Care Packs
Meeting New Needs this Back to School Season
This back to school season, we’re asking for your help to help us fulfill emerging needs in our community by assembling Care Packs!
Our region is fortunate to have many school supply initiatives that take place at the end of each summer. After consulting with volunteers, neighbors, and other nonprofits, A Wider Circle will now direct families requesting school supplies to these initiatives ( see our database here) and discontinue our annual backpack drive. Instead, we will focus on two new efforts to address unfulfilled needs identified by the neighbors we serve.
Please read on for details on how you can support us with Baby Care Packs and adult Personal Care Packs.
Baby Care Packs
Last year, A Wider Circle provided bundles of necessities to 516 parents of newborns and toddlers across DC, Maryland, and Virginia. This included items that families must have to bring their newborns home, like car seats, as well as items like high chairs, strollers, bassinets, cribs, and an assortment of like-new clothing, booties, blankets, and more. Because this is entirely a donation-based program, what we never have enough of are diaper bags and more basic items like diapers, wipes, and baby lotion. This is where we can use your help!
The priceless look of relief on a new parent’s face when we can provide them a thoughtful, hand-selected diaper bag packed with essential items to care for their new arrival is the look we hope to recreate all next year! Will you help us?
READ ME FIRST:
- All items should be new and never-before used. In a few instances below, we require the item to be in its original packaging for hygienic purposes.
- We suggest several different items that can go in a Baby Care Pack. Please choose at least 5 items to include in the bag you create. You are NOT required to get everything.
- Please feel free to shop creatively and put your own spin on your Baby Care Pack. In a few instances below, we’ve included links to inspire, not dictate.
Baby Care Pack component list:
- Diaper/baby bag (Gender neutral colors are most appreciated. A good bag is large and has multiple pockets — see example.)
- Size N (newborn) or size 1 diapers (When you’re assembling a bag, if the diapers do not fit, you can include them separately in their original packaging.)
- Pack of disposable baby wipes
- Bottle of hand sanitizer
- Baby lotion or moisturizer
- Tube of diaper rash cream (e.g., Desitin)
- Diaper changing pad
- Muslin blanket ( See example of a multipack if you make several kits.)
- Spare onesie (size 0-3 months)
- Pacifier or teething ring, in packaging
- 2-3 feeding bottles or 2-3 nipples, in packaging
Drop off:
Please bring assembled, completed pack to the lobby of A Wider Circle, 9159 Brookville Road, Silver Spring, MD (not the lower warehouse level). We are open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm. Please
write to
holiday@awidercircle.org with any questions.
Personal Care Packs
We are looking for helpers to create adult personal care backpacks that we can distribute to neighbors with housing instability. We will do this primarily out of our Ward 8 Hub, which is a community drop-in service center in DC’s Washington Highlands Neighborhood. In June 2024, more than 300 separate individuals walked through the doors, some many times a week for respite, social connection, and self-improvement.
Since we opened the Ward 8 Hub in 2021, the majority of neighbors we’ve served have been residents in public housing and those living in other apartments in the neighborhood. However, we now have an increasing number of visits from unhoused adults, reflecting the double-digit increase in the city’s homelessness population since 2023.
Being able to distribute Personal Care Packs will greatly improve A Wider Circle’s ability to meet the needs of these neighbors and ensure that all who come through our doors receive exceptional hospitality no matter what they may be experiencing.
With your help, we hope to give out 600 Personal Care Packs over the next 12 months. Each season, we’d like to have 150 packs that include a with a specialty and seasonal items so they are always weather-appropriate.
All items (except the backpack) should be new, never before used.
Personal Care Pack component list:
- Adult-sized backpack or drawstring bag (dark colors most appreciated) that will hold your assembled items inside
- 1 pair of socks (black or white, ankle length or longer, in adult large)
- 1 stick of deodorant (unisex, any brand)
- 1 bottle of body lotion (unscented, any size)
- Bottle of hand sanitizer
- 1 pack of adult bathing wipes or baby wipes
- Optional: lip balm, solar phone charger, and/or sleeping bag
- Seasonal add-ons:
- Summer: sunscreen (SPF 30+) and/or bucket hat (darker color)
- Fall: winter hat and/or scarf
- Winter: winter hat and/or gloves
- Spring: foldable umbrella and/or poncho
Drop off:
Please bring assembled, completed bags to the lobby of A Wider Circle, 9159 Brookville Road, Silver Spring, MD (not the lower warehouse level). We are open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm. Please
write to
holiday@awidercircle.org with any questions.
Note for Volunteer Groups
Q: Can groups sign up and come to A Wider Circle’s Center for Community Service in Silver Spring to stuff Care Packs?
A: Yes, with a caveat. Unlike with the backpack program, when supporters had the choice of mailing us bulk school supplies or dropping off assembled kits, we are only asking for assembled Care Packs this year. Thus, we will not have items for the Care Packs onsite, and volunteer groups seeking to serve at A Wider Circle for this purpose are required to bring their own components. For groups that do serve with us, the Volunteer Team would be happy to provide an overview of our organization and poverty in the region, provide a tour of our showroom and warehouse, and provide space for a group to meet and assemble (and have lunch, if the group wishes to bring their own). You can make calendar inquiries by emailing groups@awidercircle.org.
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