Abode Challenge

Louis and I were invited to attend an annual fundraising breakfast for Abode Services this morning. Abode is a really wonderful Fremont-based non-profit dedicated to ending homelessness within Alameda County. They offer 11 housing programs that include emergency shelters, rental subsidies, transitional housing, and permanent housing. They also do job counseling, life skills training, money management, parenting classes, mental health screenings, and substance abuse counseling. My favorite is the mobile health care clinic which helps take care of 1000 people a year.

Abode is really well-organized, with 89% of the money they raise going straight to the programs. They have even won awards for being a super duper non-profit. It is one of the most popular organizations to donate to in the county.

We were invited by friends of ours who honestly have no idea that we, too, are quite literally a couple paychecks away from the edge. There were tons of people at the breakfast this morning from Fremont's "society," meaning Louis' co-workers and political colleagues who just assume he's just as wealthy as they are. The way the fundraiser worked was that we were all served a free meal, during which we saw a slideshow about real family experiences being homeless and finding help through Abode. There were a couple families who shared their individual success stories with us, and it was all very moving, mostly because it's obvious how much work Abode is actually doing to help people on a true practical level.

At the end of the breakfast, everyone was given a pledge form to fill out, and most people wrote out large (I mean, large) checks right then and there. Louis and I looked at each other and gulped. Somewhat sheepishly, we looked over the form and checked the box to donate items off of Abode's wish list instead of a financial contribution.

After the breakfast, we talked about it some more, and agreed that even though we are totally struggling ourselves, we still have it really good. My dear husband has been talking lately about what he plans to give up for Lent, and so we think we came up with an idea. His Lent sacrifice and my new project is to try to come up with as many Abode wish list items as we can and then make one huge in-kind donation to the non-profit. This accomplishes a few goals, one of which is to actually help the organization that is doing so much in our community, and another is to use our time and creativity to make up for the fact that we don't have big bucks to shell out right now.

The Abode wish list looks like this:

Food (excluding perishable items) -
Industrial size spaghetti sauce
Industrial size ravioli and soup
Jam
Jelly
Peanut butter
Oatmeal (individual packets)
Cold cereal
Graham crackers
Saltine crackers
Multi-pack chips
Fruit cups
Juice boxes
Hot sauce
Mayo
Ketchup
Mustard
Salad dressing
Hot cocoa mix
Instant ice tea
Powdered juice
Hot tea
Coffee
Coffee creamer
Individually packaged sugar
Bottled water
Raisins

Kids Stuff -
Cupcake baking cups
Sprinkles
Colored icing
Cake mix
Frosting
Birthday candles
Party favors
Paper products (cups, plates, napkins)
Holiday-specific decorations
Passes and tickets to local attractions like the zoo, movies, YMCA or county fair

Arts and crafts items -
Glitter
Stickers
Colored pipe cleaners
Google eyes
Colored tissue paper
Scotch tape
Masking tape
Bubbles
Bubble wands
Coloring books

Infant/toddler toys -
Big lego blocks
Leap Frog toys
Bristle blocks
Soft blocks
Shape puzzles
Animal puzzles
Stacking/nesting toys
Mirror toys
Pull-along toys
Wagons
Plastic food
Circle time rugs or mats
Jack in the box
Hands on mat

Infant supplies -
Safety gates
Safety plugs
Diapers
Wipes
Powder
Lotion
Formula
New infant clothing
Strollers
Car seats
Pacifiers
Sippy cups
Potty chairs
Diaper rash cream

General -
Razors
Shaving cream
Deodorant
Toilet paper
Feminine pads
White socks
Sweat pants
Boxer underwear
Alarm clocks
Night lights and bulbs
Flashlights and batteries
Umbrellas (new)
Combination master locks
Blankets (new)
Pillows (new)
Washcloths
Towels
Sheets (twin and queen)
Mattress cover (twin and queen)
Paper hot cups
Plastic or paper drinking cups
Plastic or paper dinner plates
Plastic bowls
45-gallon trash bags
Ziplock bags
Clear storage containers with lid (16 gallon or larger)
Bicycles with helmets
Postage stamps
Bus and BART passes
White copy paper
Legal size envelopes

Household -
Dishes (sets)
Dish drains
Drinking glasses
Coffee mugs
Pots and pans
Plastic storage containers
Silverware
Silverware dividers
Dish towels (new)
Pot holders (new)
Kitchen trash cans (new)
Brooms (new)
Mops (new)
Microwave
Toaster

Gift cards for anything

Phew! So what I thought was interesting was that we already have a lot of this stuff, especially the infant items. I'll be scouring the neighborhood garage sales this month, and taking advantage of the free listings on Berkeley Parents Network. If anyone is interested in helping us reach our goal of getting as many wish list items as possible, please let me know! As this is a Lent project, we'll be collecting items up until Easter, and making one big donation soon after.

Thank you!