Let the drive begin! As we did last year with our Annual Adult Warm Winter Clothing Drive we will be supporting HomeFirst Boccardo Reception Center. It is the largest homeless service center in Santa Clara County. They provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, mental health counseling and a wide range of other support services for the homeless community. In addition, we will also support Neighborhood Hands, a grassroots nonprofit organization in San Jose that connects unhoused and housed community members through bi-weekly park cleanups, stipends and collaborative resource fairs.
There is a special request for new socks and gloves. I was thinking, if every household in our neighborhood donated just one pair of new socks and gloves, we would have almost 400 items. Wow! Other items needed are winter coats, sweatshirts and sweatpants, vests and jackets. These items don’t have to be new, just clean.
This year we will begin the drive on November 1st and end January 2nd. You can put your donations in the red and green bin on my porch (2041 Elmgrove Lane). If you are unable to drop off, I can pick up. Call me at (408-379-9773).
Also, if you have left over Halloween candy, it can be donated for holiday gift bags for Neighborhood Hands and Boccardo Reception Center. The candy can also be placed in the red and green bin.
Together we can bring comfort, hope, and winter warmth to those who need it most. Let’s go!
Thank you. Charleen Marfil (char@bakerwest.org)
