The spread from last year’s annual Giving Gathering
I had such a great Thanksgiving filled with family, food, hikes and Gilmore Girls and I hope you did too! {Especially the Gilmore Girls. But I’m not caught up with the new ones so please don’t give anything away!} However, now that Thanksgiving is over…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
I mean, I may or may not have been listening to Christmas music since October, but that’s neither here nor there…. The time is officially now and I’m finally feeling the holiday spirit. So in that spirit, I wanted to share one of my FAVORITE holiday traditions with you:
THE GIVING GATHERING
This tradition began 3 years ago when Mark and I were up in San Francisco for the holidays. The City is so magical pre-Christmas and I died for all the decor and lights everywhere. However, amidst all this bustle and cheer we both noticed something… there were so. many. homeless people and NO ONE was acknowledging their existence. People with bags full of gifts were stepping over, or sometimes literally running into, these people. I’m not sure exactly what made it stick out as LA certainly has a high homeless population, but it sucker punched us both. So we decided to do something about it.
Sometimes when you really want to FIX something, it can quickly become overwhelming and cause you to freeze rather than taking action. Things were racing through our heads about how we could eradicate homelessness completely, give these people shelter, increase mental health care in America, give them all jobs. These are things that really help long-term…
But you know what else helps? Acknowledging that a person is a person and you care about them. Thus, the Giving Gathering was born.
Each year for the past 3 years, Mark and I celebrate the holiday season by inviting over our friends and family and asking that in lieu of gifts, they bring items to create care packages for the local homeless community. We then spend a few hours sipping, chatting and putting the packs together, and everyone gets to take a few home with them when they leave to give out as needed. The next time you see someone standing on a corner with a sign, or camped out under an overpass, you get the opportunity to engage with them, let them know that you know they exist and care about them so much you made them a care package. It is SO much fun and really reminds us of all we have to be grateful for.
So, here are my tips for how to host your very own Giving Gathering:
-
Jot down your guest list: This is number one because you need to get an idea of how many people to expect so you can estimate how many care packages you can make and plan accordingly. Get your list together and send the invite out ASAP- The Holidays book up quickly for people. This year, we are choosing to do a brunch event so people can still attend evening events they may have.
-
Make sure to request RSVP’s: again, this is crucial so you can have an idea of how may packages you can make. Check in with your guests every few weeks, and definitely one week prior to the event, and remind them to please RSVP so you can adjust your doc accordingly {Details coming up on this}
-
Pick your Package Items: This part can totally be tailored to you and what you feel is best for your area, but I can tell you the NUMBER 1 REQUESTED ITEM among the homeless population is WARM SOCKS. So I would say that is a must! Socks get the biggest and brightest reactions when we tell people what’s in the packs too. Big winner. Here are some other items we include or have included in past years, and almost all are available at the 99 cent or Dollar Stores, or bulk stores like Costco:
-
Warm socks {just a reminder!}, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, mini first-aid kits, hand sanitizer, body/baby wipes, chapstick, water bottles. non-perishable snacks, tissue packs, money, grocery gift cards, hand warmers, warm hats, gloves, blankets, scarves, feminine products and lastly, reusable bags to pack each set of items in.
-
-
Set Up a Google Doc: This is how you organize who is bringing what items.I LOVE Google Docs and specifically use Sheets for the GG. If you aren’t familiar- it’s basically Microsoft Office {Word, Excel etc} but FREE and ONLINE and the biggest bonus is IT UPDATES IN REAL TIME. Yes, my friends, that means no ridiculous email threads sending attachments that are out of date the moment you hit send. You need a Gmail or Google account to create a doc, but not to edit one if you have the link! So you can share your sheet with everyone and they don’t have to worry about signing up for anything.
I am sharing my personal template for the Giving Gathering which you can view and download HERE
This link is not editable, but you can download it, then copy and paste it into your own Google Doc for editing.
-
Plan your Spread: It seems that planning a spread at any party is a given, but the GG does take some extra consideration. I recommend finger foods that are easy to eat as people will be actively passing things and packing bags. Also, keep it pretty simple, this is about giving to others so I wouldn’t recommend Dom Perignon and Caviar.. some nice champagne is fun and I can never turn down a cheese platter, but nothing super fancy is necessary. As I mentioned, this year we are doing brunch so I’m planning a little mimosa set up, some fruit & cheese and maybe some mini quiches from TJ’s or something. Easy.
TIPS:
- Base how many of each item you ask for on your guest list, as well as how much of a variety of items to ask for. A rough estimate is 2-3 bags per person attending, which that number shrinking to just 2 as attendees rise i.e: if you’re planning to invite 5 people, you can probably make 10-15 bags and thus should ask for 10-15 of each item and keep it to only basic items. If you’re inviting 100 people you can estimate about 200 bags and ask for a wider variety of items. Note: I usually double the count for waters and snacks so each care package contains two of these items.
- At least in LA, we tend to have fewer homeless women than men, so keep the percentage request for feminine products at about 10-20% of the bags.
- If you can’t gather enough re-useable bags for all the packages you want to make, paper grocery bags or gallon ziplock bags can work as well. Also, if you or attendees have any purses you no longer use, those are great for the female bags and help differentiate which have feminine products and which do not.
- This year, we’ve decided to make care packages as well as buying Christmas dinner for families in need in Los Angeles through the One Voice Foundation , if you choose to do this people can bring money to the event or Venom you.
- If you don’t have a homeless population on the streets of your town, make the packs and bring them to a local homeless shelter.
- I always like to mention in the invite that it is not mandatory to donate, sometimes we aren’t able to give. Still invite people to come help assemble the bags!
I hope you found these tips helpful and I would LOVE to hear how you give back over the holidays! Plus, PLEASE let me know if you decide to host a Giving Gathering of your own!
Happy, Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
Xx,
C
