TGS has a new Facebook Page

We have created a new Facebook page which will be our main point of communication for our Facebook activities.

Here’s the link, which can be shared with anyone for easy access to our page:

http://www.facebook.com/TheGivingSpirit

Please log in and “like” us if you have not already done so, and please spread the word and invite your friends. If you are part of our previous Facebook group please migrate over to this new location so you can stay up to date with all of our latest news and announcements. This new page will allow us better visibility and better interaction with all of our supporters and volunteers. We look forward to seeing you over there.

P.S. Don’t forget about The Giving Spirit’s Facebook Cause which is how we are raising funds via Facebook. Tell your friends, and remember, TGS Week this December 5-12 is coming fast and the more funds we are able to raise the more people we are able to help. Thank you!

On the Pulse: News from The Giving Spirit

Save the Date for Our 11th Winter Outreach: Dec. 5-12

The Giving Spirit’s big winter outreach week is set for December 5-12. Please join our volunteers as we build 2,500 kits filled with items critical for survival and distribute them directly to our homeless neighbors across Greater Los Angeles. This is a great pre-holiday activity that touches the lives of our volunteers as deeply as it does the community we serve. And as we source our kit items, we need your donations as well. Please give what you can – every dollar helps. Contact us at info@thegivingspirit.org or visit www.thegivingspirit.org to volunteer and/or donate. Online registration is required and will be available soon. See you in December!

June’s Reach-Out Saturday a Great Success

More than 250 dedicated volunteers participated in The Giving Spirit’s Reach-Out Saturday this June 5. Thanks to their tremendous efforts, we were able to distribute 1,000 survival kits at shelters across the city and on the street. Reach-Out Saturday puts a special focus on serving mothers, infants and teens – whose numbers among the homeless are alarmingly on the rise. For more on the impact of this event, and the human connections it inspired between our volunteers and the homeless people they reached on a sunny Saturday in June, check out this great article in the Los Angeles Times.

Fast Fact

Here’s a sobering stat: Between 2007 and 2009, the number of families in homeless shelters has risen sharply from 131,000 to 170,000. This is according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as reported in The New York Times.

Don’t Miss This Flick: “Lost Angels” Opens October 2

We caught the world premiere of Lost Angels, Thomas Napper’s remarkable documentary about L.A.’s skid row, at the Los Angeles Film Festival this June. While there, we had the honor to meet several of the “cast” of this unflinching film, including one woman, “Detroit,” who told us that a Giving Spirit survival kit was one of the catalysts that ultimately helped her get off the streets. Hers is just one of the unforgettable stories in Lost Angels, which opens at Laemmle’s Monica 4-Plex on October 2.

Stay in Touch

If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to “ like” The Giving Spirit on Facebook and join the cause, a new Facebook tool that allows you to participate in and track fundraising efforts. Subscribe to our blog to stay abreast of Giving Spirit news and societal trends impacting the homeless community. And finally, we hope our new On the Pulse e-newsletter is a welcome addition to your in-box.  We promise to keep these updates brief and informative.

Support TGS through our Facebook “Cause”

The Giving Spirit now has a cause on Facebook. Go to the following link when you are signed in to Facebook:

http://www.causes.com/causes/524333?m=e785e0a9

All who are interested in supporting our efforts to raise funds on Facebook should go to the above link and consider inviting all of their friends to our cause and also encourage them to invite their friends. A causes tab can also be added to your Facebook homepage so that others can easily see that you are supporting our cause.

By networking with our friends and with friends of friends we will begin to build online financial support. This cause does not expire and can be promoted at all times. Anyone who would like to start their own cause to support TGS is welcome to do so, there is no problem having more than one Facebook campaign to raise funds!

Thank you all for your support, tell your friends we are on Facebook!

Join our Facebook group, The Giving Spirit Los Angeles:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=100644255477