With the end of each new year, we find ourselves increasingly grateful for the incredible community we’re surrounded and supported by. We also understand how many of the people in our community have a challenging couple of months ahead. But with so many organizations in need, it can sometimes be challenging to figure out where your efforts will help most.
This year, we’re hosting a series of collection drives from November 1st to December 31st, to benefit four of our favorite, local non-profits. We’ll be collecting financial contributions for each non-profit throughout the duration of the Giving Season, and will be accepting physical donations during the allotted drive times, as specified on the calendar below.
Downtown Emergency Services Center is a pillar of hope for the Seattle homeless community. Founded in 1979, to provide emergency shelter and survival services for individuals chronically without housing, they have since expanded to provide employment, permanent housing, health services and more. As thought leaders in the fight to end homelessness, their progressive approach has led to both local and national recognition.
Most Needed: Gently used warm, winter coats – especially men’s sizes and monetary contributions.
Food Lifeline has been revolutionizing the way Washingtonian’s think about food collection since 1979. Born by a community-focused board of directors, with a desire to end hunger entirely, Food Lifeline now provides 90,000 meals to our neighbors, every day, 365 days a year. Recognized as a member of the Feeding America Network, and with localized sustainable programs like Seattle’s Table and Grocery Rescue, they have become and irreplaceable element in PNW efforts to change how we think about feeding our cities.
Most Needed: Non-perishable goods and monetary donations.
Mary’s Place was established in 1999 in response to overwhelming evidence that mothers and children have specific needs that weren’t being met by standard emergency service and shelter formats. They provide meals, hygiene facilities, medical care, and extensive resources to for housing and employment assistance. Just one of their facilities provides shelter for 300 family members, every night. Having created ways to partner with local corporations, to occupy space slated for demolition – Mary’s place has created a way navigate displacement caused by development, that will likely become an increasingly popular model throughout Seattle, and across the northwest.
Most Needed: Women’s hygiene products and monetary donations.
Treehouse was born in 1988, the brainchild of several DSHS social workers, who recognized the equity disparity faced by children and teens in foster care. The organization began by providing foster kids with the essentials they needed to feel loved, and have since expanded to providing 7,000 youth in foster care with support, supplies, and childhood experiences, that kids need to fulfill their potential. In 2012 they took on the ambitious goal of addressing the drop-out rate for high school kids and have since reframed the way we individualized support in the foster care system looks.
Most Needed: Toys and electronics designed for teens and monerary donations.