Home Van Letter - 10/4/08

CHRISTMAS STOCKING FOR OUR HOMELESS FRIENDS

With this newsletter, I am sending forth our annual call for Christmas stockings for
our sisters and brothers who live in the woods and on the streets. This year Rod and Julia
Rodriguez will be receiving the Christmas stockings, which we will deliver on Tuesday,
December 23. Rod and Julia live at 934 SE 7th Avenue, in the only geodesic dome house
on the block. They will be open to receive stockings every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If those hours don't work for you, call them at 338-3566 to
arrange a dropoff time.

You NW Gainesville folks can also drop off Christmas stockings at the United Way Information and Referral Office at 6031 NW 1st Place (near the Oaks Mall), with Jan Zak.

HERE IS HOW YOU DO IT:

Buy a pair of white tube socks. Roll up one sock and put it in the toe of the other sock. Fill
the sock with Christmas presents and tie off the top. Ideally, each stocking will have a combination of practical presents and fun presents. Please don't put money, even a small
amount, in the stockings. Christmas comes at the end of the month when all the disability check money is long gone, so it is very painful when some people get money and others don't.

FUN PRESENTS: playing cards, little travel games (dominoes, checkers, chess, Yahtzee etc.), little stuffed animals, scented candles, paperback books, religious items like prayer cards and small crosses....

USEFUL PRESENTS: small personal hygiene products, reading glasses, phone cards, pens and pencils, stamps, envelopes, notebooks....

TREAT FOOD: candy bars, Vienna sausages, tunafish, any canned meat, small bottles of juice...

Some stocking stuffers may be geared more towards women, such as little pink teddy bears and cosmetics. Labeling a stocking "Man" or "Woman" doesn't work very well, though. The labels tend to fall off. Also, we are giving these stockings away after dark in the downtown plaza so labels are hard to see. People trade around, and often the guys who get such items as a lipstick or a pink bear are thrilled to have a present to give their significant others. So just let the Tao take over.

This is the fourth year we will be handing out Christmas stockings to our homeless friends. It means so much to them! Also, nothing gives Christmas a shine more than doing something beautiful for someone else. This is a wonderful project for families, Sunday school classes, scout troops, offices, dorms, volley ball teams.... Take it away!!!!

AS USUAL

I am on the hunt for warm winter clothing in sizes XL, 2X and 3X. Such clothing rarely shows up at thrift stores (us Proud Fat Americans tend to wear our clothes until they fall off our backs in shreds), so we really, really need some flannel shirts, sweaters, sweat suits, and jackets in
big sizes. Wool socks in a variety of sizes are also needed.

BLANKETS....

We are now accepting blankets, comforters and sleeping bags. Call 372-4825 to arrange for
dropoff. This need will be ongoing through the winter months, since these items get lost, weather-damaged and stolen. We are now seeing roughly three times as many homeless people as we were seeing last June, so it's going to take a lot to get them through the winter.
So far as I know, St. Francis House and the Salvation Army are the only winter shelter sites,
and they do not have the capacity to take in more than a small fraction of the homeless people
living on our streets and in the woods. People will be sleeping outdoors when the temperatures are in the thirties and twenties, a lot of people.

Thank you for helping!

love, arupa
_______________________________________________________________________________
The Home Van needs creamy peanut butter, jelly, bottled water, Vienna sausages, candles, white tube socks, tents, blankets, comforters and sleeping bags. Call 372-4825 to arrange for dropoff. Financial donations to the Home Van should be made out to St. Vincent De Paul Society, earmarked for the Home Van, and mailed to 307 SE 6th Street, Gainesville, FL 32601.
All donations are tax deductible.