Volunteer Day at SF Homeless Connect
To paraphrase Muhammad Ali, “What you’re thinking is where you’re going.”
To quote Muhammad Ali directly, “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
Last week, a team of LaunchSquad volunteers was thinking – not about grass growing, birds flying, waves pounding or beating people up – but about helping San Francisco’s massive homeless population. They put their thoughts into action helping to register many of the estimated 1,500 volunteers who showed up to support Homeless Connect, a community program devoted to providing support to the city’s homeless. Even with such a massive outpouring of support, San Francisco’s homeless population – an estimated 6 to 10 THOUSAND people – is still in need of help. Another organization dedicated to helping San Francisco’s homeless is the Coalition on Homelessness.
Volunteers showed up to help fix wheelchairs, provide health services and legal advice, serve hot meals, give hair cuts and help homeless reach out to family and friends via phone and mail among other services.
PHC is replicated in 170 other cities across the nation. The next event in San Francisco is February 4, 2009.
LaunchSquad’s team was instrumental in getting volunteers registered, provide information and get the day off to a smooth start. Volunteer Central team leader Amy Golsong commented that our group was one of the best she’d ever had and LaunchSquad had the pleasure of meeting SF Mayor Gavin Newsom who made a surprise appearance to thank the volunteers for their time and efforts.
Another great showing for the LaunchSquad volunteer program!