Philanthropy on Foot.  Give socks today!

For those on the street, feet matter. Here’s something you can do to show you care.

When you donate new socks to St. Anthony’s, you can help make life healthier and pain-free for homeless and low income folks in San Francisco.

Access to shoes and socks is often limited for homeless men and women living in shelters and on the street.

Blisters and infections are common conditions that can lead to more severe health issues.  Wet feet,  ill-fitting shoes, constant standing and diseases like diabetes take their toll.

The best way to prevent such conditions is to keep feet clean and dry—very difficult if you spend your days outside.

Here’s how you can help:

GET IT

We need 5,000 pairs of socks this year.
We’re asking all of San Francisco to get new socks to those who need them most.

Short on time? DONATE HERE and we’ll buy the socks.

Donate men’s socks, especially white athletic or outdoor socks. Socks need to be new.
Get a team together or you can donate individually.

SHARE IT

On our Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest

Share a sock story, a photo, or ask the Sock Diva a question on our Socks in the City Tumblr.

Take photos and video along the way and send them via email or Facebook as an invitation to friends, family, and coworkers to participate in the drive.

PLAY IT

Host a sock party
Have a competition
Sock bomb a colleague’s office
Organize a “sock mob”

BRING IT

Socks may be mailed or dropped off to:

Sock Diva @ St. Anthony Foundation
150 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco CA 94102
8:30-4:30 Mon. – Fri.

For questions, large donations, or to arrange to have a donation barrel delivered, e-mail us.

St. Anthony’s staff and volunteers joined hundreds of supporters at MoMo’s Restaurant on Monday, June 11th to toss pennies for the 35th annual Penny Pitch to benefit St. Anthony’s Dining Room. This year, the Penny Pitch broke a 35 year fundraising record, raising over $72,000! Proceeds from this event will translate into over 144,000 meals for hungry and homeless San Franciscans.

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Police Chief Greg Suhr, and President of the Giants Larry Baer tossed out the ceremonial first pitch. KNBR radio hosts Murph and Mac, along with Bay Area comedian Bob Sarlatte, kept the crowd energized as the competition unfolded.

Shari Roeseler, St. Anthony’s Executive Director remarked, “For 62 years, the business community has stepped up to the plate for St. Anthony’s. For over half of those years, leaders in the community have organized the Penny Pitch to throw change and change lives. We couldn’t do the work we do without the steady support of people like Pete and Janet Osborne and the late Ed Moose.”

St. Anthony’s is grateful to have community partners like MoMo’s along with widespread community support for events like the Penny Pitch. Join us next year as we pitch pennies to change lives!

For more information about the Penny Pitch please visit the photo album on our Facebook page.

Click here to see KTVU’s coverage of the 35th Annual Penny Pitch to benefit St. Anthony’s Dining Room.

Now is the time for you to help usher in the next era of the St. Anthony Dining Room with a new building that will serve more people and change more lives.

St. Anthony’s Dining Room provides 40% of all free meals served in San Francisco.  It is the only free food program in the city open 365 days a year.  Help us build a new Dining Room that will serve hope and hearty meals to untold millions.

For the next 50 days, double your impact and join in this landmark project.  Just CLICK HERE to donate now and feed the future.

Are you looking for an alternative way to celebrate that anniversary with that special someone in your life?  Are you tired of receiving birthday gifts from Aunt Lola that you may not want or need? If so, you might consider asking your friends and family to make a donation to St. Anthony Foundation – and save them a trip to the mall!

That is just what brother and sister, Geremy and Genine decided to do!  Years ago, Geremy and Genine came to volunteer with their Justice Education class from St. Ignatius College Preparatory.  After their positive volunteer experience and Genine’s subsequent internship, St. Anthony Foundation quickly became one of their favorite local organizations.

This year as Geremy and Genine put on their graduation caps and gowns, they are encouraging invitees to their graduation celebration to consider making a gift in their honor to St. Anthony’s New Dining Room campaign. By sharing these gifts, Geremy and Genine are helping others reclaim their sense of dignity and respect.

For more information on how you too can celebrate your special day and give back to the community, please contact Jaime Kim at (415) 592-2707 or jkim@stanthonysf.org.

Congratulations Geremy and Genine, Class of 2012!

You have heard of our boundless hope here at St. Anthony’s. This hope is real—so real that we’ve moved our original Dining Room to an interim location, and we’re preparing to tear down the old building to make way for a new one. It’s all about hope. Many generous donors have already stepped up and supported this $22 million effort, yet we still have about $4.5 million to raise.

We are now turning to our regular donors and the general public to finish off this campaign. We need you to join us now and be part of the miracle–one that that began with Fr. Alfred Boeddeker in 1950. Today, we face the challenge of keeping that miracle alive by building a new St. Anthony’s for the next 60 years. Construction starts this summer, so there’s no putting things off. If you support our work with a regular gift to St. Anthony’s, please consider making an additional gift for this once-in-a-lifetime project.

The Giants and famed pitcher Barry Zito have stepped up to the plate to help build the new St. Anthony’s Dining Room. In addition to two generous gifts, the Giants will feature St. Anthony’s in a Home Plate Ceremony at AT&T park.  Larry Baer, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Giants, kicked off the public phase of our campaign by proclaiming that “Jones and Golden Gate is the most important intersection in the city.”

Barry Zito will also reach out to San Franciscans via radio asking for help to make the new Dining Room possible. As we enter the home stretch of our campaign, we’re proud to have the 2010 World Series champions at bat for us.  Join St. Anthony’s and the Giants in striking out hunger.

Click HERE to donate.

…in asking for your support to build The New St. Anthony’s Dining Room.  Now is the time to join us in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. St. Anthony’s has stood firm as a safe place during turbulent times.  As we near our goal to begin construction in the summer of 2012, we turn to you, our faithful supporters, to stand firm with St. Anthony’s.

Our Dining Room has survived seven recessions, remained steadfastly on the right side of history during the civil rights era and the AIDS epidemic, and managed to stay open during the 1989 earthquake.  St. Francis, the namesake of our fair city, once said, “Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

Help us make what’s necessary possible and Be a Part of the Miracle.  Click here to find out ways you can help Hope Grow and make The New St. Anthony’s Dining Room a reality.

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.