Tag Archives: adopt a family

Holiday Giving Opportunities

Mayor Caliguri looking over offerings of food in totes near the official City-County Christmas Tree, November 2011

The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project is challenging you to organize a modest tote drive (25 bags) to be eligible to win some pretty nice stuff – Penguins box seats, overnight stay at a local Inn, movie passes, gift baskets and a $50 gift card to The Cheesecake Factory. You can probably collect 25 bags by simply asking your family and immediate friends with a quick email.  Then take the person who donates the most bags with you for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (or to the movies.)  Tote and tote/food drives are needed on a year round basis to help meet the needs of the 120,000 people relying on Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for food assistance.

 

 

 

 

Burghbaby’s ChristmasCrazy is underway through December 16, 2011. Help her provide gifts for the women and children at Alli-Kiski Hope Center and Womansplace shelters for families surviving domestic violence.  This is a great project if you’d like to donate a toy or gift for an adult woman. New, unwrapped gifts and cash donations are being accepted.

I used to work at Womansplace when I was in graduate school. Everyone on the staff worked a 2 hour shift during the holidays to share the load and because we all wanted to be there. It is heartbreaking to watch a child’s delight at receiving a new pair of socks as a gift. But good, too.

 

 

 

Another great project is Light of Life Rescue Mission on the Northside which provides food and shelter services to support some of the City’s most vulnerable families. They are seeking donations of gift cards to distribute as holiday gifts … Target, Giant Eagle, Kmart, etc.  You might be surprised at the fact that a gift card for a meal at Subway can provide a true moment of joy for a parent … trust me, it can.

If you visit all three projects, you’ll see that they aren’t seeking fancy high-end gifts … they are all trying to instill some dignity and practicality in their appeals … helping people with their basic needs, including the need to feel connected to the rest of us in the midst of the struggles they are addressing day to day. That isn’t so very different than what we strive to do for ourselves.

I can’t urge you enough to include your whole family in this giving … children can help select healthy kid-friendly foods or gifts. Siblings can pitch in $5 each and purchase a set of Subway gift cards. Everyone can check for their extra tote bags and carry their own presents along, leaving the bags to be passed along after the holiday. So many ways to share and give and truly celebrate the meaning of the season.

Thank you.

 

 

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Holiday Project? How About a Grab Bag to Benefit Your Neighbors …

Just a lil reminder that there is still plenty of time to set up a holiday tote bag drive to help our hungry neighbors during the holidays.  Courtesy of The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project.

So far several folks have stepped forward to pitch in

  • Cassandra’s Floral
  • Animal Nature
  • Concepts Management Group (Forest Hills)
  • Pittsburgh Public Market
  • Construction Junction
  • and at least two private drives (we don’t disclose individual names)

With your help,  the project can keep the momentum going and provide food to help families get through the entire month AND have the tote bags to ensure they have the ability to carry groceries home even in the worst weather.

Here’s a suggestion post with some creative ways to get involved …

There’s a 14 year old enlisting her neighbors and family to assemble “Stocking Stuffer” tote bags.

Also, a family in North Squirrel Hill collecting from neighbors and friends, as well as their children’s school.

A local office of Hartford Insurance gave up an employee gift exchange and decided that each employee would donate a tote with food instead. To make interesting, they still drew names and challenged each other to select food items their person would like.  Kind of neat and very generous.

Could you ask your work colleagues to do the same?  Or perhaps the adults in your family who do a grab bag?

One advantage Tote4Pgh can offer is the ability to accept donations right through the holidays.  Sadly, hunger knows no season.

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Holiday Projects You Can Support

It is really early, but The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project is working with local supporters to support the more than 120,000 people relying on Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to reduce their hunger.  You can help by organizing a special “holiday”  project around hunger and recycling to help kids, adults and seniors throughout the region.

The statistics are stunning … 1 in 7 people in Pennsylvania is experiencing “food instability” which means they are not getting the appropriate amount of  nutritious food to carry out day to day activities — in other words, they aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from.  1 in 4 children in the United States will be “hungry” at some point in their childhood.

You can make a difference by focusing some of your holiday goodwill and generosity on these issues and more importantly, the people whose lives depend on us to get through the month.  One missed paycheck, one increase in a utility bill, one unexpected medical bill … it could be any one of us.  It probably will some of us at some point.

For more information, please visit this site and learn how you can get involved.

1. Donate a tote with food for a holiday meal. 

  • Box/canned potatos, vegetables, box of stuffing,
  • Ready made pie crust, pie filling, nonperishable whipped topping
  • Add water bread, cornbread mixes.

2..Wrap gifts that you give in
festive tote bags and ask recipients to donate after they “unwrap.”

  • Saves wasting wrapping paper which may not often be recyclable
  • Lots of great totes at local retailers

3.  Donate a gift card that we can use to purchase totes or supplies. 

  • Amost any major retailer has tote bags for sale
  • a  small “gift card drive” is a great team project
  • YOU can benefit from FuelPerks and other special programs

4.  A gift donation in honor of someone/as a gift.

  • A simple tribute to a loved one who was concerned about hunger and/or the
    environment
  • A “stocking stuffer” gift to reinforce the reason for the season
  • Great idea for a “crafty” person

5.  Stocking stuffer totes

  • Socks, gloves, scarves, hats and other small items along this direction
  • Candy (nonperishable)
  • Personal care items – soaps, body lotions, shampoos, combs/brushes
  • Personal care items FOR KIDS – toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs/brushes,
    soap/bubble bath, baby powder, baby items, anything along this line
  • Small gift items – puzzle books, fun pencils and pens, coloring books,
    reading glasses, note pads, etc.

6.  Buy One/Get One – BOGO

  • Check your coupons and your grocery store aisles for BOGO specials. 
  • Buy one for your household, get the second free to donate.
  • Put together your “get ones” and donate.

We need your help to keep basic needs in our line of sight during a very magical time of year. The food and bags we collect during the next 10 weeks will be on food pantry shelves in January and February when the utilities costs increase and the time waiting in line for the food pantry or the bus or the walk home is something we would avoid if possible.

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