Get Involved. Organize a clothing drive.

One way to help Afghans is to help Americans—clean out their closets!

Poor Afghans, particularly those in refugee camps, battle the extreme winter cold with very little. Those coats that are too small, unused blankets, and out-of-style sweaters can make a big difference for these families. (Only clean, gently-used or new items, please!)

What you can do:

• Choose a day (or week) for your clothing drive and a collection place that can accept the quantity of goods you are expecting (a room at the school, warehouse, garage, or storage facility).
• Recruit some volunteers who will help you sort and pack the clothing.
• Market the clothing drive through your school, neighborhood, place of worship, scout troop, etc. Email notices, hand out flyers, put up posters—whatever you can do to get the word out. Some schools accept video announcements, which are also good to share on Facebook.
• Send out the list of the needed items. (See below)
• Remind donors that we need only clean gently-used or new items only. Also advise them to be culturally sensitive. You’d be surprised at what some people donate.
• Collect!
• Sort, fold and pack the clean clothing into boxes or bags labeled: Mens, Womens, Boys, Girls, Infants, Bedding, Stuffed animals, Shoes, School Supplies, and Miscellaneous (whatever doesn’t fit into the other categories).

• Call us and we can work on the logistics to get the donations to our warehouse in San Leandro. Make friends with volunteers and donors who have trucks!
• Thank your donors, and ask them if they would like to receive our newsletter. If so, get their email address!!! We’ll add them to the list.

What we will do:

• Arrange through the U.S. government’s Denton program to send containers of clothing to Afghanistan. (The Denton Program allows U.S organizations to use “space available” on U.S. military cargo planes to transport humanitarian goods, so no extra costs are incurred for shipping.
  Since Denton is a space available program, it is impossible to predict when the clothing will be shipped, but the Afghan people will be very happy to get it when it arrives.
• Organize distribution from our Kabul office to the poorest of the poor.
• Transport a representative from families living in tent camps to select clothing for their families. We encourage the women to come, because they are best at choosing clothing for the entire family. Besides, it’s an outing for them and they aren’t allowed many!
• Provide orphanages, street children, and other families with clothing they couldn’t begin to afford.
• Send your photos of distributions so you can share them with your supporters. They will learn how vital it is for all of us to help!

Recommended Donations

Please make sure that all items are in good condition and that they are clean and folded. Only donate what you would offer to a friend!

Most Needed (The winters are long and harsh. These are the most sought after items.)

• Winter coats, gloves, hats and scarves
• Blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, hot water bottles, comforters
• Shoes and boots. (Please tie together or put each pair in a plastic bag, or they will get separated.)

Clothing & stuffed animals:

• Women’s, men’s, girls, boys, and infant clothing
• Warm pants
• Socks and sweatshirts
• Clean stuffed animals

School Supplies:

• Pencils, colored pencils, pencil sharpeners, crayons, pens, markers
• Paper (lined, plain and art)
• Backpacks
• Notebooks
• Rulers, protractors and calculators (not electric)
• No books unfortunately–too heavy and a culturally sensitive area that’s too difficult to monitor.

Computers and Monitors — Flat screen monitors only. The clunkers require to much electricity. Both laptops and desktops can be used in the computer classes we support.

Thank You For Your Support.
For additional information call 925 299 2010

For a separate handout that lists these donations, see Recommended Donations.