Thanks for checking out Student Ministries' OPERATION: BLESSING! You may have heard of this effort from a flyer or by word-of-mouth; either way, please read on to find out what this thing is all about.

This holiday season Mosaic, Catalyst and Kaleo are joining forces to bless the homeless in San Jose! This will be a 3-phase plan to supply the homeless with the essentials for life and the winter season.

   THE PLAN…

Phase 1: “Day of Distribution” – Saturday, December 10 – 1:00-2:30pm

Phase 1 consists of us getting together for the purpose of spreading the word to the 1-Mile Radius around South Hills.  We’ll gather just for an hour and a half, pray over the flyers, split up into teams and hand-deliver the flyers to the neighborhood. These flyers will have information about our project and will let people know that we’ll be back on Saturday the 17^th to collect any supplies they would like to donate. The more helpers we have, the more flyers we can get out and that means more opportunity for donations!

Phase 2: “Day of Preparation” – Saturday, December 17 – 1:00-5:00pm

During Phase 2 we will be tackling a number of different tasks in order to prepare for the event on Sunday including: collect supplies from the 1-Mile Radius, organize and label clothing, assemble the brown bags, discuss the flow and responsibilities for Sunday and go over a short briefing on how to interact with the homeless. 

Phase 3: “Day of Blessing” – Sunday, December 18 – 2:00-6:00pm

This is the big day! Phase 3 will be the culmination of OPERATION: BLESSING as we travel downtown to serve and hand out the supplies we have been collecting. We’ll be meeting at SHCC to pack the vans and go over the briefing for anyone who missed it on Saturday. We will then load up and head downtown to set up and hang out with the homeless until the service starts. The homeless ministry’s weekly volunteer briefing begins at 3:30 and we’ll begin serving food and handing out supplies at 4:00pm. After it’s all done we’ll pack up and head back to SHCC for a short debriefing.

           HOW YOU CAN HELP…

High School & Junior High Students:

1. Volunteer: We are going to need plenty of help on the three days listed above! Sign up at Catalyst or Mosaic to attend as many of the days as you can!
2. Collect: Many of you have already been out there collecting supplies from your family members, neighbors and classmates; that’s awesome! The success of this event lies heavily on our ability to collect as many supplies as we can!
3. Donate: many of you have items in your possession that you could likely live without. Take a look at your jackets, coats, hats, gloves and other clothing items to see if there’s something you would like to donate this holiday season. (Please be sure to ask your parents before giving away things from your house.)

Everyone else:

The best way for you to get involved would be to DONATE, DONATE and DONATE!!!

There are many items that are needed in order to make this event happen. If you saw or received one of the hundreds of flyers we have spread throughout San Jose and are wondering how to help or what you can do, take a look at the lists below.

DONATION GUIDELINES:

1. If you are donating used clothing we only ask that it be lightly used. Please refrain from donating clothing with holes, large stains or anything that has been heavily soiled.
2. Please donate only new, BLACK socks.
3. Please donate only new food and hygiene supplies. The best place to get these items would be at the dollar store!
4. Please only donate perishable food items the week leading up to December 18th so they do not go bad before we can distribute them.

           DONATABLE ITEMS:

Clothing

• Jackets
• Sweaters
• Black Socks
• Shoes
• Gloves
• Warm hats
• Ponchos
• Scarves
• Umbrellas
• Blankets

Hygiene

• Toothbrushes
• Toothpaste
• Combs
• Mouthwash
• Deodorant
• Hand sanitizer
• Tissues
• Soap
• Lotion
• Hand wipes
• Shampoo
• Sunscreen
• Band aids
• Chapstick
• Feminine hygiene products

Food

• Bread
• Lunch meat
• Sliced cheese
• Fruit 
• Candy Canes
• Trail Mix
• Gum
• Raisins
• Granola bars
• Apple sauce
• Mints
• Crackers
• Juice boxes
• Water
• Mini dog food packs