54 Ways You Can Help The Homeless - Overview

III. Give To The Homeless

10. Give Money

Teddy Gross, a playwright who lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side, was running in Riverside Park on day and looked up at all the buildings. "I saw in my mind this huge penny bank," he said. So he began knocking on neighbor's doors asking if they would give their unused pennies to help the homeless. By the time he had solicited his floor, he had a few hundred dollars. When he finished with his building and a few friends had gone through their buildings, several thousand dollars had been collected.

In its first year, Common Cents New York, Inc. organized five campaigns during which more than 400 people harvested the buildings where they lived. That paid for 50,000 meals prepared by soup kitchens, three weeks of summer camp for 71 homeless kids, a van for a shelter, hundreds of blankets, coats, and sets of thermal underwear, and recreational programs in family shelters. Every penny harvested goes to the homeless. Not one penny is used for expenses.

For information, contact Common Cents New York, Inc.

List of all 54 Ways

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