About Us
The drive historically has been focused on collecting used clothes from people cleaning out their closets and redirecting those clothes to shelters and people on the streets in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County. The drive has been successful in this way for 25 years...
Then, several years ago, we tested a change to the program. We bought some backpacks and filled them with thermals (tops and bottoms), sweats (tops and bottoms), winter socks, hat, and gloves (everything new). We took those backpacks and brought them to the streets instead of trying to match the used clothes with the guys on the street. It was great! It got the very basic necessities into the hands of the guys that needed them, and also gave them a way to carry it around. For our drive, it was logistically easy to manage. The second year we solicited churches, schools, synagogues, and businesses to donate completed backpacks. It worked really well, but in recent years, we made another change. Our organization went out and bought hundreds of backpacks, and provided the groups the backpacks to fill. It allowed us to have a more reasonable target, and also it was easier for the organizations to fill them, since the backpack was always the hard item to get. We also lowered the cost of each backpack to about $25 each. We have now negotiated with clothing suppliers and can buy bulk items to fill the backpacks at extremely reduced prices. In the ideal world, we would be able to give a backpack, a pair of warm boots and a sleeping bag to the guys on the street.
So, where are we now? I estimate that we would need nearly 2500 backpacks to service Baltimore and DC, which is our stated goal for this year. At $25 a piece, that's a cost of $62,500 total, but I believe schools and churches that are already on board will account for 1/3 of these. The goal over the next few months is to enlist more groups collecting the other 2/3...We hope to also collect cash donations to buy backpacks and bulk goods, as well as the filler for the backpacks.
How can you help? We have a team of people that have helped organizations collect and fill backpacks. If your organization wants to participate, in any capacity, large or small, we can use your help. We will assign a contact person to you who will help with the little details, and then support you to the end of the drive. You can also help by making cash donations. We are a 501C-3 tax exempt charity, and you can claim this donation on your taxes. A $100 donation pays for 4 completed backpacks!
