Care Packages for Folks Experiencing Homelessness

Thanks so much for visiting this campaign! This is YEAR NINE of the Care Packages for People Experiencing Homelessness project (Care Packages for the Homeless, Inc., a registered charity in the state of New York). The idea is twofold:

One, during the coldest months of the Winter, homeless New Yorkers simply cannot survive without certain basics. This project aims to get some of the unluckiest among us items that will keep them safer and warmer as the weather turns dangerously cold. Volunteers will pack 500 one-gallon ziplock bags with eight essential items (listed below) as well as a list of shelters and soup kitchens to be handed out over the coming months. There are more people experiencing homelessness than ever before in New York City.

And two. One striking definition of the homeless experience is 'constant crisis'. The epidemic's ubiquity, ironically, makes it invisible. We need a reason to actively engage. After packing the care packages, volunteers will take a handful of them home. They'll then take one or two with them when they can over the following weeks in order to have them on hand when they see someone in need. In this way, life saving items not only get to those who need them, but the division between the homeless population and the rest of us will be a little bit reduced. In other words, this project makes activists of everyone by giving us reason to see what's in front of us while helping solve the problem of, "Should I give when I see someone in need?" Volunteers always treasure their participation.

The funds raised will go toward purchasing enough of the following for 500 packs:

Wool Gloves

Wool Hats

Socks

Mylar Blankets

Handwarmers

Travel Toothpaste Tubes

Travel Toothbrushes

Maxi Pads

Masks

Ziplock Bags

(Additionally, garbage bags for the TBD packing day.)

****Also, equally important as donations, we'll need as many volunteers as possible on the day of the packing (Saturday, 12/9, 10:30 AM, at 104 West 27th Street). I know schedules may change over the next several weeks, but if you'd like to be included on a potential volunteer list for that day, please let me know. The entire event has taken less than an hour in the past.

That's the story morning glories. Thanks so much for your interest and help. Please shoot me any and all thoughts and questions. Mwah!

Richard Hollman, President

Yael Amron, Treasurer

Brian McCarthy, Secretary

Ava Eisenson, Board Member