Teens for Jeans

Teens, Jeans Team up to Help the Homeless
knoxnews.com 1/17/2008

Aeropostale wants to "Do Something" for homeless teens.

The youth-oriented clothing chain will sponsor the "Teens for Jeans" campaign with the not-for-profit organization Do Something, which encourages youth to become more involved in volunteer community work, Jan. 22-Feb. 10. The goal is to raise awareness of the rising number of homeless teens in the United States. According to statistics, a third of the nation's homeless are children under age 18.

I just wanted to male a note of Aeropostale's new campaign. It sounds like individuals who donate a pair of old jeans get 20% off a pair of new ones and that the jeans will be given to local homeless youth.

Kids Can Help

Winslow Students Working to Help Homeless
Morning Sentential, 10/23/2007

Last year Kendra Littlefield's community-based learning students at Winslow High School were one of 10 national winners of a USA Weekend magazine Make a Difference Day award.

This week they are up to another good deed.

"Raising the Roof Over the Homeless" is the theme for the chem-free dance students have been organizing for the last two months, Winslow High senior Melanie Gagnon said.

St Brenden School Students Prepare Packages for the Homeless
The Providence Journal 10/23/2007

Middle school students from the St. Brendan School, a pre-kindergarten to grade eight private school in Riverside, could say that after preparing 150 sandwiches and other snacks for the state’s homeless Friday afternoon. The bag lunch was paired with personal hygiene items and socks — which were collected by the school’s lower grade students — to make it an all-school project.

Principal Joseph Renzulli said the school got the idea from a St. Brendan parishioner, Anne Pari, of East Providence. She delivers food to the homeless every Friday and Renzulli agreed the school would take over her duties one Friday.

They titled the project “Bread Lines.”

Highschool Helps Homeless
Lakeshore Advance, 10/24/2007

South Huron District High School student, Taryn Anstett handed Trevor Johnson of the Youth Action Centre (YAC) in London $365 for the centre during a presentation on homeless youth at the high school last week.
The students were told to act as lobby groups for a law project and made their primary focus of the campaign, awareness of homelessness. They went above and beyond and started by collecting pocket change from students and teachers over two days, raising the money for homeless youth. “The response was incredible,” says Anstett.

Nine Year Old to Walk to Tally For Homeless
Tampa Bay's 10, 10/22/2007

In the past three years, Zach Bonner has collected supplies for Hurricane Charley victims, raised money for the “Teaching Tools Hillsborough Schools” program, organized a holiday party for kids displaced by Katrina and given away more than 750 backpacks for needy kids.

For his efforts, President Bush last year presented Zach with a volunteer service award. But the 9-year old is not slowing down, he’s just moving on to his next big project.

There is another article that I have saved and want to write about but the sudden flurry of youth and schools working to help people experiencing homelessness deserves some attention. Service learning is a valuable tool for all kinds of social issues and is a fantastic way to bring classroom subjects to real life. I wish that I had an opportunity to participate in projects like these when I was in school but alas, in the 90s it was all about HIV and DARE, subjects that would be a little more risque to develop service learning projects around.

Edit: A couple more...
Virginia Run Students walk for Homelessness
Students Collect Pennies for the Homeless

Hunters Helping the Hungry

Hunters Helping the Hungry

Hunters Helping the Hungry is a program that enables hunters to donate venison, providing high quality protein to needy individuals throughout New Jersey. In its fifth year, will continue to operate with limited funding. Therefore hunters wishing to donate deer must also donate a minimum of $25 towards the $65 fee charged by participating butchers. Hunters Helping the Hungry is now a 501-C3 Corporation, and all donations are tax deductible.

If a 4-year-old can do it so can you

4-year-old's lemonade stand helps Atlanta's homeless
Atlanta Journal- Constitution 8/17/07

While politicians and activists argue over the solution to homelessness, a 4-year-old Vinings girl has decided to take matters into her own hands.

Tori Dutkiewicz has raised at least $400 for the Atlanta Union Mission by selling cupcakes and drinks at her lemonade stand. Her mother said her daughter decided to raise money for the homeless after she saw a homeless man begging for money.

I only wish that I had been that socially conscious at 4. Or even at 14:

Teen Spends Birthday Helping the Homeless
Calgary Sun 8/13/07

The ice cream was abundant at Hayley Gorman's 14th birthday yesterday as she celebrated with about 1,200 people she didn't even know.

The teen spent her special evening serving dinner to Calgary's homeless at the Calgary Drop-In Centre rather than partying with friends.

But its never too late:

Woman helps feed the homeless with her knitting needles
Federal Way Mirror 8/14/07

Hatley, who once benefited from the free dinners and clothing offered through local churches, feels that this is her way of giving back to better the lives of the homeless.

Homeless people get cold, Hatley said, and her homemade afghans are the perfect remedy.

Each afghan typically takes about 12 spools of yarn and three months to complete. She relies completely on donations to create the large blankets, which could cover a queen-size bed.

We all can give back in ways other than just donating our own money. Granted we don't all have time for a lemonade stand, money to make a significant financial contribution, or the skills to knit an afghan but most of us have time to devote a couple hours a month to volunteering at a shelter or a soup kitchen. Most of us have enough money to buy a package of socks that we can keep in our car or bag and can hand out to someone in need. And all of us have the talent to stop and say "I'm sorry, I can't help you today" instead of walking by and not looking someone in the eye (I admit that I'm guilty of this too).

Here are just a couple cheap (even free) and simple suggestions:

• Buy a package of socks, cereal bars, or bottled water to hand out
• Offer your leftovers or, if you're going into a fast food joint or convenience store, ask them if you can get them a drink or a burger
• Spend a holiday afternoon, or any day, at a shelter, soup kitchen, or food pantry
• Just smile and engage in a conversation
• Donate your old clothes to a shelter and your household items to a housing program or thrift store. Shelters are often in need of clothing for residents who are in disarray (I encountered this problem during my volunteer shift just last week). As for household goods, the shelter where I got my first taste of homeless services, The Salem Mission, will actually come and pick up unwanted furniture in good condition and also accepts donations of kitchen items for its thrift store and residents who are transitioning into housing. Look around for a similar program in your area.

You CAN help, you just have to take initiative, get out there, and do it!