Suggestions for charities?

[lzyber]

Hi everyone!
I'm excited about helping out with the holiday drive again this year!
Last year I believe the charity was chosen before I came on board and
I think it was a homeless shelter in Dorchester. I'm sure it was a
worthy cause but since we are a neighborhood based group I was
wondering if we might consider doing something in JP. I would like to
suggest Casa Nueva Vida which is a shelter for single moms & kids.
They are a relatively small shelter so I'm not sure what their needs
are this year but I did a volunteer project there several years ago
and was really impressed with the organization. Maybe it could be
done in combination with another charity?

Anyone else have any thoughts?

-Elizabeth

[Francesca]

I really like the idea of doing a neighborhood charity, especially one
that works with single women and their kids. My only suggestion is
that we ask the women who are living at the shelter how we can help
them give their kids good holiday memories. The gifts will mean a lot
more to the kids coming from their moms than from us. Equally
importantly, it means more for a parent to be able to give their kid a
gift than for their kid to get something from strangers that they
couldn't provide. Elizabeth, are you in touch with the people at the
shelter? What does everyone think about the approach I've suggested?
-Francesca

[kate]

Hi All!

This is Kate Allen, creator and a project leader for the Holiday
Drive. Anne Marie (another project leader) and I have been in touch
about this for a couple of weeks before I knew about this email group,
so I apologize for not keeping ya'll in the loop sooner. Here is an
update on the project:

- We will be working again w/ Horizons for Homeless Children which has
centers in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury and which service homeless
children ages 2-6 and their families. www.horizonsforhomelesschildren.org.
The families are from all over Boston but for the time being are
living in shelters in the JP, Roxbury, etc. They donate a bag of
gifts, books, tooth brushes etc. to all 175 families.

- We decided that we will be furthering our reach getting donations
from 15-20 stores and pubs in the neighborhood by having donation tins
in the stores, and a donation box for toys, books, etc. as well as $
at Mike's Fitness.

- We will also try to get inkind donations from stores like CVS,
Target, Marshalls, etc.

- We were thinking we need volunteers to 1) Help distribute the
donation tins (estimated day, Monday, 11/26) to the identified
stores, 2) Be "store monitors" to be assigned certain shops to monitor
and collect donations on a regular basis 1-2 times a week , and 3)
maybe help shop, date TBD.

-Timeline: Next week get the donation tins/boxes to the stores along
w/ a letter about the project.


So, how would you guys like to be involved? Please email me directly
or post to this site. Any questions/suggestions? We are getting an
earlier start this year, so hopefully we'll get even more donations!

Thanks so much for signing-up to help....it's a ton of fun for a great
cause.

Cheers,
Kate Allen
(617) 501-1903
sugar...@hotmail.com

[kate]

Hi Elizabeth!
Sorry I forget to reply to your suggestion about Casa Nueva Vida. If
you want to check-in and see how many families there are, get a wish
list of items, etc. we can include them in the Holiday Drive...I think
that that would be great.

best,
kate

[Francesca]

When are we going to pass out the tins on Monday? I'd love to help but
don't get home from work until 6:00 or 6:30. How eye-catching is the
display for these tins? It might help us get more money to have
colorful (eg cherry red, bright blue, etc) tins and very simple
signs. I've got some time on Sunday to do this if a) it's necessary/
y'all want to do this and b)other people also have time.
-Francesca