10.19.21 | read time: 3 min
Summer of Kindness: Q3 116 AOK Review
Christelle Lyman
At 116 & West we commit to performing 116 Acts of Kindness (116 AOK) each year, no matter how big or small. Each month, we participate in at least one event that can impact our community or environment in a positive way.
Here’s a recap of our third quarter Acts of Kindness.
July
In July, we couldn’t decide on which of two organizations to donate. So, we did both! The two amazing orgs were Dress for Success Boise Valley and Boise State University’s COBE Career Services Career Closet.
Dress for Success
Dress for Success was designed to help women exclusively. They work with City of Lights, WCA, and a post-incarceration program to help women get their lives back on track. Dress for Success works with referral agencies that give women the skills they need to get an interview and job. Dress for Success provides the finishing touches for women to help further achieve that goal.
We contacted them to find out what was most needed. Their response was handbags, so we donated 50+ gently-used handbags and totes to their cause. (They also have an awesome mobile unit to help women in more rural areas that are unable to get to their boutique.)
COBE Career Closet
Boise State University’s COBE Career Closet provides donated professional clothing at no cost to Boise State students. Available items are perfect for interviews, career fairs, and everything a student could need to land a career (clothing-wise). Students can “shop” the closet during scheduled appointments.
The Career Closet wants to foster student success by ensuring equitable access to professional clothing.They value accessibility and inclusion by serving all gender, body types and life stages. Given that, we rehomed professional clothing such as suit jackets and blazers, dress pants, and collared shirts for all genders. Our female-identifying Westies brought in skirts and dresses.
August
In August, we hosted a pet food drive for the Idaho Humane Society’s (IHS) Pet Pantry. The IHS Pet Food Pantry is designed to provide resources for struggling pet owners and other animal shelters. They provide pet food for Meals on Wheels deliveries to homebound seniors, families with economic hardship, shelter animals living in IHS foster homes, and other welfare groups in need of occasional pet food support.
They have guidelines and requirements for their food distribution as well as online applications that pet owners and other shelters can apply to for assistance. IHS also has an extensive list of drop-off locations for you to leave your donation.
Their greatest needs are:
- Canned cat food
- Canned dog food
- Kitten milk replacer (KMR)
- Kitten and puppy food
- Puppy pads
- Peanut Butter (Xylitol free)
The agency came together to donate two large 50 lb. bags of dry dog food, two large boxes of dog biscuits, several cans of pumpkin, three large boxes of canned cat food, along with other miscellaneous animal treats and goodies.
September
A Kids in Need Foundation (KINF) survey revealed that teachers can spend up to two paychecks each year to purchase school supplies. As kiddos headed back to school, we gathered and purchased supplies for Timberline High School and a first-year 5th grade teacher at Christine Donnell School of the Arts.
Timberline needs items like 3-ring binders, binder dividers, pencil pouches, pencils, colored pencils, pens, glue sticks, spiral notebooks, etc. So, we gathered as many supplies as we could and sent them Timberline’s way.
If you want to donate supplies to Timberline, or any local high school for that matter, contact their administration office at 208-854-6230.
We helped the 5th grade teacher with hand sanitizers, Clorox wipes, batteries, pens, clip boards, reusable water bottles, colored pencils and pens, reusable water bottles, hand sanitizers, pencil pouches, erasers and crackers.
If you are looking to help children with school supplies, just do it!
Stay Kind
We have an entire year of 116 Acts of Kindness events planned! Keep tabs on our progress and learn how you can get involved by following us on all the socials, @116andwest, and coming back to our blog.
Have any ideas for future Acts of Kindness? Give us a holler!