Donation Request

Baby Clothes Donations

We are currently looking for baby clothes from 0 to six months.  Please contact us at 774-242-4289 if you would like to make a donation.  

Thank you to Jessica Rosen for her continued support of the program.  She provided us with much needed baby supplies last week.

Spreading Awareness: Alpha Gamma Meeting

On Thursday, October 8th, Ally Trull, Director of Outreach, presented to Alpha Gamma, a local chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma (a retired of practicing and retired women educators).   Thank you to Laurie Dunleavy for inviting us to speak at Alpha Gamma's meeting.

Welcome to SUFK Worcester's New Volunteers!

The following four volunteers joined the StandUp For Kids Program in September and October:

• Liz Barge
• Keisha Grant
• Mari Sayama
• Mohsin Syed

Join Our Program!

Contact us with questions on how you can volunteer with our program at worcester@standupforkids.org or 774-242-4289.

Thank You, KarmaThreads!

We've got backpacks and blankets!

Thank you to KarmaThreads, a postive messaging apparel company located in New Hampshire, for their donation of backpacks and blankets to the Worcester Program.  We can't wait to hand these donations out to kids at the outreach center and during street outreach.  Rhonda, thank you and your company for your support!

Food Bag Drive: A Success!

Thank you to the Mission Committee at Wesley United Methodist Church in Worcester for hosting a food drive for the Worcester program.  Several parishioners stopped by to help Chris Flagg (Co-Director of Community Resource Development) and Kristina England (Executive Director) make food bags for our kids.  A total of 72 bags were made!

Coming Soon: Clark University Sock Drive!

Students from a Management Class at Clark University will host a sock drive for our program from Monday, October 19th to Wednesday, October 21st.  On Monday and Tuesday, they will set up an information table about our program from 1:00PM-3:00PM and 5:00PM-7:00PM.  Volunteers from our program will be there to talk to students, faculty, and staff at the University.  The sock drive will happen on Wednesday at 6:00PM.

Become a Volunteer

There are several great ways to volunteer with StandUp For Kids - Worcester:

• Host a food drive
• Join our street outreach team
• Spread the word as part of the public relations/marketing team 
• Take on a leadership role (i.e. Director of Volunteers)

You'll join a great group of volunteers and more importantly, you'll be helping the youth of our city.

Contact worcester@standupforkids.org or 774-242-4289 for more information.

Outreach Center, Food Bags, and More!

Outreach Center Update

The Outreach Center has officially been open for a month.  This past week, we helped two kids build resumes and fill out applications for local jobs.  Thank you to Ally Trull (Director of Street Outreach), Rob Donnelly (Director of Volunteers), and Donna Katsoudas (Outreach Counselor) for volunteering at the center this past week.  

We need food bags!

The StandUp For Kids - Worcester Program is still in need of food bags.  We distribute food bags every week to our youth during street outreach and at the outreach center.  If you are interested in donating food bags, please contact worcester@standupforkids.org.

What's in a food bag?

• Juice box/water
  
• Cup of ravioli, spaghetti, etc. (pop top) or Bumblebee Chicken/Tuna Salad with Crackers
  
• Pudding/Fruit Cup (pop up)
  
• Candy bar
  
• Granola bar
  
• Napkin and plastic ware
  

Thank you to Wesley United Methodist Church!

The Ministry Committee at Wesley United Methodist Church is donating food bags to us on Sunday, October 4th.  Thank you to all the parishioners at WUMC for your continued support!

Behind the Scenes: Marketing Committee

Keisha Grant, a new SUFK volunteer, is working on marketing our program to local media.  She just got us an Advertisment in the November issue of Bay State Parent Magazine.  Thank you, Keisha!

Join Our Outreach Team

Honestly, right now, the Worcester program could use a few more people as outreach counselors. We have a dedicated group of counselors but we could never have too many.  The most important part of outreaching is our kids.  We talk to kids 21 and under on the streets.  Often we run into the same kids on a regular basis.  We check in on them, find out what's new in their life, show that someone cares, and they can count on us to be there on a weekly basis.

Outreach Counselor Expectations:

• Volunteer as little as 2 hours a month.
• Attend basic and outreach training.
• Partner up with another volunteer (You never do outreach alone).

Come to our Volunteer Information Session on Wednesday, September 30th @ 7:00PM in the Banx Room of the Worcester Public Library if you are interested in joining our outreach team.  

Plus, if you don't think outreach is your thing, join one of our many other teams: Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations, Community Resource Development, etc.

What if I can't make it to the September info session?

Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org and we'll keep you posted on the next information session.

Last Week's Street Outreach Stats

Number of Regular Kids Assisted: 4

Number of New Kids Assisted: 10

Number of Kids Provided a Meal: 6

Getting the Word Out

For our volunteers, raising awareness of youth homelessness is a big part of what we do. Yes, we conduct street outreach every week to connect with the youth. But we also need to make our community aware that youth homelessness is real. 13 kids will die each day on the streets. Our job and your job is to make sure kids understand their other options before they runaway.

Don't Runaway Program
The Worcester program is actively participating in the National Don't Runaway Taskforce. Our hope is to help enhance the program and eventually start programs within our own community. These programs allow college and high school kids to take action in preventing youth homelessness. The DRA Program should be implemented in every city and every town. But we as an organization need the help of the community to do this. Find out more here: http://www.dontrunaway.org/.

Awareness Events
While we would definitely like to implement the Don't Runaway Program in the Worcester schools, we are still getting the word out with the volunteers we have by attending awareness events:

Rob Donnelly (Director of Volunteer) and Kristina England (Executive Director) attended the Wesley United Methodist Church Ministry Fair on Sunday, September 13th. They handed out information about the program and wish lists. A few people even signed up to volunteer with the program. We definitely hope to see them all on Wednesday, September 30th at our next Information Session (7:00PM @ Worcester Public Library, Banx Room). Thanks to Chris Flagg (Director of Community Resource Development) for getting us a table at this event!

Allyson Trull, Director of Outreach, will present to Alpha Gamma on Thursday, October 8th about StandUp For Kids.

Get the Word Out
You don't have to be a StandUp For Kids volunteer to spread awareness about youth homelessness. Tell your family and friends about us and our mission. Remember - Every voice counts!

The Outreach Center is Open

As the blog sometimes gets a bit long, here are the topics you'll find below:

• The Outreach Center Update
• Weekly Food Basket Request
• Food Bags Needed
• The August Street Outreach Numbers

The Outreach Center Update

The Outreach Center is now open every Saturday.  Thank you to the following outreach counselors for volunteering throughout the day on Saturday:  Jose Alvarez, Oz Diaz, Rob Donnelly, Kristina England, Ken Latham, and Ally Trull.

Weekly Food Basket Request

We've been looking at our food supply and thought it might be a good idea to have a basket of "healthy" food such as fruit, cheese, trail mix, etc.  Basic healthy food for the kids to eat at the center or take with them.

If anyone is interested in preparing a food basket for us, let us know.  You can sign up for one week, once a month, whatever you like.  Contact Oz Diaz, Director of the Outreach Center, at ozd@standupforkids.org.

Food Bags Needed!

We are now collecting food bags for distribution during street outreach.  A food bag contains the following items:

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

Contact worcester@standupforkids.org if you would like to donate food bags.  This can be a great project for students, youth groups, etc.

The August Street Outreach Numbers

So you are probably wondering how many kids we assist each month.  Here are the numbers from August:

• 15 Regular Kids Assisted
  
• 41 New Kids Assisted
  
• 20 Kids Provided with Meals

This is the total amount of kids we saw in four weeks (one day outreach a week).

The Outreach Center Opens in Two Days!

That's right!  Only two more days until we open the Outreach Center!  We have been very fortunate over the past few months.  Thank you to everyone who has made the Outreach Center possible.  A big thank you to Crystal Bowman from National for helping us throughout the whole process!

The volunteers have been planning away but we also know that this center is going to be a learning experience for us and for the kids.  As we move forward, you'll get plenty of updates on the outreach center and our continued growth as a program.

What's Happening

Rob Donnelly and Donna Katsoudas presented information about our program to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation last week.  Great job, guys!

Tracy Altan and Beth Connors from StandUp For Kids - Boston will stop by Worcester in the near future to attend our next training session.  Tracy and Beth plan to start conducting training for the Boston program.  SUFK Worcester is looking forward to their visit.  Boston has a great group of volunteers.  If you are in the Boston area, check out their Program Website or join their Facebook Group.