Contributor: Amy McInnes, Austin Allies Intern
As the year 2020 comes to a close we wanted to highlight the successes Austin Allies has had over the course of the year. Switching to at-home volunteering was not the easiest transition but was well worth it to ensure the safety of our volunteers, staff, nonprofit partners and those that they serve. We made a previous blog post in September spotlighting all the activities our volunteers participated in over the course of the summer, this post will be a recap of our summer volunteering and an update since September.
Summer 2020
-In April, Austin Allies began to transition to at-home volunteering, consisting of at-home activities kits that allowed volunteers to still contribute to the Austin community from the safety of their own homes.
-In June our volunteers counted, sorted, and stickered around 700 books to be returned to BookSpring, a nonprofit that is based on building the motivation to read and literacy skills in families in the central Texas area.
-75 activity kits were donated to St. Louise House for the families experiencing homelessness when their planned camps and activities were cancelled due to COVID-19.
-We donated new/gently used bras, new underwear, and new hygiene products to I Support the Girls and also sorted and washed 350 bras
-If you’d like to read more about the Austin Allies summer of at-home volunteering, check out our blog post: https://austinallies.org/blog/2020/9/1/austin-allies-at-home-summer-recap
September
-In order to help Girl Scout Troop #1990 to achieve their Bronze Award, Austin Allies asked our volunteers to paint and decorate rocks that would then be displayed in a rock garden at the YMCA on Town Lake. Over 250 rocks were donated and placed in the rock garden that was assembled by Girl Scout Troop #1990.
-Austin Allies partnered with VIA313 Pizza for a delicious fundraiser! 5% of the money made from VIA313 on September 24th from 3 to 9 PM was donated to Austin Allies. We ended up with over $650 to put towards our at-home volunteering program!
-A car load of baby related item donations and 37 inspirational posters were donated to the Austin Recovery Hicks Family Ranch, a community based rehabilitation center that helps rebuild the lives of families and individuals that are struggling with substance abuse.
-We did another round of organizing, tagging, and pricing donations from Austin Creative Reuse.
-We showed our appreciation for the hard working administration and staff members at Allison and Perez Elementary Schools by donating over 20 dozen baked goods.
October
-Our volunteers bundled 7,040 diapers for the Austin Diaper Bank.
-Around 600 bras were sorted, washed, and organized by our Austin Allies in addition to boxes of donated period supplies that were donated to I Support the Girls.
-For 30 years, Out Youth has offered a place for LGBTQIA+ youth to fearlessly be themselves. Austin Allies hosted a donation drive for the Out Youth Community Closet so LGBTQIA+ folks could get basic necessities during times of struggle.
-We partnered with Julie G Homes for the third year in a row for a Food Drive benefiting Central Texas Food Bank. We had volunteers to help go door-to-door in the Circle C and Meridian neighborhoods leaving the collection bags on doorsteps. Thanks to our volunteers Julie G Homes was able to collect 3,400 pounds of food and $1,595 worth of donations.
-Over 130 t-shirt tote bags were made by our Allies and donated to the Travis County Food Pantries.
-Austin Allies dropped off 3,750 gift tags for Salvation Army Austin‘s Angel Tree Program that our amazing volunteers put together in just 3 days.
-Around 90 Halloween costumes were donated to the Jeremiah Program to ensure a Happy Halloween to the kids and families experiencing poverty.
-BookSpring asked Austin Allies to help sort and sticker hundreds of books so that kids across the Austin area will have quality reading materials leading them into the school year.
-We created cards, posters, notes, drawings, etc. for our friends at The Area Agency on Aging of the Capital Area. This organization offers in-home, as well as facility, health and wellness support to our senior population, and making small tokens of love during the time of shelter-in-place makes a big difference.
-An incredible Minecraft display was made by our volunteers for the annual Jeremiah Program’s Trunk or Treat event.
-Our volunteers created 70+ Halloween Trick-Or-Treat Goodie Bags for the kids at St. Louise House. Filled with Halloween-themed stickers, stamps, bubbles, and candy these goodie bags helped impoverished families enjoy the holiday.
-We had an incredible fundraiser for Halloween - All Allies Eve hosted by the Get It Gals who put together an awesome trivia game for our families, that included amazing prizes from local businesses and artists. Overall Austin Allies was able to raise $1500; the money will be put towards keeping our at-home activities strong.
November
-7,688 diapers were bundled by our volunteers and delivered to the Austin Diaper Bank.
-To bring some positive energy to folks in recovery we asked our Allies to create cards, drawings, notes, etc. for people at the Austin Sobering Center.
-Our volunteers got to learn about The Trail Foundation and how to take care of the trails around Lady Bird Lake. There was a lesson over Zoom on making seedballs and fostering native plants - both of which will be added to our lovely downtown walking trails to keep Austin beautiful.
-Women's Storybook Project Holiday Book Drive was an incredible way to help this holiday season. Volunteers picked out their favorite children’s book to donate to the Women’s Storybook Project, those books will then be read to kids by their mothers who are incarcerated. In person donations were accepted at the Barnes & Noble stores in Sunset Valley and in Round Rock.
-Meals on Wheels is a national organization dedicated to delivering healthy meals to the elderly and those who cannot easily leave their homes. We asked our volunteers to decorate brown paper delivery bags provided by Meals on Wheels which will then be used to deliver meals to those in the MoW program.
-150 upcycled musical egg shakers, made from easter eggs and beans, were delivered to Leap of Joy, a local nonprofit that provides dance and music lessons for kids in need. These eggs will help kids start to develop listening and motor skills.
-We partnered up with Bake a Wish and Operation Turkey to help provide pies for families in need for Thanksgiving this year.
-We joined with St. Louise House again in order to provide new pajamas and books to kiddos whose families have experienced homelessness. Each individual child at St. Louise House got to pick a book of their choice to receive for the holidays and their sizes and age were noted to ensure they would get the perfect cozy pajamas.
-Caritas of Austin "build[s] well-being by making sure that people have a safe home, access to healthy groceries, jobs that provide a reliable living wage, and educational opportunities to learn life skills." We asked our volunteers to think of creative recipes (and provide ingredients for) using food items that can be found in a pantry so that families that might be struggling can still have a quality meal at the end of the day.
-The Chipotle on Slaughter Ln. partnered with Austin Allies to donate 33% of their proceeds on the 21st of November from 5-9 PM. We were able to raise funds that will benefit the continuation of our at-home volunteering activities.
-Another round of BookSpring book sorting is happening right now! Hundreds of books are with our volunteers being sorted and quality-checked.
Did you know…
Since July of this year, our volunteers have bundled over 34,000 diapers (and counting) for the Austin Diaper Bank. There will be another bundling session the first week of December!
Austin Allies has sorted and washed nearly 1,000 bras for I Support the Girls
What’s to come: December
-We’re wrapping gifts for Silver Santa and the children at Saint Louise House, and we’ll need your help! It will be a quick turn around, the pick up will be on Dec. 4th, and then must be returned by Dec. 6th.
-For this upcoming holiday season we want to spread some joy to our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Through The Other Ones Foundation, we’re asking our volunteers to bake sweet treats that will be delivered to a camp in southeast Austin, set up by the city of Austin. Including notes or cards with drawings or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated. Please do not make anything crunchy or hard, stick to soft goodies, like cupcakes, brownies, donuts, etc. These treats will need to be delivered to Erika’s house by Dec. 13th or 14th.
-We’ll be doing another round of decorating Meals on Wheels brown paper delivery bags which will then be used to deliver meals to those in the MoW program. The pick up date for the bags will be Dec. 4th - 6th, and must be returned by Dec. 13th.
-Diaper bundling for December will be available for pick up on Dec. 11th - 13th and then must be returned by Dec. 20th.
-We’re going to be making inspirational posters for the Central Texas Food Bank and their Mobile Pantries. This will be another great project for families to do together over the holiday break to help bring positivity to the city of Austin. Pick up for materials (if needed) Dec. 18th - 20th and can be returned the week of Jan. 2nd - 10th.
-Austin Allies will be closed from Dec. 21st - Jan. 1st. To keep our volunteers spirits lifted we’ve decided to create Kindness Kits that will include materials to make community-supporting projects over the holiday break. They will be ready for pick up Dec. 18th - 20th and can be returned the week of Jan. 2nd - 10th.
Giving Tuesday
This coming holiday is going to be different from holidays in the past. Should you choose to participate in Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping we highly suggest you participate in Giving Tuesday! This December 1st is a global holiday known as Giving Tuesday, a day encouraging everyone everywhere to do good. However you choose to participate is up to you, but if you would like to further support the efforts of Austin Allies, our mission of volunteering and helping the community, and encourage our at-home volunteering activities, there is a link to our Amplify ATX page where you can donate or you can donate to us through our website.
https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/austin-allies
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BC8Q2FZX9UBLQ&source=url