The December 31, 2010-January 1, 2011 Friends of the Homeless activity marked the 15th consecutive year that this project provided large gift bags filled with items -- some basic, some fun -- to men and women on the streets of Washington. It followed a year-long effort by Tom Block -- the originator and driving force behind FOTH -- to acquire and store the things that were to be given out over the holiday season.
As usual, Bruce Guthrie, the hard-working FOTH official photographer, snapped away at the packing procedure, during the distribution of gift bags and at the usual Chinese lunch following the delivery. The result of his work may be viewed at bguthriephotos.com. (Bruce invites anyone else who took photos and would like to have them added to the FOTH area of his website to contact him at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com).
December 31, 2010. The 15th annual Friends of the Homeless project got underway at the home of Tom, Dalya and Mollie Naomi Block, and Debbie Spielberg -- aka FOTH International Headquarters.
Close to 25 participants, ranging in age from 6 to 77, gathered. After unpacking and separating the items and arranging them in piles, volunteers formed an assembly line that stretched through two rooms. As the bags were passed along, each person added one, two and in some cases several things to the growing collection. After the 100th bag was filled, to the accompaniment of cheers, the packers were rewarded with a meal that included Tom's renowned home-smoked salmon, salad, bread, cheese, dessert and other treats, with an appropriate alternate menu for the youngsters.
The bags contained many of the items that they included in previous years, some of which had been specifically requested by homeless people, plus a few new ones. Each large, reusable heavy plastic bag was stuffed with warm clothing and similar items, including a heavy sweat shirt and pants, warm scarf, thermal socks and gloves, hand warmers, lightweight fleece bla ...More...
- 2010_MD_FOTHOC_101231: Friends of the Homeless on Christmas (package preparation) (56 photos from 2010)
- 2011_DC_FOTHOC_110101: Friends of the Homeless on New Years (distribution) (76 photos from 2011)
underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.
") are described as follows: