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Live United by Erin Haag

When we announced to our volunteers that Rosemary and Jonah were moving, we decided to host a goodbye party between the pantries. We slid the coat racks to the far wall, and lined up tables to hold all the food. Pulled pork nachos, apple cider and cookies with ice cream were just some of the goodies we sampled. I was so impressed with the turnout, with volunteers stopping by to wish them luck and say goodbye. A volunteer that had regularly volunteered throughout her senior year until she started college was able to stop by, and she gave Rosemary the sweetest card. I absolutely love seeing the people that volunteer for our organization come together to celebrate, to spend time with each other, to wish Rosemary the best, to quiz Jonah on his future plans. Each time it happens, I double down on my commitment that we need to provide this opportunity at least once a month.

Last week, we hosted our first Winter Gear Distribution Drive. I’m happy to report that it seems like the appointment system is working out very well. There’s some needs we weren’t able to fill — yet. But in the beauty of how the world works, it remains a “yet.” Already, we’ve seen a perfect example of what we love most about our jobs — the magic of something showing up just when we need it. A donor had stopped by with things, and included were a brand-new pair of snow boots in women’s size 11. They looked cozy and warm. Later, Rosemary and I spent time mentally getting ready for the appointments. The appointment includes a brief intake of what they’re looking for. Our goal was to be able to assess if we had what we needed and advertise to the community what the needs list was in advance of them coming. For children, it includes asking what school they go to, so we can continue the partnership with our school social workers of filling the need. As we went through the intake forms, a volunteer checked to make sure we had those sizes in stock. At the bottom of every intake form was a comment section. Someone wrote,

“My mother is a refugee from ______, needs winter shoes size 11. Maybe there is a possibility for her to get it. We will be very grateful! Thank you for your time.” Most of the time, we wouldn’t have anything available. We always accept boots, and we add them to our needs list, but it’s such a niche item to fill. It was amazing to say, “Hey! We have those new boots!” Rosemary grabbed them and attached a note, so she’d remember to show them to the shopper. I wasn’t there when they came in, so I didn’t hear how it turned out, but I’m hopeful that mother has warm winter boots now.

Winter Gear boxes are out and about town. This year, we did some careful consideration of where we should place those boxes. While some locations might seem obvious, we look at what we receive — and unfortunately some areas just get a lot of trash. I don’t mean old coats, I mean literal trash. It’s hard to monitor sometimes. So we removed some locations, but added others. This year, we’ve added boxes at Robert Hoffman Realty, Cento, St. John’s and Freeborn-Mower Electric. Innovance hosts an internal coat drive for their employees, and this year they expanded to have four boxes instead of two. Arcadian as always, is a rock star that has boxes at both their Albert Lea and Hartland locations, and employees bring the Hartland collections to the main site to make it easier for us to pick up. Our volunteers got invested this year, too, volunteering to be in charge of the box at their workplaces, bringing the collections when they come for their regular shift. The classic locations of Electric Beach at Northbridge Mall (through Dec. 31), Mayo (great place for drive-up!), Alpha Orthodontics and Hubbard Insurance inside Skyline Mall and Albert Lea YMCA are also easy access locations to drop off your donations. Boxes will mostly be available through the first or so of January, but some will be finished by Dec. 31. As always, donors are welcome to stop by and ring our doorbell and drop off donations of coats.

This is also the time of year we get quite a few donations of other items as well. We try to be flexible, but also temper this a little bit. While we welcome items such as heavy sweatshirts in good condition, shower cap style car seat covers, quilts and blankets and warm footie jammies that your own children have outgrown, we’re not equipped to take on large amounts of donations. We must be careful to ensure that we’re only accepting donations in clean, gently used condition, and reduce the risk of bringing bed bugs or other pests into our space. If you have questions about what can be donated, please give us a call. Our flexibility reduces as time goes on, and we’ll be finished accepting the “extra” types of things by Dec. 12, if not before.

While the Welcome Pantry and Winter Gear Drive are in full swing, and Community Impact Grants are being voted on next week, we’ve got one more winter program that is gearing up for the holiday season. Jingle: a Holiday Giving Program is going to be in its third official year, and I’ve already got a list of donors ready to adopt families. This is a small, boutique program that serves 15 to 20 families, and they must be referred to us by an area human service provider. We focus on the adoption of whole families, not served by other holiday programs such as Angel Tree or Shop with a Cop. Our goal is to find those families that wouldn’t receive assistance at all, for a variety of reasons. Social workers have been notified to start assessing their case load. We ask that they nominate different families each year.

If you’d like to be on the list to adopt a family, please give our office a call at 507-373-8670. We also have room for “stocking stuffer” donors — sometimes we have donors that fill in the gap with the little things like candies and teenager snacks, warm cozy socks and hand lotions for mom. There’s something for every budget, and a way to help make this an impactful experience. It’s the season of giving, and our team will be right here to help you determine where giving can mean the most, and carry throughout the year to make our community better.

Erin Haag is the executive director of the United Way of Freeborn County.