Tent City
1Matters – Tent City 2010
October 29th – October 31st
Thank you for stopping by. Plans are being firmed up for this year’s Tent City. We are planning a launch date of 9/1 for volunteer registration. If you would like to join us and plan this year’s event, then do! Email us for details.
Celebrating 20 Years of Caring
Preparations are underway for this year’s 1Matters Tent City.
Organizationally, we are far ahead of last year. All major operations are online and on time, with food, clothing and volunteers remaining to be acquired.
Food
Yvette Hall and Jim Bailey from Cherry Street Mission are again soliciting donations for food, so if you have contacts to food, let us know.
This year Friday will be an international night, and Saturday will be our “20 Year Anniversary of Caring” community barbecue dinner. Lunch will again be provided by Food for Thought on Saturday, and Sunday morning will be the “Celebrity Pancake Breakfast”, with the unhoused as the celebrities.
Clothing
Clothing has always been one of our more comprehensive operations. Though we ask only for winter clothes, people still provide bathing suits, shorts and even flip flops. We have to collect a very large amount of clothing that needs to be culled and then sorted by size.
We think our partners this year will allow the entire community, including the suburbs, to help the cause. The City of Toledo is allowing all of the Toledo Fire Stations to act as collecting points during the month of October. Many suburban fire stations have agreed as well, including Perrysburg, Perrysburg Township, Maumee, Rossford & Oregon, and more yet to be confirmed. Check this space and the Tent City forum for updates of the locations.
Our primary source of clothing in volume the past two years has been the churches, small and large. Our approach is not to get every church involved; instead, we ask every church to tell their congregation about Tent City so those called can get their churches involved.
In the Tent City Forum, you will find downloadable flyers you can customize to your drive.
Assisting the effort this year is YES – FM, who will be promoting the October clothing drive and Tent City to the community.
To organize our clothing prior to Tent City, all donations from all sources will end up at Cherry Street Mission’s Lifebridge Center, 3342 Monroe St. (the former Banner Mattress building). They have kindly donated the 2nd floor, where we are building an exact replica of the TC donation tent. This will allow us to be pre-organized when we deliver the clothing to Tent City. All clothing remaining after TC is donated to Cherry Street Mission Ministries and Toledo Gospel Mission.
Project Homeless Connect on Saturday is our biggest focus and coordinated effort. We will be providing haircuts, podiatry, dental and medical services, flu shots, food, clothing, birth certificates and ID’s.
As usual, there will be stellar entertainment Friday and Saturday night, and we will close out the weekend with a powerful Worship Service.
The Tent City Forum is where all the planning, updates, and volunteer registration will be coordinated.
This year’s Tent City is again proudly sponsored by Cherry Street Mission Ministries, Mildred Bayer Clinic for the Homeless, Mercy Health Partners, Toledo Area Ministries, and the Toledo Area Alliance to End Homelessness.
For some, it is hard to comprehend why we all do what we do. Why we feel we NEED to Matter to those who MATTER?
Got this email…..
“I vowed last year at Tent City, this year I would be able to serve the homeless and not be one of them. Through God and A.A., I have achieved that goal. Today I’m clean and sober!! I saw Michele Ross’ video and everything she said is so true. I wonder if you all know what an impact you have on us? Last year was AWESOME. It was the start of my road to recovery and the start of being a productive part of society. The compassion, dignity and kindness I was shown last year will forever leave my soul indebted. The only way to pay it back is to come back October 31 and pray I can touch even one lost human being.
Please let me know what I can do to help. I would love to just “mingle” amongst my former “peeps” and maybe tell them my story. Or just LISTEN. They MATTER.
Looking forward to seeing you all again!
Love,
Amy”
Help us Matter to those that Matter with your clothing drive, time volunteering, or cash.
Think about this for 1 second. How cool is this community that we live in that we can come together, across every socio-economic boundary, to unite Matter to those that Matter. City, county, United Way, churches, shelters, businesses, and you… all coming together to Matter! Awesome.
If you have yet to experience a 1Matters Tent City, it is a pretty remarkable, almost unexplainable event. The remarkable outpouring of love and the community of spirit is felt by all who grace the space. The pictures and videos on this site will give you only an image. To FEEL it you must live it yourself, and we hope you will.
If you would like to download brochures, ask questions, or sign up to volunteer, just register at the Tent City Forum.
