Holiday Homeless Outreach Opportunities

The opportunities listed below are great for both individuals and groups – families, church groups, businesses, civic service groups, etc. Details about each opportunity are provided below. If you have additional questions, please do contact us at (515) 265-7272 or info@hopeiowa.org. If you are interested in participating in one or more of the opportunities, please feel free to call or email us, or complete our online Holiday Volunteer Interest Form.

Adopt-a-Brother Christmas Gift Bags

An estimated 150 homeless men will spend Christmas at one of Hope Ministries’ two shelters this year. You can help bring a smile to their faces on Christmas Day by providing the contents for an Adopt-a-Brother Christmas Gift Bag. Staff members will distribute the bags to our residents on Christmas Day.

Here are the required items for Adopt-a-Brother Gift Bags (estimated $50 cost):

• New men’s wallet
• $10 phone card
• $20 gift card to Target or Wal-Mart
• Nice ink pen
• New pair of men’s gloves
• Christmas card with your personal greeting (Please do not include last names/addresses or cash.
  We also ask that you not seal the envelope.)

Adopt-a-Sister Christmas Gift Bags

This fall, Hope Ministries introduced emergency care for homeless and displaced women and children at our Hope Family Center – which means we will have more women and children staying with us than ever on Christmas. Like our Adopt-a-Brother program, our Adopt-a-Sister Christmas Gift Bag are meant to encourage our women in emergency shelter at Hope Family Center and will be distributed to residents on Christmas Day.

Here are the required items for Adopt-a-Sister Gift Bags (estimated $50 cost):

• $20 gift card to Target or Wal-Mart
• Small Bottle of Perfume or Body Spray (example: Bath & Body Works, Calgon)
• Package of Lindt chocolate truffles
• Devotional book for women
• Christmas card with your personal greeting (Please do not include last names/addresses or cash. We also ask that you not seal the envelope.)

Adopt-a-Child Christmas Gift Bags

We also want to bless the children staying in our emergency shelter at Hope Family Center! Our Adopt-a-Child Christmas Gift Bags will be distributed on Christmas Day.

Here are the required items for Adopt-a-Child Gift Bags (estimated $35 cost):

• $10 gift card to Target or Wal-Mart
• Small stuffed animal
• Games like Uno or puzzle cubes
• Children’s book
• Bible coloring book
• Candy cane
• Christmas card with your personal greeting (Please do not include last names/addresses or cash. We also ask that you not seal the envelope.)

Adopt-a-Family at Hope Family Center

In addition to the women and children staying in our emergency shelter at Hope Family Center, we also have single women and mothers with children in our long-term recovery program. While our Adopt-a-Sister program will provide gifts for women and children in the emergency care portion of our family center, our Adopt-a-Family program will provide gifts for women and children in our residential recovery program.

If you are interested in “adopting” a single woman or mother with children at Hope Family Center, please contact us at (515) 265-7272 or complete our online holiday volunteer interest form. We will contact you to match you with a woman or family in need and to provide specific gift information and guidelines.

Quilts for Hope

You can join us in bringing comfort and joy to the hurting on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day by donating a hand-made quilt of any size. Your quilt will be given to homeless and near-homeless individuals and families who join us for our holiday meals (as supplies last). You can drop your quilt off during our Bring Christmas to Hope donation day on Saturday, December 17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at our Bethel Mission facility (1310 6th Avenue in Des Moines). Or, feel free to drop off your quilt at our Hope Bargain Center at 4950 NE 12th Avenue in Pleasant Hill (Tues-Fri, 10 to 5 p.m.; Sat 9 to 4 p.m.). Please be sure to let staff members at Hope Bargain Center know your donation is for Quilts for Hope.

Tokens for the Broken

Finding transportation can be difficult for the men and women who stay at our emergency shelter and recovery centers. They need a way to get to jobs, visit family, make it to doctor’s appointments, travel to job interviews…and for many, it’s a financial burden they’re unable to bear alone. You can provide a special holiday blessing for our residents and support Hope Ministries by purchasing and donating bus tokens for the Dart bus system in Des Moines. Adult bus tokens come in packs of 10 for $17.50 and can be purchased at participating Hy-Vee Food Stores, Dahl’s Food Marts, Younkers and a number of other locations around Des Moines. For a full listing of bus token sales outlets, please visit http://www.ridedart.com/pass-outlets.cfm.

Bus token donations should be delivered to Hope Ministries during our Bring Christmas to Hope delivery day on Saturday, December 17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at our Bethel Mission facility (1310 6th Avenue in Des Moines). Or, you can deliver bus token donations to our Administrative Offices at 5075 E. University, Suite B, Pleasant Hill, during business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) Monday through Friday.