CARE OF POOR PEOPLE SPRING BREAK EVENT
Held on Thanksgiving Weekend in 2008
DATES and HOURS:
THURSDAY warehouse set up from 10:30 till 1:30
FRIDAY Sorting donations from 8-4
SATURDAY Event day 8 to 4
LOCATION:
Downtown at 1808 Oak Street Kansas City, MO.
ATTIRE:
Dress comfortably! The warehouse is cool if it is cool outside and can be hot if it is hot outside. Just keep this in mind and dress according to the weather. You will want to wear clothing that you don’t mind getting a bit dirty and wear gloves as well. I recommend dressing in layers if it is cool so you can remove some when you get warm.
AGES:
All ages are welcome for volunteering for the event so feel free to bring some people along with you as well! Adults and teenagers can help us do many needed things and children will have a good experience by being there as well. We often have quite a few children helping out. We often have the children that are volunteering at the event help us sort though things on Friday for set up and then hand out toys to the homeless children on Saturday.
DONATIONS:
We appreciate all donations of good Spring /Summer time necessities. We need new items as well as gently used items to hand out.
Our greatest needs at this time would be toys, light blankets, Socks, NEW underclothing for men women and children , shoes and lightly worn clothing. If you know anyone who would like to put out a bin or do a drive for us, these items would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Dawn for more details on how to coordinate a drive.
COVERED DISH REQUEST:
For those who like to cook we invite you to bring down a covered dish of ANYTHING you choose to the event! We need food of all types as we feed A LOT of people. We cook main courses items and meats there and have Pizza’s delivered to the event but we tend to always be lacking in the casserole department and side dishes. If you or you family members like to cook please bring some food down! You can bring down hot or cold items on Saturday from 8:00 am till Noon. We can reheat food at the event if we need to but can not refrigerate anything.
VOLUNTEERING TO HELP: All volunteers should report to volunteer sign in area when they get there and check in with the ladies running the computers.
THURSDAY 10:30 am to 1:30 pm We need people to help us set up the tables and racks that will hold all the donated goods. There are 125 8 ft tables to move and set up. Please contact Dawn at 816-804-8990 if you can help with this. It will take about 3 hours.
FRIDAY , 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM . You can show up to volunteer whatever hours work for you.
Our greatest need for the general event is to have people there on Friday (the day before the event) to help sort donations. There are so many donations to go through and get set out that we never get through them all before Saturday but having most of it done on Friday makes Saturday morning easier. We will be sorting through donations and separating and organizing the item pick up areas on Friday. There are A LOT of donations to go through, so we appreciate any help we can get that day. We order in Pizza around lunch time and bottled waters as well so that everyone can get a bite to eat.
SATURDAY ,8:00 AM to 4:00 PM - 8am to 11:30 am is sorting and set up time . 12-4 is Event time.
All volunteers need to arrive no later than 10 AM!
Our greatest need is for morning time. On Saturday we meet back at the warehouse at 8:00 am. We have till 11:30 to do more sorting and setting out of donated items. As I said we never get through them all so there is plenty left to do on Saturday morning. There is also a group of people that handle cooking and setting up a food line on Saturday morning.
We cook a HUGE meal for this event and have a dessert table set up as well. So whether you want to help with foods or donations, if you get there in the morning there is plenty of work to be done that you can help with!
WHAT TO EXPECT when the event starts:
All the last minute details are tended to between 8 and noon on Saturday. All the cooking is done during the morning time as well and the tables are lined with food!
At Noon, the doors are opened and the people are allowed in. There will be hundreds coming through the doors very quickly. There is generally a bit of madness for the next hour or so as they are trying to quickly get to the best items offered then it settles down into them looking around for things they want and enjoying a good meal and socializing.
The event has never had any problems whatsoever, but we do have security police officers there on Saturday during the time the doors are open to make sure the calm is kept. You will see homeless men, women and children there on Saturday as well as some people that are living at poverty levels and simply need the extra help. Its been a hard year with the housing problems and so many layoffs in our corporate community. We want to help all that we can.
During the open session, We try to help our guest find what they are looking for and act as “personal shoppers” or hold their babies while they look at things, or guide them to areas for items they need, or simply just reorganize the items that we have laid out to keep things somewhat easy to find. No matter what you choose to do, it’s making a difference in the lives of others and you should feel good about that.