Dorothy's Place

For folks who think this photo is embarrassing, think about needing these supplies and not having the money to buy them.

A few weeks ago, after noticing an increase in homeless people on the streets, I went to Twitter.com and tweeted:

Wants to help the homeless in Monterey County. #homeless
8:48 AM Mar 29th from web

I had a reply to my tweet within the hour from a local person.

I volunteer at dorothy's place in salinas... come join me! they need meat :/ lots of nonperishable donations but seldom meat.
9:30 AM Mar 29th from web in reply to wendysurf

I tweeted back:

I wanted to put something in my blog on how people can get out and help. This is a start. Do you think most food kitchens need meat?

And the response tweet:

Probably so. Also eggs and milk. And of course money! Need toiletries and maxi pads.. Basic things, shampoo, deo. Etc www.dorothysplace.org
12:54 PM Mar 31st

Then I sent an email to Dorothy's Place, a soup kitchen/day shelter & more, to confirm the tweet, primarily for blogging purposes.

Here's the answer I got back from Dorothy's Place:

You are right, on all counts! We receive food from lots of sources – personal donations and occasionally produce companies – mostly in relatively small quantities, since we don’t have much storage capacity. We also shop at the Food Bank for things that aren’t donated. Bruno’s in Carmel, Star Market, Nob Hill and Food Maxx in Salinas are all regular donors, in fact, Food Maxx has been giving us bread everyday for probably 10 years at least.

We do, however, frequently run short of meat, eggs and milk – those aren’t often donated, and when milk is donated, it’s usually at or over the expiration date so it doesn’t last long. So meat, eggs and milk are right on!

Our day shelter has showers and restrooms, so toiletries are always needed. The sample size or hotel size soaps & shampoos are perfect. We also see a lot of women because of our emergency shelter and they are always in need of feminine hygiene products. People don’t realize how important the feminine hygiene products are.

And yes, money is great and always needed – there’s always more need here than money, but especially this year. The numbers of people we serve have been increasing since last fall, and after the holiday season, the money is only trickling in.

Instead of sending a big check, folks should think of sending a smaller check but interesting their friends in doing the same. If we all pitched in a little, the sum of all the ‘littles’ would get us through.

Now for the last part of the blog: Mail check. While I do plan on getting my kids involved with volunteer opportunities in the future, I'm going to start by sending a check today. Who knows maybe I'll inspire a trend.

Financial donations can be made online or via mail. Click here for more information.