Towels from ‘Next Door’
Remember the days when you were amid baking a cake and found yourself short one ingredient? You called your neighbor and she provided. Well, one staff member modernized that idea.
Family Promise is in constant need of daily living supplies, including towels. It is vital we keep those in stock because we don’t know when the next family will move in or how many parents and kids are in it. Knowing the demand, one staff member posted a needs request via the “Next Door” app for her neighborhood. And area Scottsdale residents have responded! Family Promise saw:
- 61 people bring in towel donations or send them via our Amazon wish list (with another 100 individuals responding in some way to the post)
- $1,050 come in through cash donations… including a stimulus check
- 3 organizations do holiday donation drives
- 8 people come in for tours (It could have been more, but we closed the building to the public as COVID-19 cases spiked)
- 1 speaking engagement at Shepherd of the Desert Church and a carful of donations from its members. That congregation is now exploring the idea of becoming a host congregation. Family Promise has over 50 host congregations who, one week at a time, feed and shelter up to 4 of our families in their classrooms, halls and other spaces that would otherwise go unused overnight.
FOX 10 paid us a visit to report on the results:
The towels are certainly a practical gift for Family Promise parents and children. They also carry a symbolic but vital blessing: the idea of home and family. Think of the “his” and “hers” towels that were once traditional wedding gifts. They either had those literal words on the linen or a monogram. When baby came, towels were among the early essentials bought new or received as a gift.
Our families treasure good, quality towels. It is not usually among the essentials they take when leaving their previous home. Each family member gets a set upon entering our Emergency Shelter Program and can take it with them when they graduate.
So, a huge thank you to Family Promise neighbors who have already donated towels. You are helping families feel at home across Family Promise’s four Family Day Centers and setting them up with essentials when they move back into a place of their own.
