Last year we blogged about the Supermarket Sweep, a fun holiday tradition spearheaded by Beau and Evan Burbidge that generates considerable donations to St. Anthony’s. Participants in the annual Supermarket Sweep split into teams for some competitive grocery shopping, with the goal of purchasing items that will amount to a specific, randomly assigned total price when rung up, somewhere in the ballpark of $100.  The competition rewards savvy shoppers with mathematical minds, as calculators and smart phones are strictly prohibited.

This year’s Sweep had an amazing turnout and resulted in an exceptional donation of food goods as well as hygiene items for St. Anthony’s programs. The total donation filled up five totes (really, really big cardboard boxes) and was divvied up among St. Anthony’s Dining Room, the Father Alfred Center, the Social Work Center food pantry and Guest Services. “Everybody got a little bit of something” from the donation, said Dining Room Back of House Assistant Manager Dorothy Price, who coordinated the receiving and distribution of the donation. “It was gratifying to see that people had taken it upon themselves to do something of that magnitude for people they don’t know.”

Thanks 2012 Supermarket Sweepers from all of us at St. Anthony’s!

In photo: Participants get ready for the event.

As we see year after year at St. Anthony’s, the abundance of gifts from people in the Bay Area is truly awe inspiring. If you’re a return donor to curbside, you’ll notice many changes this year as we are operating out of our temporary Dining Room at 150 Golden Gate Avenue. In addition to the new location for drop-off donations, we are asking for a specific list of essential items for our guests.

Please bring donations of food, hygiene items, new socks, and hand-knit scarves and hats specifically during the Curbside Donation Drives. Please help us to fill this critical need by focusing on donations of these items for 2012. All other donations are accepted throughout the year, Monday-Friday from 8am-4:15pm at our Free Clothing Program at 8th and Mission.

2012 Curbside Dates:
Saturday, November 17th – Thursday, November 22nd
Weekends: 9am-3pm; Weekdays: 8am-5pm

Saturday, December 22nd – Monday, December 24th
All days: 9am-3pm

Stay tuned as we announce details on activities, entertainment, and spreading holiday cheer to our guests through musical performances, gift bag giveaways and tree decorating. And thank you to the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and Nothing but Treble for joining St. Anthony’s on December 22nd and 23rd to bring holiday music to our guests.

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!

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

• Weekdays from 8-6
• Weekends from 9-3

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!

Among the most cherished items that will be collected are hand-knit scarves which will be given out to Dining Room guests on Christmas Day. To date, over 3,000 scarves have been received from 20 states. The curbside donation drive opens on Saturday, December 18th at 9am, where clean, cared-for warm clothing, canned or dried bulk foods, and monetary donations can be dropped off to St. Anthony’s “donation valets”. As more and more people turn to the 60-year old non-profit for basic necessities as a result of the current economic crisis, the support from everyday citizens is needed, welcomed, and appreciated. (more…)

If you were at Renegade Craft Fair this weekend, you surely got some of your coolest Christmas shopping taken care of. And you may have seen or contributed to Renegade attendee’s scarf collection for St. Anthony’s- beautiful greens and browns, soft whites and warm reds- lovingly knitted and packaged and ready to be distributed on Christmas to guests at St. Anthony’s. Thank you Renegade! Thank you Knitters!

Students from Mercy High School, an all-girls college-preparatory school in San Francisco, just brought a van full of donations from their most recent clothing drive.

The clothing they collected will go to help poor and homeless families and individuals at St. Anthony’s Free Clothing Program.

Thanks, ladies! You are awesome!

“Knit 2500 scarves.  By hand. By Christmas.”

That’s the idea behind St. Anthony Foundation’s Holiday Scarf drive planned for this year’s Christmas Celebration. We want to give every guest who comes to us for a meal on December 25th to leave with a brand new, hand knitted scarf to keep them warm for the following winter months.

We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next six months to insure that all our guests get these thoughtful gifts by Christmas. We’re still undecided on what to call this outreach of crafty support, that’s why we’re reaching out to you.

Have an idea of what to name it? Leave your naming idea in the comment’s field below by Monday, May 31. We’ll take the best name’s a present them on the blog to be voted on soon!

Download: PDF Flier with more information. Please feel free to email it to your friends and family and encourage them to participate as well!

Update: The votes are in! This project will be known as “Scarving Artists”. Thanks for the suggestion, Bill S.!

We heard through Filipinas Magazine that YFPA hosted a sock drive benefiting St. Anthony Foundation of San Francisco. Thank you!

The Hoodie People had this to say about their 2nd annual Hoodie Drive, and the hoodies they donated to St. Anthony’s (thank you!):

The 2nd Annual Hoodie Drive was another small victory for www.hoodipeople.com. We surpassed last year and showed up at St. Anthony’s with 100 warm pieces of clothing including items from our own closets. It was actually raining while unloading the hoodies and there were lots of homeless people, including women and small children, squeezing under store over hangings for shelter. Seeing families in the cold is no joke and showed us first hand how bad homelessness gets. When we got inside the worker behind the glass said, “Oh, wow. Those will be gone quick.” Experiences like these certainly make us want to do more and re-confirm why we do this each year. Our bin had hoodies, sweaters, jackets, and rain coats donated at hoodiepeople.com’s One Year Anniversary Party. We had donations from Triumph 4th Street in San Rafael, CA again this year too.