Craig Newmark has generously offered to match every new “like” of our Facebook Page with a $1 donation to St. Anthony’s.
Just click here, click “like,” and you’ve helped feed 2 warm meals to hungry San Franciscans. Already like our page? Tell a friend and help us meet our $5000 goal. It’s the easiest two meals you’ll ever cook!
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.
St. Anthony’s 24th Curbside Holiday Donation Drive kicks off on Saturday, November 19th. 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 turkeys, clean and gently worn clothing, canned and dried foods are all much needed and appreciated!
WHEN:
November 19th-24th AND December 17th-24th
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.
Other
We also need these items:
Shopping bags – with handles
Blankets, comforters, sleeping bags
Luggage, bags, backpacks
Toiletries – new only, please
Towels, washcloths
Stuffed animals – good condition only
Children’s toys – new only, please
Strollers – in good condition
Canes – not crutches, walkers, wheelchairs
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 this holiday season!
The Diabetes Hands Foundation has selected St. Anthony Medical Clinic to be one of 5 recipients of Big Blue Test grant money from Roche Diabetes Care. The more participants there are worldwide, the more support St. Anthony Medical Clinic will receive from Diabetes Hands Foundation.
The Berkeley-based Diabetes Hands Foundation created the Big Blue Test in 2009 in order to raise awareness of the dramatic role exercise can play in helping diabetics control their blood sugar and manage their diabetes. In 2009 and 2010 tests, a mere 14 minutes of exercise consistently resulted in a 15 to 20% reduction in blood sugar for patients across the board.
The test is conducted worldwide between November 1st and November 14th, National Diabetes Day. For each participant who takes the test at Big Blue Test, a life-saving donation of supplies is made to a diabetic in need, as well as cash support to non-profits working with low-income diabetics. Everyone can participate, so test early and often, enter your results at Big Blue Test, and help St. Anthony Medical Clinic support diabetics in need.
The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is the largest series of 5K runs and fitness walks in the world. The Race not only raises awareness, celebrates breast cancer survivors, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease, it also raises significant funding for the fight against breast cancer.
This year some of that funding goes to St. Anthony’s Medical Clinic to help low-income women in the Tenderloin get one-stop breast health visits: mammograms, gynecological exams, cervical cytology. Anything that women in particular need to watch to stay healthy and whole.
Women who come to St. Anthony Medical Clinic for healthcare often have to choose between a doctor visit and a day’s work, between a sick child and their own health. St. Anthony’s will make it easier for women by holding quarterly women’s health days where women can take care of many examinations and tests all at once. A woman who misses one women’s health day to meet other needs can try for the next event.
If you join the Komen Foundation in the Race for the Cure in San Francisco, you help St. Anthony’s, and over a dozen of our community partner organizations, in the fight against breast cancer in low-income women.
You can sign up at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure web site at www.komensf.org
Komen SF Race for the Cure
Sunday, September 25, 2011
The Embarcadero, starting and finishing at the Ferry Building
St. Anthony Medical Clinic will thank you. We thank the Susan G. Komen Foundation for supporting low-income women in the Tenderloin.
Giving is contagious. This is especially true in the internet age, when an audience can multiply at the push of a button and social media like Facebook and Twitter make it fun to spread the word.
St. Anthony’s put out a few requests this year that “went viral,” sometimes without the help of the internet. If you ever think your gift is too small or your project too limited to make a difference, think again. It just might catch on.
Blogging for Socks
St. Anthony programs are always asking for socks. Every program at St. Anthony’s gives out socks, an urgent need of most of our guests.
One such request was picked up by Craig Newmark (founder of Craigslist) and broadcast on his blog. The result was a nationwide response and enough socks to make up the gap for our Christmas gift bags. Children’s socks are still coming in regularly from Planet Sox in New York. Long after Christmas, but well into winter, our Free Medical Clinic and Free Clothing Program still give away children’s socks in bright colors and cartoon patterns, as well as flip flops, slippers, and sunglasses, to the families we serve.
This is all we have in the protein section of St. Anthony’s Social Work Center Food Pantry. In recent months pantry visits have increased by 60%. Many of those coming to our pantry are seniors who already eat their main meal in our Dining Room. In July, SSI recipients will see their grants reduced by $15 per month, which will make it even more difficult for many seniors to make ends meet. Families also come seeking food assistance. It is not uncommon for parents in food insecure households to go without food in order to have enough for their children.
We need your help!
Donations of:
Tuna and Canned Meat
Cereal
Peanut Butter
Soups and Stews
Canned Fruits
May be dropped off in San Francisco at
150 Golden Gate Ave.
(between Golden Gate Ave. and Jones St.)
Monday through Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
If you would like to conduct a food drive for St. Anthony’s Social Work Center Food Pantry at your workplace or house of worship, please contact Dolores Gould at 415-592-2704.
People don’t always associate St. Anthony’s with children. Yet over 800 families are part of St. Anthony’s community. They eat in the Dining Room, pack take-out for their children in school, get clothes for school and work at the Free Clothing Program, and bring their children to the pediatrics program in the Free Medical Clinic. Children grow up at St. Anthony’s and most grow into lives very different from those their parents struggled with.
The Dining Room has a special section for women and families with children, who are encouraged to pack extra meals to take home for children in school. The Free Clothing Program helps with school clothes, job interview clothes, and work clothes for families struggling to be self-supporting.
At the Clinic, uninsured families can get the immunizations their children need to get into school. When we had to cut staff time temporarily, our pediatrician, Dr. Katie Broner, worked extra hard four days a week to make sure she’d seen all the children who needed their shots before school started.
The Social Work Center provides families with emergency rental assistance and information on eligibility for CalWorks. They help families get California ID so that they can apply for housing, benefits, and jobs, and get birth certificates for their children so that they go to school.
St. Anthony’s hosts an annual backpack give-away for children entering school. In late August, low-income children receive free backpacks suited to their ages and filled with school supplies, donated by The Giving Tree.
Together, these programs help hundreds of Tenderloin and South of Market children enter school each year by ensuring the required physical check-ups, immunizations, state identification, school clothes, and school supplies. Families are part of our family.