This past Thursday, volunteers from Stone & Youngberg came to the Tenderloin Tech Lab to help out clients with some basic as well as advanced computer functions. The volunteers were also there to give advice to clients who were actively seeking employment – giving pointers on interviewing techniques, networking, and advancing the careers of those individuals already employed. All said and done there were about 20 clients who were there for assistance pair with 10 volunteers. A great turnout for a great event!

Everyone knows that Charles Schwab Corporation helps people save, invest and manage their money and helps companies with retirement and stock plans. Individual employees also donate their time and talents throughout the year, in addition to volunteer week. Their focus is nonprofits that lift people out of poverty and improve the financial well-being of low-income people. Their specialty is financial literacy.

St. Anthony Foundation’s clothing supply is still moving straight through from donation to distribution. Charles Schwab employees organize company-wide food and clothing drives. Faces in the group lit up when we talked about the need for clothing. Our faces lit up, too, when we realized we’d struck a chord.

Then over the weekend I got this from a participant. “Hi, Alina. Thanks again for letting us join your community last week. It was an awesome experience. I’ll check into the idea of a clothing drive.” Imagine: financial wizards who focus on people in poverty and specialize in clothing drives.

Volunteers were available for 2 hours to help folks learn the process of searching for jobs, e-mailing potential employers, and editing their resume and cover letters. The volunteers from Charles Schwab were able to pass on their computer knowledge while simultaneously learning how difficult it is for individuals with limited or no computer access to learn how to do what we consider “simple” tasks.

Yesterday’s event was relatively small from a numbers standpoint (4 volunteers, 7 students), but the relationships that were formed during these few hours is immeasurable. As was proven today, volunteering is quite humbling and very rewarding. It is our hope that the group volunteers from Charles Schwab come back and help out on a regular basis and become part of our faithful volunteer base!

When they heard about the shortage of clothing at St. Anthony’s Free Clothing Program they were quick to start up a drive of their own, collecting 10 bags within two weeks!

“Our employees at Aegis Media and iProspect find St. Anthony’s to be an incredibly worthy cause. It is so rewarding to be able to directly impact the local residents of San Francisco through clothing drives, volunteering at the dining room, and utilizing our specialized skills to increase awareness.” said Shannon McCarty, Client Services Manager of iProspect.

Encourage your co-workers to clean out their closets this month for St. Anthony’s.

Stone & Youngberg also supports their employees in volunteering with organizations and government agencies to make communities stronger. Earlier this month, 50 Stone & Youngberg employees converged at St. Anthony’s from San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Big Bear Lake, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Albany, Annapolis, and Richmond, VA to help us out with just about everything AND the kitchen sink.

Some went to the Social Work Center where they researched and created recipes for clients utilizing the contents of the pantry. These recipes will be available for clients to take home with them to create healthy and balanced meals.

Some worked in the Tenderloin Tech Lab, providing one-on-one tutoring, tailoring their help to each individual. The room was abuzz with questions and conversation.

St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic is working on a huge database project that a group of Stone & Youngberg employees pushed several more steps toward completion.

They organized our green library to make it more user friendly. They volunteered in the clothing program sorting and hanging donations. And as if that were not enough, the company did a clothing drive and brought with them a very large donation.

They even volunteered to help us celebrate volunteers. St. Anthony’s Volunteer Appreciation Event was on the way, and Stone & Youngberg employees put together volunteer gifts, made centerpieces, and strung lighting for a Roaring 20’s party in honor of 200 regulars who keep the Dining Room and other programs running.

In short, the folks from Stone & Youngberg just kept throwing things into the pot. The result was the rich stone soup that is the St. Anthony’s community. And one industrious volunteer day.

Gymboree employees are a lot of the reason we could give a gift bag to every person who came to St. Anthony Dining Room on Christmas Day. They donated the bags, colored hats, and chocolate bars, in addition to labels they had printed with “Happy Holidays.” They collected hundreds of travel size shampoos, bath gels, and lotions. Then they came in person to label and fill the bags with the ingredients they had brought, plus socks St. Anthony’s had been collecting for weeks.

The Gymboree values statement promotes making a difference, being creative, passionate, and authentic, and acting like a family.  “We care about one another,” they say. “We have a sincere respect for one another and we foster trust and camaraderie.  We like to have a good time and celebrate success.”

Twenty-two-hundred bags. Twenty-two-hundred very low-income people whose day was brightened by a special meal at St. Anthony’s and a present. Yes it was a useful present; practical. It was also colorful, warm, and unexpected. Like the sticker that said “Happy Holidays” and the chocolate bar in among the socks and bath gels.  It was a success to celebrate.

We tell groups who help us with Christmas projects that Christmas is the hardest day of the year for our guests. On other days, you’ll see a cheerfulness and sense of community you might not expect. But on Christmas, you just hope that whatever we can do sinks in by the day after and cheers people up.

This Christmas, it seemed to me our guests on the whole were in better spirits than I’d seen since I started here. More people wished me a merry Christmas or responded to my own “Merry Christmas” with a big smile; more people thanked me for one thing or another than I remember from previous years. Gymboree reminded us that that one day of kindness and thoughtfulness can make a difference; one gift on one day of the year. And don’t forget the chocolate.

We need 2200 travel size shampoos, bath gels, and lotions to make a gift bag for everyone who comes to the Dining Room on Christmas day. One of each will go into a bright gift bag with a pair of socks and a warm winter hat.

Our friends at Gymboree are donating the hats, bags, gift stickers, and their time to assemble the bags. Very soon. We’ve collected a lot of items, but there’s more to go.

If you’ve got unopened travel size toiletries, bring them to 150 Golden Gate and mention Gift Bags. You’ll brighten someone’s holiday.