UUSM’s Lunches for Bunches partner, the Santa Monica Annenberg Access Center at 5th and Olympic, operated by The People Concern, provides food, showers, laundry, clothes closet, case management (for access to housing and other services), wellness group meetings, and other group activities and services for our neighbors living on the streets.
The Lunches for Bunches team supports these efforts by providing 54 hand-packed lunches every week. The lunches we donate each Sunday are given out starting Monday morning and are well regarded on the streets of Santa Monica due to the quality, variety, and abundance of their contents.
The Access Center maintains a Clothes Closet of donated clothes for our unhoused neighbors. At the current time, inventory is low or absent in many categories. Lunches for Bunches is asking for help in turning this clothes closet into a place of abundance.
Current Clothes Closet needs include the following:
- Mens Socks (new only)
- Mens Underwear (new only), ‘shorts’ style such as boxers or boxer briefs preferred
- Mens Pants, such as jeans and sweatpants
- Winter Jackets, any gender, hoodies preferred (especially larger sizes, L to XXXL)
- Rain Ponchos
- Beanies for head warmth
- Mens Shoes (especially larger sizes, 11 and up)
- Hand Warmers (one-time use type)
- Blankets
Also high-quality women’s garments, men’s shirts (especially larger sizes L to XXXL), backpacks, and belts. Donated items are given out “as is,” so used items are expected to be clean and in good repair.
There is ongoing need for travel-sized hygiene products for use in the on-site showers and for giving away, such as: Chapstick, Q-tips, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, and deodorant.
The Lunches for Bunches team will be collecting donations in December and January to replenish the clothing closet and make it a place of abundance. Please look for the collection bin before and after Sunday worship in December and January.
Thank you for your support,
UUSM Lunches for Bunches Team (Charles Masten, Rebecca Haggerty, and Lauren Poole)
