75
Things you can do to eliminate hunger and homelessness in Longmont
YOU ARE HERE:
National Hunger and Homelessness Week (November)
For more information regarding the 75 Things and Longmont Housing Opportunities Team efforts, contact:
Kathy Fedler, CDBG and Affordable Housing Programs Coordinator
City of Longmont |
350 Kimbark Street, Longmont CO 80501 |
303-651-8736 |
kathy.fedler@ci.longmont.co.us | Para informacíon en Español, llame Enrique a 303.774.4445. (updated: 07/28/06)
1. Skip a lunch and donate the cost of that meal to the OUR Center.
2. Donate household goods or items such as kitchen utensils, non-perishable canned or boxed foods, hygiene products, furniture, blankets, books, toys, diapers, etc. to the OUR Center Food and Clothing Banks.
4. Help build or fix up houses by volunteering and/or joining Habitat for Humanity
5. Offer your professional skills and services directly or to assist in job training, mentoring, tutoring, etc.
6. Vote. Let your representatives know that you care about the poor.
7. Help the children by volunteering to help shelters who are coordinating field trips, picnics, etc. for homeless children.
8. Convince your classmates, co-workers, church members or neighbors to join or support your efforts.
9. For businesses: contribute in-kind services and materials such as copying, printing, food, transportation, marketing assistance, computer equipment and training, electrical work, building materials, etc.
10. Support a homeless person or family as they move out of a shelter or transitional housing program. Assist by contributing household goods, babysitting, moral support.
11. Raise funds for a program by organizing a bike or walk-a-thon, a yard sale, etc. and donate the proceeds.
12. Give directly to the homeless and hungry by carrying fast-food certificates, grocery certificates, extra sandwiches or fruit. (Whether you choose to give or not, please don’t look away from homeless people as if they do not exist. Making eye contact, saying a few words, or smiling can reaffirm the humanity of a person.)
13. Put together survival kits to give out to homeless people with items like cups, pots, pans, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, cosmetics.
14. If you own property, rent it at a reasonable price.
15. Give out pre-paid long-distance calling cards so that homeless people can contact loved ones on special days.
16. Encourage your company to hire homeless people. Most homeless adults want to work, but need an employer to give them a chance.
17. Raise money or donate funds for security deposits to help families meet the first month’s rent or pay the security deposit.
18. Help complete surveys during the Point-In-Time Survey each January.
19. Attend neighborhood and public meetings and speak up in favor of low-income housing, group homes, shelters and homelessness prevention programs.
20. Call or write the media to inform them of your concern for homeless and hungry people in Longmont.
21. Put your loose change in the local donation jars at the grocery store.
22. Once a year donate a dress or suit to the career closet at Project Self Sufficiency.
23. Adopt a family for a year.
24. Shop for groceries for a family at the Inn Between.
25. Donate your gently used clothing to the OUR Center Clothing Bank. The lack of clean, well-fitting clothes and shoes causes great hardship beyond exposure to the elements. It hurts one’s self-image and one’s chance to get ahead. On job interviews, a poorly dressed person has little chance for success. Talk first to your local shelter to find out what items they really need. Please clean the clothes before you donate them.
26. Lobby your local representative to fight against hunger and homelessness.
27. If you own a rental property, join the Section 8 program by contacting the Longmont Housing Authority.
28. Join the Longmont Housing Opportunities Team and make a difference!
29. Volunteer as a driver for Meals on Wheels.
30. Donate money to and/or volunteer with organizations that work for social change.
31. Donate through monthly payroll deductions to United Way.
32. Feed your family for a month on a “food stamp income” to learn more about low income families and donate the money you saved to Community Food Share.
33. When voting, consider the needs of all people in your community, not just those of your immediate family.
34. Help serve Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner or any dinner at the OUR Center.
35. Organize a workplace volunteer or donation day.
36. Be a children’s volunteer for the Safe Shelter of the St. Vrain Valley.
37. Invest in socially responsible stocks.
38. Read to a shut-in senior at one of the assisted living residences.
39. Have your child donate last year’s (still working) toys to the St. Vrain Valley Family Center (803 Third Avenue).
40. Donate school supplies to the SVVSD’s Homeless Education Program.
41. Become a board member for any of the local non-profit organizations in town.
42. Pay for a teen parent to get a haircut.
43. Donate a working bicycle to the OUR Center or the Inn Between.
61. Be a little league coach (or football, hockey, soccer, etc.) for low income kids.
62. Have your kids do a car wash and donate the proceeds to Head Start.
63. Collect change at Halloween for the Salvation Army.
64. Do a gift-free Christmas and donate the money instead.
65. Encourage your child to donate a week’s allowance to a charity of their choice.
66. Give diapers to the GENESIS Teen Parent Program.
67. Leave a can of food for the postal service food drive.
68. Be a mentor to a single mom through Project Self Sufficiency.
69. Donate gently used coats to the Rotary.
70. Volunteer as a tutor at Spangler, Loma Linda, or any elementary school.
71. Put your favorite charity in your will.
72. Donate bus passes to the St. Vrain Valley School District to give to their homeless
students.
73. Get your spiritual community to do an outreach project.
74. Donate infant and/or toddler car seats (gently used or new) to the OUR Center, the Inn
Between, Head Start, the Safe Shelter of the St. Vrain Valley or the GENESIS project.
