Blankets, Toiletries, Socks

The short version: 

We are very much in need of blankets, toiletries, and socks.  Demand is high and our supplies are low.  You can help.  The last two paragraphs of this post tell you how.

Some of last year's bounty, long since handed out.

 The slightly longer version:

Imagine going without soap, without toothpaste, without shampoo.  This is the reality faced by many of the folks we serve.  We can really use sample sizes of toothpaste, dental floss, shampoo, conditioner, soap, and lotion.  Small sizes are best so they are easy to carry for folks living outside.  We can hand out 50 or more hygiene kits with these items at one Community Dinner with no problem.  So if you have little bottles left from your last hotel visit, if you have those novelty soap bars someone gave you last Christmas and you still haven’t used, if you feel moved to go on a shopping spree at your local dollar store or the sample aisle at the drug store, we will gladly take all the toiletries you can offer us.  One enterprising friend asked her dentist for samples and gave us over 50 tubes of toothpaste and packages of dental floss.  Maybe you dentist has samples they’d like to be rid of, too.

Imagine how your feet would feel if you were stuck in the same pair of socks day after day.  For folks living outside, clean dry socks are gold.  When one has no place to wash them, socks become disposable items.  Combined with walking many miles each day to access services and often being stuck with ill fitting shoes, the lack of clean socks contributes substantially is damaging to people's feet.  Would your church or organization like to have a sock drive for us?  Would you be willing to contribute a package or two?  We’re especially interested in white athletic socks as they hold up best.  There is no such thing as too many socks.  There is no shortage of people grateful to have them.

And it’s getting much colder now.  Especially at night.  As with socks, blankets get dirty quickly when one has no place to wash them, and stay soggy when one has no place to dry them after a damp night on San Francisco’s streets.  Imagine sleeping outside with nothing but a soggy blanket to keep you warm.  Do you have a spare sleeping bag you haven’t used in years?  Have any blankets that have been sitting in the linen closet unused?  Care to organize a blanket drive at your church or other organization?  We can take all the blankets you can give. 

You can drop any of these items off at 950 McAllister St., (between Laguna and Webster) Monday through Thursday during business hours.  Items can also be dropped off at the Faithful Fools at 234 Hyde (between Eddy and Turk), just call 415-474-0508 or email fools@faithfulfools.org to arrange a drop off time.

 

If you organize a drive and would like us to pick up what you collect, we are happy to do that in San Francisco, the Peninsula, or anywhere within fifteen minutes driving of the Bay Bridge or Golden Gate Bridge.   Just drop us a line at sfcares@saintpaulus.org or call us at 415-673-3572 and we’ll work out the details.

Living Lutheran Post about the Free Farm

The most unusual prayer I’ve ever written was a blessing for fertilizer. This was one of many prayers I wrote for the blessing of the Free Farm, where both Bishop Mark Holmerud of the ELCA’s Sierra Pacific Synod and Bishop Marc Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California declared the site a church.

Created from materials diverted from the San Francisco dump, on the site where St. Paulus Lutheran Church burnt down in the early ‘90s, the Free Farm is an assemblage of motley farm folk, hipsters, faith leaders, professors and hippies.

While the work that happens at the farm may not seem like typical church, the medical herb labyrinth created from the bricks of the old church and the fact that the farmers have grown and given away nearly 6,000 pounds of produce to local neighbors revives ancient Lutheran practices.

Read the rest at Living Lutheran

Project Homeless Connect

Did you know that SF CARE's own Megan Rohrer is also involved in Project Homeless Connect? She recently posted this great video about the need for another podiatrist or two to serve each month at Project Homeless Connect. It outlines both the needs and how much the services folks recieve at Project Homeless Connect can make a difference in their lives.

If you know a podiatrist who may be willing to help out, please pass this post along. Project Homeless Connect can always use more volunteers and service providers, too. If you're interested, please go here to sign up.