Neighbors in Action: A Community Packs Hope for the Holidays

By Susan Weisfeld

This year again, Armour Villa neighbors helped to bring a special message of love and caring to about 350 men, women and children who live in shelters or are dependent upon shelter services for food, clothing and sleeping arrangements.

The shelters — Open Arms for Men and Samaritan House for Women in White Plains, Passage of Hope for children in Yonkers, and Sarah Powell Hutchinson House on 11th Street in Manhattan for women newly-released from prison — serve people who have little or no contact with their families. We also donated warm items and underwear to Xavier Mission, which provides food and clothing to street people in Chelsea.

The Christmas holiday season is an especially difficult time for those who are alone, so receiving our packages of warm hats, gloves, scarves and socks includes the message of love that each of us sends when we assemble the bags. In addition to these items, we were able to give each child an appropriate gift, as well as some items specifically designed to allay anxiety. Everyone received toiletries, including tooth products and hand sanitizer wipes, and the transient people received emergency blankets, rain ponchos and laundry bags.

The money raised begins with a fundraising luncheon at the Scarsdale Quaker Meetinghouse and is followed by many generous donations of money and needed items from an Amazon wish list. This is also an outreach project, which raises consciousness about the issue of homelessness.

In addition to sending items from the wish list, people donate in many ways. Barbara Gibson, a former neighbor who now lives in Austria, sent adorable children's string backpacks; an Armour Villa neighbor we call “Tam Sham” donated beautiful socks to the packing assembly line; and Paula, my long-time friend and daughter-in-law of an Armour Villa resident, gave a generous donation in memory of her late father after returning from closing on the sale of his Boston house. Throughout the year, neighbors bring toiletries to my house. I never see who brought them, they just show up! And every year, my lovely Perry Place neighbor Sabrina and her sons take a number of heavy boxes and drive to lower Manhattan to deliver the packages to Sarah Powell Hutchinson House.

And a word about the main event: packing! Again it was amazing! The assembly pandemonium and overwhelming task, needing to be finished before Christmas, seemed daunting. And yet, because dedicated and tireless people came to help, everything was delivered before the 25th! Thank you to these wonderful neighbors and friends!

Below are some pictures — it was an amazing achievement and many people made it happen!

Homelessness can happen to anyone, anywhere and we are all grateful that we can help bring warmth and love to people during the cold winter months. So thank you Armour Villa neighbors and please get ready — we will do it again next year!

With gratitude and friendship,

-Susan Weisfeld