Just a quick post to let you know about an amazing project I took part in last year, and will be participating in again this year:
Services for the Underserved, a NYC-based non-profit that helps individuals and families that face a variety of issues such as mental illness, developmental or physical disability, homelessness, AIDS, unemployment or poverty, hosts an annual "Holiday Stocking Drive", where they assign volunteers to an individual/ individuals (you can do more than one stocking if you'd like) and provide volunteers with some basic info about the client you'll be making a stocking for. Volunteers then create a stocking to be mailed to their client or dropped off at the SUS office in Chelsea. The stocking can be filled with small gifts, toiletries, gift-certificates, stationary, toy... It's not about any particular religious holiday and it's not about spending lots of money- it's simply a gesture of compassion to someone who needs it. The usual range of stocking value is $25-$50, but you give what you can. I did a lot of bargain shopping for my stocking last year, and including the stocking itself, spent just under $20.
If you'd like to get involved, simply e-mail Sarah Petrey at volunteer@susinc.org, and include your name, address, phone number and number of stockings you'd like to create. Stockings must be mailed out or dropped off by December 4th.
