What a weekend! We passed out 2,600 survival kits all around Los Angeles and impacted the lives of that many individuals – 2,600 human beings who do not have a home. Each kit contained roughly 70 items critical for managing a life on the streets: clothing, food, personal care items, a bag and a blanket.
2,600 kits created by over one thousand volunteers who all came together throughout this season, in large and small ways, to make it happen. From students and universities to religious institutions, corporate sponsors, families and friends, first time volunteers, veteran volunteers and TGS committee members, we just stepped into the world of those who are usually overlooked and invisible. We took the time to say ‘hello’ and to show them that they are important too. What a great holiday message and a beautiful demonstration of peace in action.
The Kits – What We Gave
2010 TGS Survival Kit
2010 TGS Kit - The Food
2010 TGS Kit - The Clothes
2010 TGS - The Personal Care Items
2010 TGS Kit and Blanket x 2,600
What impact did we make?
Let’s do the math: 2,600 kits x 70 items each = 182,000 experiences of people now having something which they didn’t have yesterday. 2,600 people will have a clean pair of socks when they didn’t yesterday; 2,600 people will have a new poncho which they didn’t have the last time it rained; 2,600 people will have a new towel and a bar of soap; 2,600 people won’t have to worry about where they are going to get their next meal; 2,600 people will have a blanket that they didn’t have yesterday….
But to really comprehend what we have accomplished let’s break it down even further: A new bottle of shampoo, a jar of peanut butter, a new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, reusable containers, a box of bandages, a pair of nail clippers, a bottle of lotion – these things will not be used up after a single use. How many times can a person wash their hair with a bottle of shampoo? How many times can someone eat out of a reusable container? How long will nail clippers be useful, and for how many uses? How many sandwiches does it take to empty a jar of peanut butter? You get the idea. 182,000 experiences is an understatement. If you can guess how many uses a single person will get from everything in one of the kits we gave them, just multiply by 2,600, then you have guessed our impact. Just let me know if you’ve got a figure. It’s gonna be huge!
Thank you for coming together with us to make a difference. Please tell your friends about us, and we look forward to working with everybody next year.
Happy Holidays.
- The Giving Spirit Team
www.thegivingspirit.org
www.facebook.com/TheGivingSpirit
Thank you for helping us make a difference in the lives of our homeless neighbors.
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