Category: Help

We are in need of bath towels for our shower program. Do you have any gently used towels that you can donate? We are open seven days a week from 8am to 4pm, and you can bring towels any time we are open. We run 20 showers a day for the homeless every day of the week, and our towels either need to be retired into cleaning rags or walk out the door because people need them on the street. Can you help us replenish our stock of towels?

A few months ago, Peggy Pacy reached out to us and expressed interest in bringing food to GMC. She has been such a supporter of our program, bringing not only sandwiches but also toiletries and clothing when we needed them. Everyone looks forward to when she comes in with her adorable dog, Dusty, and her tray of sandwiches!

I asked her to share with us her how she came to discover GMC and her experience providing sandwiches for our guests. We are so grateful to have friends like Peggy. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

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I discovered GMC through my friends at the Homeless Children’s Play Time Project. I enjoy volunteering with the Play Time project, but my main role with them is in fundraising and community outreach.

I love to cook! I asked the folks at Play Time if they had a need for food delivery. They didn’t but they directed me to GMC.  As an independent producer I have a fair amount of control over my schedule so I chose Mondays, a day I can almost always start work after food delivery. My dear friend and neighbor covers Saturdays, and together we decided during the cold months to switch to warm burritos! More work and expense but they have been a huge hit. We also asked neighbors via our list serve to pitch in with supplies, and they did on occasion.

I sometimes ask neighbors to come over and share a bottle of wine while we make burritos. It becomes a party and everyone pitches in. When it is just me, I really enjoy it. I know that smiles, and conversations, and appreciation that will be part of delivery.

My favorite moment…. I  often bring my dog, Dusty. Lots of the guests like to pet her and feed her treats. One day as I was leaving someone asked me about her name. I explained that she is named after a famous English singer who was big in the 60s and 70’s. Some knew of Dusty Springfield and some didn’t. But it turns out they all knew one song. I explained that when Dusty gets nervous during thunder storms I sing her a Dusty Springfield song.  It was really cold out, but in about 30 seconds all of us were in the alley belting out the tune, badly….. but it was fun!  ” You don’t have to say you love me just be close at hand…. you don’t have to STAAAY forever I will understand….  a great moment of community.

Delivering meals has become a really important part of my life. When people thank me, I tell them that it is I who am grateful.

Our current clothes closet wishlist: PANTS!

We receive many requests for pants and do not have many pairs to give away. Most of our requests are for men’s pants, since most of our members are men, but our ladies have also been asking. Most people are asking for jeans or khakis. Men’s sizes: 32-38 waists, Women’s sizes: 6-12.

Other items that are often requested:

• socks and underwear (we have a lot of XL, but no smaller sizes)
• feminine hygiene products (sanitary napkins and tampons)
• XXL or XXXL t-shirts or sweatshirts
• men’s shoes, size 10-14. We’ve also had a request for a size 17 shoe. Can you help us find that tricky size?

Can you help us with other items that we need?

• Washcloths and towel — they always start disappearing at an alarming rate when the weather warms up!
• Pens
• Travel-sized toiletries

Thank you! Donations can be dropped off at GMC between 8am and 4pm any day of the week.

Have you heard about Gifts for the Homeless? They are an amazing wholly volunteer-run non-profit that helps the homeless in Washington D.C. Every winter, they collect either clothes or funds to purchase cold weather items to donate to area shelters, outreach programs, soup kitchens, and transitional homes.

This year, we received a box of men and women’s underwear, a box of thermal socks, and a box of knit hats from GFTH right when the weather started to get really cold. We were able to give everyone in our center at least 2 pairs of socks and a hat to help them through the cold nights. Thank you so much, Gifts for the Homeless, for thinking of Georgetown Ministry Center’s guests this winter season! Keep up your good work.

We are happy to announce the start of our very own clothes closet! When we renovated our center in 2011, we decided to knock down a few walls in order to create a space for our guests to come, sit, and hang out. Doing so meant getting rid of our clothes closet and turning away most clothing donations due to lack of storage space.

A year and a half later, we have transformed a tiny office in Grace Church into our clothes closet! And, having a clothes closet means that we can accept clothing donations again (in limited quantities; the room is still small). The closet is currently being organized and manned by two enthusiastic Georgetown University students, Alex and Kathryn. They have been coming in once or twice a week to organize incoming donations and to distribute clothing every Friday at 10am. Needless to say, our guests are ecstatic about this news.

If you wish to donate clothes, please call Stephanie (202-338-3801) ahead of time to check whether or not we are in need of certain items. We will be posting on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter items that are in high demand. Right now, there have been many requests for jeans, with 32-36″ waists being the most in demand sizes. Our guests also often request belts, since it is difficult to acquire well-fitting pants on the street.