We hope you’ll join us for our fall fundraiser, Home Sweet Home Happy Hour, on October 9th. What are we fundraising for? We expect to furnish over 100 homes in the last three months of the year, and we’re raising money to support that work.
Furnishing 100+ homes for about 300 people requires many mattresses, boxsprings, and bed frames; couches, loveseats, tables, chairs, lamps, pillows, and more. All the essential – and special – items that turn an empty space into a comfortable and joyful home. Nearly all of those items will come as in-kind donations from community members who no longer need them (more information to come on how to help fill our warehouse).
So, again, what are we fundraising for? To furnish over 100 homes, our Operations Managers will do 100 home visits, and they’ll spend 200 hours making sure each household has every item they need and requested. Staff and volunteers will spend 100 hours selecting and packing up the household goods. Funds raised will also support 150 hours of delivery-truck driving.
We can’t make those deliveries without the work of our warehouse and delivery volunteers, and they don’t have a safe and welcoming place to work without our Volunteer Coordinators. In addition to our community volunteers, our VCs will work with 50 volunteer groups in the last three months of the year.
And, while we furnish homes with donated, gently-used items, those items don’t enter our warehouse without the communication, logistics coordination, and efforts of our Intake Coordinator and Operations Associates, as well as the entire staff. In the last three months of the year, we’ll do 150 furniture pick-ups, and accept 270 donation drop-offs at our warehouse.
As one of our volunteers said, “The incredible amount of thoughtful organization that was done ahead of time [made] our time impactful. From your initial look and measurements of the house, to selecting just the right items, to labeling each item, to creating the pick list to loading the truck in just the right order. Everything was well thought-through and so organized. Great job!”