We’ve almost made it. Just over 2400 socks for gift bags for Christmas. Our goal is 2500. We’re almost there, but sometimes we open a package and find that it’s for children or it’s footies instead of full up-the-ankle-for-cold-weather socks. Don’t get me wrong; it will all get used. But for Christmas, for these bags, we’d like new, crew or trail, warm socks, mainly men’s. (Which women can wear, as well.)

A group begins filling bags at 10:00 Saturday morning. (Tomorrow.) You have until at least 11:00 to bring a few more socks in and push us over the line on your way to pick up the groceries or get that last gift or catch a plane to visit family. We won’t get more than we need. At St. Anthony’s, we just can’t have too many socks.

Have a wonderful holiday. And thank you for all you do for the most vulnerable among us.

We have received many hand-crafted hats and scarves to give to the guests of St. Anthony’s this Christmas. Keiko Yamaguchi from Japan sent this beautiful handmade Pierrot doll, a symbol of good fortune, as a gift for a child here in the Tenderloin. It is clear that the love and hope the doll was made with found equal love in joy with our young friend.

Our generous crafters from all over the world send a message of hope; a gift freely given. And those who receive this precious gift; not only the gift of warmth but the knowledge that they are cared for and cared about. Hope can only be given to one by other human beings. We are so be a community of people who provide endless hope. Thank you!

We’ve got 3 days to collect another 1,178 pairs of socks. On Saturday, a volunteer group is putting together  2500 gift bags, one for every guest who comes to the Dining Room on Christmas Day, and every bag needs a pair of socks: new, preferably men’s crew or trail socks.

The San Francisco Security Traders, the Girl Scouts, and the Ladies of the Consular Corps got us off to a great start with almost 600 pairs. People are still bringing them in to Curbside, where we meet cars and unload your donations of food and clothing. (Drive up to 105 Golden Gate at the corner of Jones and volunteers will unload for you.)  We’re just slightly more than half-way to the goal.

Any socks received at Curbside will go to the bags. Any socks left over will be divided among our programs.

Three days before the day before Christmas. Fewer than 400 pairs a day will fill those bags. They’re easy to find, inexpensive to purchase, light to carry. Thank you for whatever you can do. Thanks for sharing this post on Facebook and wherever else you can. Happy Holidays.

Curbside opens tomorrow. Volunteers will stand on the sidewalk ready to unload your donations of food, clothing, and toiletries. You don’t even need to get out of your car. We are grateful for turkeys, hams, #10 cans of food, 25 lb. bags of rice and potatoes and smaller canned goods, too. We need clothing, especially coats and any men’s clothing, as long as it’s clean and ready-to wear. We’ll happily accept your hand knit scarves for Christmas bags at Curbside.

And socks.

At. St. Anthony’s, we always need socks. Right now, we especially need them for Christmas. We’re giving a Christmas bag to every guest who eats in the Dining room on Christmas. Every bag will contain a beautiful hand knit scarf. And every bag needs a pair of socks. Our goal is 3,000.

If you knit, knit a scarf. If you don’t, think of socks.

The Security Traders Association, the Girl Scouts, and the Ladies of the Consular Corps got us off to a tremendous start with 597 pairs.

 That’s not counting the socklets for women and children’s socks with cartoons and rock stars on them. These are great to give away.

 But what we really need  are men’s crew or trail socks that go all the way up the ankle to keep our guests, men and women, warm and dry. (Thank you Security Traders,  Girl Scouts, and Ladies of the Consular Corps.) If you don’t have the time or transportation for groceries and you don’t have the skills for hand knitting a scarf, you can donate  socks. You’d be surprised at the comfort and joy they bring.

We need socks. Our guests need socks. 3,000 new socks, warm socks, preferably men’s crew and trail socks because women can wear them, too. Colored socks with patterns and pictures are nice, but they don’t go with everything and the main thing is to keep our guests warm and dry this winter.  3,000 guests.

We are giving out 2500 gift bags in the Dining Room this Christmas, each containing a beautiful, hand made scarf and whatever else we can collect that is useful or fun for our guests. Socks are a staple for these bags. The other 500 pairs will serve our guests in other programs. All of our guests need them. All of our programs give them.

If you knit, bring or send a scarf. If you don’t knit, buy us a package of new socks. Buy two. Buy a case at a well known wholesale outlet.

Bring them to 150 Golden Gate and tell Eric they’re for Christmas bags. Bring them to 121 Golden Gate when Curbside opens this weekend; they’ll all go to gift bags.

If large food items aren’t on the way, if you don’t have a car for carrying bulk items or clothes, take a moment while shopping for Christmas and throw some extra socks into your basket. Drop them off on your way to work.

Tell your friends. Tell your family. Share this post on Facebook. 3,000 warm new socks by December 24. Thank you.

Shari Roeseler, St. Anthony Executive Director accepts a gift from the Ladies of the San Francisco Consular Corps. Pictured with Charlotte Schulz,San Francisco Chief of Protocol and LSFCC president, Gerlind Rothen at the LCCSF annual Holiday Luncheon on Dec. 13th hosted by Midori Inomata at the Japanese Consulate. We are so appreciative of the support of LCCSF and they are some of our favorite volunteers!

This December, Congress has some important decisions to make — decisions that will have a significant impact on the number of people experiencing poverty in the United States. If Congress does nothing, Unemployment Insurance and payroll tax cuts will expire at the end of the month.

It is rare that Congress is faced with a decision that would almost immediately save a large number of Americans from needlessly experiencing poverty. Analysis from the venerable Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that extending the payroll tax cut will help keep 1.1 million Americans — low-income workers and their families — out of poverty.

Congress also has a chance to help people who are currently unemployed from falling into poverty.  Last year at this time, Congress and President Obama extended Unemployment Insurance for 12 months, a move that kept more than 3 million Americans out of poverty.   The extension of Unemployment Insurance that was passed last December will expire at the end of this month.   If Unemployment Insurance is not extended, many struggling unemployed people may lose their Unemployment benefits before finding new jobs.  Unemployment rates are still high and many unemployed people have been searching for work for a very long time. In fact, research from the Pew Economic Policy Group shows that more than half of the long-term unemployed have been looking for employment for more than 12 months.

Not only do Unemployment Insurance and the Payroll Tax cut help to keep struggling people out of poverty, they also provide a much-needed stimulus to our economy.

Your Congressional representatives should hear from you on this important issue.  Our friends at Network: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby have an easy-to-use form that allows you to send a message to your representatives.

Christmas Curbside Donation Drive Starts Next Weekend:

Saturday, December 17th – Saturday, December 24th!

St. Anthony’s 24^th Annual Christmas Curbside Donation Drive begins on Saturday, December 17^th. St. Anthony Foundation staff and volunteers, wearing easily identifiable red jackets, will take delivery of food, clothing, and monetary donations at curbside, so donors won’t even have to leave their cars! Donated items are distributed free of charge to San Francisco’s most needy residents.

Your donation of NEW SOCKS, clean and ready-to-wear clothing, canned and dried foods are all much needed and appreciated! And if you’ve been working on hand knit scarves as holiday gifts to our guests, bring them in!

WHEN: December 17th-24th, 2011 – Weekends from 9-3 & Weekdays from 8-6

WHERE: St. Anthony Foundation - 105 Golden Gate @ Jones

NEEDED ITEMS:

Clothing
We need all kinds of clothing for men, women, and children – our most critical needs are for the following items:

Socks, Shoes
Underwear
Winter coats
Jackets
Hats

Monetary Donations

St. Anthony’s is happy to accept cash or checks for donation during Curbside and is prepared to issue receipts onsite for tax purposes.

ITEMS WE CANNOT ACCEPT:

Empty clothes hangers
Knick knacks
Used toys
Children’s car seats
Furniture
Medical equipment
Dirty, stained or torn items
Books and magazines
Exercise/sports equipment
Housewares
Computers, electronics

If you have any questions about donations, please call us at (415) 241-2600.

And in case you’d like to volunteer and join us for the holidays, call the St. Anthony Holiday Line at 415-592-2829. We look forward to seeing you!

The mission of St. Anthony’s is to feed, heal, shelter, and clothe those in need. But how does this mission come alive in our work? As a newcomer to St. Anthony’s I set out to discover how each of these goals is fulfilled by spending time in several programs.  

The Dining Room is without a doubt St. Anthony’s most popular program. Three-hundred and sixty-five days a year the dining room is open to feed thousands of people. One of my favorite moments was witnessing the joy that filled the Dining Room on Thanksgiving Day. The dining room provides a safe place, a shelter, a feeling of home for many that crave a little companionship and a place to go. Guest Services Intern, Bethany, says “Our biggest goal in the Dining Room is to make sure that [the guests] feel like they are served with dignity and respect… we hope to feed them daily, not just with food but with friendship.”

The Social Work Center provides individual case management to over 3,000 people a year. A Friday afternoon in St. Anthony’s Social Work Center during drop-in hours is no ordinary afternoon.  When the elevators open up at 1 o’clock people pour out of them. Twenty plus people wait to be seen, all in dire need. Each personal case is different; they span from housing needs, applying for California ID’s, seeking employment options, and many other needed benefits. I got to sit in on some meetings with social worker, Sarah, and her drop-in clients. I heard only the reader’s digest version of each person’s life, but each story managed to be shocking and heartbreaking. I met one man who came here from Istanbul with his family as a child hoping for a better life, one man who graduated from Cal Poly Pomona, and one man who even went to law school and passed the Bar Exam. How is it that these people, so similar to you and me, are living on the streets of the Tenderloin?

In this economy many people end up jobless and in some cases even homeless. We see the Occupy movement mentioned in the news daily, but the bottom 1% of the 99% that we see every day in the Tenderloin often still goes unnoticed.  

At St. Anthony’s we don’t forget these people. We spend time working to heal them and the issues that others would rather overlook. In the Social Work Center (SWC) on that same Friday afternoon, a man soiled himself in the waiting area. The staff who work in the SWC handled this situation with delicacy in order to uphold the dignity and respect of the guest. The SWC staff is trained to handle any unexpected problems that arise; new clothes from the Free Clothing Program were given to him and in doing so we remember our guests’ needs are important. Working at St. Anthony’s is often not glamorous and things tend to get messy, but when working for the greater good of all, things usually do get messy.  

It’s easy to overlook how much work goes into each specific program on a daily basis at St. Anthony’s. I spent time in each program and after being with St. Anthony’s for just about 4 months, I can truthfully say that St. Anthony’s goes above and beyond in all areas of our work, not only because it is their job, but because they care about serving each individual person who comes through our doors.

St. Anthony's interns knit never-ending hope!

They all knit for St. Anthony’s!

St. Anthony’s knitters are one of the most diverse groups of people you can ever imagine but they all unite for the common purpose to share a message of hope and compassion with the guests and clients at St. Anthony’s.

We have knitters from Texas and Louisiana; from Greenbrae and Pacifica; and from Japan and New Zealand. From civic groups and church groups, knitting circles and schools: a veritable army with a coat of many colors indeed!

We have received 1,096 scarves and 296 hats so far and hope by December 21st to receive 2,500 which is the number we need to distribute on Christmas Day. So if you are almost finished with yours then keep on knitting. Every scarf matters because every person who will receive one will know that there are people who care.

So all you knitters out there just keep on: knit for hope, knit for faith, knit for joy and know that the work of your hands warms the body and nourishes the soul of each individual who receives one.