Volunteer Support Needed - 2/15/12

Dear PHC Supporters,

Project Homeless Connect 43 - Wednesday February 15th, 2012
Our first event of 2012 is in two weeks and registration is open now! The event will be held at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and volunteer hours are 8:30am - 4pm with many shifts still available.

Already a member? Please log on today!

Not a member yet? Please log on and create a quick profile here.

Once you have a created your PHC profile you can then click on the Volunteer Shifts tab to see what volunteer opportunity appeals to you the most. Most opportunities offer an AM shift (8:30am - 1pm) a PM shift (12:30pm - 4pm) and an all - day shift (8:30am - 4pm).

Additional Opportunities for PHC 43
If you are interested in any of the following volunteer opportunities please email Randall.Stowe@sfdph.org or call (415)503 - 2124.

Coffee Crew
Calling all early risers! Thanks to the generous donation from Peet's Coffee we are able to offer coffee early in the morning for both our volunteers and participants. No fancy barista experience required here. We will just be serving good old - fashioned java by the cup! 7:00am start time required!

Hygiene Kit Assembly
Your assistance is needed to collate hygiene kits the day before our event on Tuesday, February 14th from 1pm - 4pm.

Interpreters
Are you bilingual? We are in need of your skills - Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog and sign language too! The homeless and low income of San Francisco need you, don't miss out!

Dental
We are looking for a few key leadership volunteers who are bilingual to work in our Dental service area. Please call for details.

Sock donations needed!

Dear friends of Project Homeless Connect,

Our regular donors of socks are unable to provide us with socks for our February 15th event. That means we need to get at least 1,000 donated in less than a month.

Socks are one of the most requested items. If you've ever had to wear the same pair of socks for three days or more, you know that after the third day socks get hard and smelly. Sometime after that any dye inside the socks can begin to leach into your skin and cause severe health problems to your legs.

Homeless people who have to leave their shoes on whie they sleep, to prevent their shoes from being stolen, have additional problems with their feet if they don't have clean socks on a regular basis.

While its not fun to think about, I'm explaining this to you so you'll understand how important a donation of clean white socks (preferably in men's sizes and the athletic kind with grey toes and heals) can be.

All that said, I'm hoping that you'll help. You can either buy a bunch of socks and deliver or mail them to our office: Project Homeless Connect, c/o Megan Rohrer, 25 Van Ness, Suite 340, San Francisco, Ca, 94102

Or, you can send an online donation and let us know in the memo line that you'd like to support socks at the event.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Thank you: Peet's Coffee

A special thank you to our friends at Peet's Coffee! They will be supplying the coffee at all of our events in 2012. This is the equivelent of 8,750 cups of coffee this year.

Now we will need volunteers to help serve the coffee to our participants. Additional volunteers that are needed for the February 15th event are listed below.

Project Homeless Connect 43 - Wednesday February 15th, 2012
Our first event of 2012 is less than a month away and registration is open now! The event will be held at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and volunteer hours are 8:30am-4pm with many shifts still available.

• Already a member? Please log on at http://www.projecthomelessconnect.com/.


• Not a member yet? Please log on and create a quick profile here.

Once you have a created your PHC profile you can then click on the Volunteer Shifts tab to see what volunteer opportunity appeals to you the most. Most opportunities offer an AM shift (8:30am-1pm) a PM shift (12:30-4pm) and an all-day shift (8:30-4pm).

Click here to learn what items we need for our upcoming February 15th event.

Additional Opportunities for PHC 43
If you are interested in any of the following volunteer opportunites please email mailto:v or call (415)503-2124.

Leads Needed!
We're still looking for a few good leads to head up the following service areas:

• Client Escort


• Bag Check


• Café

Hygiene Kit Assembly
Your assistance is needed to collate hygiene kits the day before our event on Tuesday, February 14th from 1-4p.

Interpreters
Are you bilingual? We are in need of your skills - Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog and sign language too! The homeless and low income of San Francisco need you, don't miss out!

Dental
We are looking for a few key leadership volunteers who are bilingual to work in our Dental service area.

Thank you: Pottery Barn, AT&T, Greenwell Farms and Dr. Bronner's

Project Homeless Connect (PHC) depends on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to provide all the services we provide the homeless in San Francisco. Most of these in-kind donations are distributed at our large events. For example, did you know that we give out more than 2,000 toiletry bags containing: soap, shampoo and conditioner, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste? With 5 events a year, that is more than 10,000 toiletry bags.

In the past, all of our toiltries and socks have been donated by the Salvation Army. However, this year there are fewer donations to spare and we are looking for new in-kind donations.

Today, we recieved a case (or, 72 2-oz bottles) of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. We are particularly excited about this donation, because Dr. Bronner's can be used as soap, shampoo, conditioner and 15 other uses. Also, because it's an organic soap, Dr. Bronner's can be used in any outdoor setting our participants may find themselves in without harming plants or the water supply. Now, we only need 1,928 more for our February 15th event!

A big thank you to the Pottery Barn for the donation of warm winter blankets. They are the perfect size for the twin sized beds in most transitional housing spaces. And with the weather as cold as it has been, they came at a perfect time.The next set of in-kind donations is of clothing items and coffee from Greenwell Farms. Clean clothing not only helps our participants stay clean and warm, but can also help individuals who are interested in going back to school or applying for a job to have the confidence they need to make a good first impression. The donations from Greenwell Farms are also notable, because they were sent all the way from the Big Island of Hawaii to support the work of Project Homeless Connect. We were touched by the amount of caring that is shown in this donation.

The final delivery of in-kind donations being featured today is from AT&T. We are greatful for all donations large and small.

These donations are a good example of how doing a little spring cleaning at your house or organization can be one of the easiest ways to help Project Homeless Connect.

A big thank you to all the businesses that sent us in-kind donations. This blog is designed to inspire you to join us in our effort to provide a single location where non profit medical and social service providers collaborate to serve the homeless of San Francisco with comprehensive, holistic services.

You can contact megan.rohrer@sfdph.org if you have in-kind donations you think would be helpful to Project Homeless Connect. Items can be mailed to: Project Homeless Connect, c/o Megan Rohrer, 25 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94109

Below is a list of needed items for our February 15th event:

• 2,000 toiletry kits (socks, soap, travel size shampoos and conditioners, toothbrushes and travel size toothpaste). Note: donations need to be new and unopened.


• 3,000 lunches (sandwiches, fruit, chips, napkins, bottles of water) Note: donations food can only come from organizations following commercial food safety rules and regulations.


• 1,800 cups of coffee Note: donations food can only come from organizations following commercial food safety rules and regulations.


• 1,000 energy bars

Thank you!

Thank you to all who participated in our 2011 Hoodies for the Homeless Drive. We collected 863 hoodies, jackets and sweatshirts from:
300+ from St. Anthony's
86 from First United Lutheran Church
83 from Facebook event participants
68 from the SF Friends School
50 from San Dominico School
49 from BCCI
39 from the Jewish Community Relations Council
28 Napa Lutheran Church
27 from Tamalpais High School
24 from the Rt. Rev. Rusty Clyma and his partner the Rev. George McCauscan
19 from Marin UCC
19 from St. Francis Lutheran Church
17 from PHC Staff, Friends & Family
13 from USF Masters of Public Administration students
9 from PHC volunteers
8 from Brand Alliance Marketing
5 San Francisco Swedenborgian Church
6 St. Aidan's Episcopal Church
1 Growing Home Community Garden Volunteers and Neighbors
1 from the Sierra Pacific Synod Hunger Network