Immediate Need: Food Bags

The Worcester Program conducts street outreach on a weekly basis. The main supply that we carry around with us is food bags. We are running low on these.

Host a Food Bag Drive!

You can host a food bag drive for StandUp For Kids - Worcester.

Here are the items in our food bags:

• Juice Box/Water
• Candy Bar
• Pudding/Fruit Cup (pop top)
• Cup of ravioli, spaghetti, etc. (pop top); or Bumblebee Chicken or Tuna Salad with Crackers
• Granola Bar
• Napkin and plastic ware

Plus, one of our volunteers would be more than happy to come and talk about StandUp For Kids during your food drive.

Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org for more information.

The 2009 Outreach Stats

We've totaled up our outreach numbers from 2009 and wanted to share them with all our wonderful supporters.

We outreached to over 290 kids, provided 132 meals, assisted with two ID/Birth Certificate requests, and sent one kid home by request.

All this was done by a program made up of only 18 volunteers.

Imagine how much we can do if we double the number of volunteers we have today.

Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org if you are interested in helping our program.

Information Session Date Changed!

We've postponed our February 2nd info sessions to February 9th:

Info Session
Worcester Public Library
Banx Room
Tuesday, February 9th

6:30PM-7:30PM
or
7:30PM-8:30PM

We've Got New Ways You Can Get Involved

We're planning two new programs in 2010: Backpack Outreach and the Don't Run Away Program (DRA).

So what is Backpack Outreach? Our program will collaborate with a local school to provide homeless youth with backpacks full of supplies and food for the weekends. A few of our volunteers are beginning the planning stages of this outreach program but we would love to have more volunteers involved. How would you go about getting involved in this program? You can attend one of our two next information session:

Volunteer Information Session
Tuesday, February 2nd 6:30PM-7:30PM or 7:30PM-8:30PM
The Banx Room, Worcester Public Library
Register now: worcester@standupforkids.org

That's right! We're having two information sessions in one night. We realize that depending on your schedule, you could be sitting down to eat dinner with your family or working the late shift. Now you can pick from two time frames. :-) Thanks to StandUp For Kids - Boston for suggesting this idea!

The Don't Run Away Program is a bit different from our other services. This program is a preventative program run by high school or college students. Students go to local elementary and middle schools to present the story of Squatter, a kid who runs away from home. The presentation helps inform kids of Squatter's other options rather than running away. It also shows kids how lonely and scary the streets can be for a kid.

Two of our volunteers are working with a local high school student to begin the first DRA Program in Worcester! This program is a great way for high school students to get involved with StandUp For Kids before joining the local program. Although the DRA Programs are run by students, we could use a couple more volunteers to assist us in our efforts to start DRA Programs at schools within the Worcester community.

If you are a high school or college student and you would like to start a DRA Program in the Worcester area (or for that matter, anywhere in the U.S.), please feel free to contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org.

We'll have a lot more news very soon! We've got a lot of interesting stuff in the works, including our 2nd Annual 24 Hours on the Street Event!

Warming the Streets of Worcester

Keeping Haiti in Our Thoughts
The StandUp For Kids - Worcester program is keeping the people of Haiti in our thoughts and prayers. Check out the following site for ways to help out: http://www.whitehouse.gov/haitiearthquake.

2009 Volunteer Hours Statistics: Way to Go Team!
Co-Executive Director Ken Latham just tallied up the numbers for volunteer commitment in 2009. Our volunteers dedicated 1,120.25 hours to the program last year! Outstanding work, guys! You're amazing!

Spreading the Word: Conversations with the Community

Our volunteers will be very busy in the next couple months. We'll be sitting down (or standing up) to open up the conversation about youth homeless with the following groups:

• Lions Club
• UMass Memorial Nursing Leadership Team
  
• Worcester County Family and Fathers Network

We'd like to thank these groups for inviting us to speak to them about our mission. Their interest in our program continues to make our presence more known to the community.

If you would like one of our volunteers to come present on the SUFK program to an organization, youth group, agency, etc., please feel free to contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org.