December Updates from Athens Area Homeless Shelter

We've had so much going on this month and we're excited to share it with you!

Thanks so much to the Collegiate Deca group, Athens Technical College's honor society,  for installing new doorknobs and curtain rods throughout the shelter! Collegiate Deca also raised money to provide each resident of AAHS with a flash drive. 

It's Christmas shopping week! Thanks to your donations of gift cards, our residents will be able to go to Target, Wal-mart, and other area stores to shop for their children's Christmas gifts! It's a huge blessing that residents have the chance to do their own Christmas shopping, and we thank your for supporting this holiday gift!

In the last week alone we've raised almost $700 for Mia's People to People leadership forum. We're half way there! As we get closer to March 22 and Mia's trip we're grateful for your consideration of helping us make this opportunity a reality for Mia. 

“I'm excited about traveling to Washington DC and experiencing some of our nation's famous monuments, learning more about our culture and our congress, and meeting so many of our nation's famous senators. I feel honored to know that so many people from my community feel that I deserve the chance to experience this rare opportunity and I am grateful to them for giving me the chance.” says Mia.

If you're interested in donating to Mia's fund, you can do so here through our paypal site, or you can go to payment.peopletopeople.com and provide Mia's delegate information: name Mia Wilhite and delegate ID# 10148001.

A huge thanks goes out to the groups who've brought Christmas trees, decorations, and holiday activities for our residents to participate in. The shelter looks like a winter wonderland and the kids are definitely in the holiday spirit! 

We've had such a successful winter coat drive! Over 500 coats and blankets have been collected and will be distributed throughout the community this holiday season! We're blessed to have such wonderful individual donors, and a huge shout out goes to Washington Wilkes Comprehensive High School, who ran a coat drive and brought us almost 200 coats!

As always, if you're interested in volunteering at the shelter or have ideas for a project or activity you'd like to do with our residents, please email volunteer@helpathenshomeless.org or call 706-354-0423. Have a great holiday season and again, thanks for all that you do!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Thanks so much to all the groups who've come to help with holiday fun over the last week, and for those who will be bringing more activities and cheer in the coming weeks! 

 

Also, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has participated in our winter coat and blanket drive. Thanks to your support and generosity, we've collected over 300 coats and blankets to distribute to the homeless in Athens this winter. What a blessing!

Christmas is Coming!

Some of you have already contacted us about your wish to sponsor one of our six families for Christmas. 

Last year, in lieu of traditional gift giving sponsorship, we asked for gift cards to traditional superstores (Wal-Mart and Target) for our moms to use to shop for their own families. It was such a successful Christmas, and our residents were empowered by strengthening the bond between themselves and their families while reinforcing our goals of budgeting and prioritizing needs. 

Your gift will help our mothers personalize Christmas by choosing and wrapping presents for their children. Gift card donations help us to better manage our storage space, allowing our children to be surprised on Christmas morning.

During these tough economic times, we are ensuring that all AAHS supporters can participate in this special time of year: we welcome gift cards from $5, $10, $100, or more! Please donate gift cards by December 16^th so that we can have enough time to organize our shopping trip.

If you are more interested in donating items, please see our wish list for items needed every day like laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and baby items. Your tax deductible contributions help us provide support to our families with childcare and larger shelter needs like mattresses and washer/dryers.

For questions or more information, please contact Katie Smith at volunteer@helpathenshomeless.org, call between 10:00am and 6:00pm Monday through Friday at (706) 354-0423.