, corrections, and story tips to [email protected].
