Latest News

The 2014 Taste of Georgetown is coming, and we need your help!

It’s finally here! The Taste of Georgetown befitting Georgetown Ministry Center returns September 13 from noon to 5 PM with a new location and better than ever! This year we are excited to host the event on K Street, near the Georgetown Waterfront. We also have  over 10 more restaurants than last year and fun for all ages– outdoor bocce ball, children’s activities, a lively music stage, and a bigger, better beer and wine pavilion. With all that is new and exciting we need your help more than ever and hope you’ll join us as a volunteer!

Jobs include help with activities, info booth, ticket booth, food runner for judges and more! Discounted parking will be available to you. We are looking for both morning early and late afternoon volunteers. The time slots available are:

8:30 AM to 11:30 AM (limited need)
11:00 AM to 2:30 PM
2:00 PM to 5:30 PM

Volunteers will receive free parking (based on lot availability) and complimentary pack of tasting tickets. Please email events@georgetowndc.com with you preferred time frame and/or flexibility and we will contact you with a specific job and details for getting around day of! Check out our new website here for more fun details and we hope to see you at the Taste!

Ever wish you could support your favorite non-profit (that’s us, of course) and get in shape at the same time?

Your wish has been granted.

The Body You Want Fitness Solutions is offering FREE fitness classes every Sunday in September. All you need to do is donate $20-$30 worth of much-needed items, like socks and underwear, to GMC. Check out our Amazon.com wish list to see what we need and continue reading to find out more.

Read more…

Georgetown 5k Race Against Homelessness

Registration is now open for the Georgetown 5k Race Against Homelessness! Join us and the Center for Social Justice at Georgetown University for a 2k walk or 5k run, followed by a cookout, music, and lawn games. There will be prizes, food, and fun!

Walk or run by yourself or get your family, coworkers, or friends together to create a team. Registration allows you to participate in the walk/race, receive a swag bag, and t-shirt. If you can’t make the event, we hope you’ll consider supporting a friend who can come or donating to support the important work that we do.

Our New Donations Policy

Due to changes we are making to our clothes closet, we are no longer able to accept general clothing donations. Please see our post about our new donation policy to learn more.

We have three announcements to share with you this week:

Summer Homeless Census in Georgetown

Every winter, there is a nationwide count of homeless persons called the Point in Time survey. The Georgetown BID and GMC are working together to conduct a summer version of the Point in Time survey in Georgetown, and we need your help!

We are looking for volunteers to help us with the count that is scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 24 at 9pm. Volunteers will receive a brief training before breaking up into teams to cover certain areas of Georgetown and Foggy Bottom. The night usually takes 1.5 to 2.5 hours.

Volunteers should be 16 years or older and able to walk at least a mile. If they have one, volunteers should also bring a flashlight. If you are interested, please email Stephanie Chan at stephanie@gmcgt.org

Clothing Closet Changes

A few days ago, we announced on our blog some upcoming changes to our clothing closet. Just as a reminder, we are moving our clothing closet to a smaller space and can no longer accept general clothing donations. Instead, we have updated our wish list on our website and are encouraging people to take a look at our Amazon.com Wishlist.

Supplies Needed

We have a fabulous volunteer, Kirsten, who is a psychologist and hoping to start an art therapy group in our center. Please help us get this off the ground by donating crayons and newsprint pads! You can find more details on our Amazon Wishlist.

In January 2013, we turned our old administrative office in the rectory of Grace Church into a clothing closet for our guests. For the past year and a half, staff and volunteers have sorted through donations of clothes, organized the closet, and distributed clothes to our guests on a weekly basis. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed in some way!

In August, there will be some changes to our clothing closet. We are moving our closet across the hall to a smaller space, and so we are now limiting the kind of clothing donations we accept and distribute. We are striving to always have clean socks and underwear for our guests — the most needed and requested items — as well as t-shirts in good condition, travel-sized toiletries, seasonal items, and specially requested items.

Because of this change, we are only accepting the following items:

• gently used or new athletic socks, adult men’s and women’s
• new men’s and women’s underwear
• gently used or new t-shirts and undershirts
• travel sized toiletries
• and other seasonal items as requested

You can find out more details on our Wishlist page. Additionally, we now have an Amazon wish list where you can see what we need and send donations directly to GMC.

We have already told our guests of this change and have contacted other service providers to create a list of alternate resources for our guests. We hope that you will help us make our new clothing closet a success by providing us with the bare necessities that our guests so desperately need. Check out our Amazon Wish List today!