Take It or Leave It
I was talking to somebody at my church two weeks ago and there's a program in my church that I hadn't thought too much about before: Take It or Leave It.
My church recently revamped our website (shout out to Steve!) and this section of our website comes complete with easy access to the Take or Leave forms. You can also contact the church directly, of course. It hopefully provides an easy stream to donate certain household items and to see what is currently needed.
These kinds of programs have been done in the past in many places, though sometimes it devolves into a way to trash bad clothes. This may be a little more cutting edge as far as technology goes, but the thing that impacted me wasn't the program...
It's all about the people.
This person that I was talking to related stories of recent drop-offs that he had done. One home had three children living there and none of them had beds. In another home, there were four children and they ate their meals every day on the floor because they didn't have a table. One woman was ecstatic when they arrived with an apartment-sized washer because she had never had such a "luxury" before. Many children that they have contact with didn't have anything whatsoever to bring to school with them at the beginning of September.
I've heard many stories from many sources about the homeless problem here in London, but the needs are more far-reaching even if people do provide a home for their families. I have mentioned these stories to a few people and it can come as a shock, but the gap between the Haves and the Have Nots in our city may be quite the chasm.
The web site currently states a need for ten beds. How hard would it be for me to buy a new bunk bed set at a local auction or at Wal-Mart? It's time to see some action.
4 comments:
Yeah, furnishing apartments after people get housed is definitely a big step. Too many of our clients end-up with an absolutely empty apartment for a while before we can draw on our network to get them some stuff. Hence why you have 'housed' people accessing things like the soup kitchen, what good is their own kitchen if it's completely empty.
The concept of take it or leave it is not new, infact I've been living it for most of my life. I just returned from the semiannual church sale, treasures in tow. While I'm not a person in need, I still enjoy the fact that we can recycle material goods and pass things on to others that need them.
Another thought...while it does sound like a super idea, are the people that need things the most going to have access to such technology as a computer to be able to use the program? Or is there another way that items are exchanged?
Cheers,
Yeppers, Amanda, not a new concept. From an organizational stand point, this particular one seems to have a clear vision and the man power to back it up, which is what impressed me.
And if people don't have access to computers, they can contact the church by phone or by visiting. From what I gather, a lot of the needs come from a network of contacts. The "Leave It" offers, however, seem to utilize the web site quite a bit. In any case, they seem to have a pretty good system since their needs list is fairly extensive.
I just meant that the idea of being generous to others & reusing material goods has been around for awhile. You know, give the guy with no coat one of yours if you have two...
Cheers,
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