newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

There’s no better time than the holidays to “make a life” by giving, and a couple of dozen Fairbanks human needs organizations have offered some ideas.

Some of the ideas are simple. The Fairbanks Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter, is asking the community for spare reading glasses. Some requests are weighty. The North Star Council on Aging, which serves elders, needs a garage addition.

Other organizations are asking for time. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska needs mentors. The Literacy Council of Alaska needs tutors. The Resource Center for Parents and Children needs baby-sitters.

One organization, Presbyterian Hospitality House, is asking for jobs to occupy its teenage clients during the holiday break from school.

Drenda Tigner, executive director, said the jobs can be as minor as shoveling a driveway or as major as a temporary job at a business.

“It’s things that teenagers can do,” she said. “We have several 18-year-olds. They are very bright.”

Another organization, the Breast Cancer Detection Center, is asking area seamstresses to make patient gowns.

The agency provides patients homemade gowns that open in the front like a poncho, instead of mass-produced hospital gowns, to wear during mammograms.

The homemade gowns foster a comfortable, homey atmosphere at the center, executive director Odette Butler said.

Snack food is an item on several nonprofits’ wish lists. Money, toiletries and toys are other common requests.

Mary Mitchell, cook and manager at the Stone Soup Cafe, is asking for hats and gloves.

Mitchell’s agency provides breakfast and lunch in a church basement to needy people, “no questions asked.” Some of the clients come to eat wearing scant winter clothing on bitter cold days.

“Food-wise, we are faring well,” Mitchell said. “I’m really happy to report that. Cash donations do seem to be down a bit over years past.”

LIST OF LOCAL CHARITIES

ACCESS Alaska

• Address: 526 Gaffney Rd., Suite 100

• Contact: Jim Kreatschman, 479-7940

• Services: Independent living services for Alaskans with disabilities.

• Needs: Donations to help people with disabilities who need eyeglasses, medications, medical equipment, food and clothing.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska

• Address: 600 Cushman St., Suite 300

• Contact: Taber Rehbaum, 452-8110

• Services: Match children with caring adults to spend one hour or more per week having fun and developing a friendship so children can succeed and reach their potential.

• Needs: Volunteers, laptops, a DVD player, age-appropriate VCR tapes, board games, concert tickets, sporting event tickets, postage stamps, gift cards, snack food, calling cards, frames or plaques, bus passes, passes to an athletic club, copy paper, art and craft supplies, pens and pencils.

Boys and Girls Club of the Tanana Valley

• Address: 800 Cushman St. behind City Hall

• Contact: Christy Wiskeman, 457-5223

• Services: After-school activities and programs for children ages 7-18.

• Needs: Volunteers to interact with children. Nonperishable snack foods, such as Goldfish crackers, graham crackers, pretzels, peanut butter, beef jerky and bread. Powdered drink mixes, such as Kool-Aid or lemonade.

Breast Cancer Detection Center

• Address: 1905 Cowles St.

• Contact: Odette Butler, 479-3909

• Services: Mammograms in Fairbanks and throughout rural Alaska.

• Needs: Homemade patient gowns particular to mammography and repair to gowns in use. Templates available at the agency.

Denali Center

• Address: 1510 19th Ave.

• Contact: Carol Switzer, 458-5107

• Services: Comprehensive short- and long-term nursing care.

• Needs: Sunflower seeds and treats for wild birds; beauty and barber shop supplies such as aftershave, hair clips, barrettes, hand mirrors and fingernail polish.

Fairbanks Community Behavioral Health Center

• Address: 3830 South Cushman St.

• Contact: Sharon Bullock, 452-1575

• Services: Comprehensive outpatient mental health treatment services for adults, children and families.

• Needs: Blankets, pillows, slippers, warm clothing, twin mattresses with protective covering, televisions, DVD/VCR players, a large toaster oven, popcorn popper, book shelves, picnic tables, puzzles, bicycles, gardening supplies, art and craft supplies, a portable gazebo or car port tent and yard games, such as horse shoes or a volleyball net. Also needed are books on child behavior and toys, including puzzles, crayons, Play-Doh, dolls, dinosaurs and the board game Mouse Trap.

Fairbanks Community Food Bank

• Address: 725 26th Ave.

• Contact: Samantha Kirstein, 456-7267

• Services: Food boxes Monday through Friday, 52 weeks of the year and perishable food from 3 to 4 p.m. Monthly food boxes to eligible households and food available for area human service organizations.

• Needs: Cash, food and volunteers.

Fairbanks Counseling & Adoption

• Address: 912 Barnette St.

• Contact: Sabrina Davis, 456-4729, ext. 113

• Services: Pregnancy services, adoption services and counseling for couples, at-risk teens, children, families and adults.

• Needs: Smoke detectors, towels, nonperishable food that is prepackaged, gasoline vouchers, bed sheets in all sizes, first aid kits, board games, infant and toddler car seats, portable cribs, socks, underwear, larger-sized diapers, gift cards and puzzles.

Fairbanks Rescue Mission

• Address: 723 27th Ave.

• Contact: Michelle Harpole, 452-5343

• Services: 24-hour emergency homeless shelter for men, women and children.

• Needs: Hats, gloves, long underwear, socks, underwear, pajamas, brassieres, cologne, bath products, sweaters, reading glasses, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Christmas wrapping paper, ribbons, gift bags, Scotch tape, tape dispensers, copy paper, laminator, vinyl gloves, 55-gallon trash bags, paper towels, napkins and basic foodstuff, namely coffee, tea, sugar, pasta etc.

Hospice of the Tanana Valley

• Address: 2001 Gillam Way

• Contact: Mary Johnsen or Joan Gaudin, 474-0311

• Services: Care for people with terminal illnesses, their families and those who are suffering from grief through the loss of a loved one.

• Needs: Money, volunteers, quilts, books, bedside tables, wheelchairs in good condition, Chux pads, baby monitors, gait belts, shower chairs, air mattresses, transfer chairs and hand-held shower heads.

Interior AIDS Association

• Address: 710 Third Ave.

• Contact: Tracey White, 452-4222 ext. 110

• Services: Case management for HIV-positive clients, HIV education and prevention.

• Needs: Nonperishable food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and hygiene products.

Interior Alaska Center for Nonviolent Living

• Address: 726 26th Ave., Suite 1

• Contact: Michelle Auman, 452-2293

• Services: Counseling and housing for women and children displaced due to domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse.

• Needs: Kitchenware, winter clothing, toys, hairdryers, curling irons, hair brushes and makeup.

Joel’s Place

• Address: 1890 Marika Rd.

• Contact: Linda Setterberg, 452-2621

• Services: After school drop-in center with an indoor skate park, concerts and backpacks filled with food for needy children.

• Needs: Peanut butter and jelly plus nonperishable food, including canned fruit and vegetables.

Literacy Council of Alaska

• Address: 517 Gaffney Rd.

• Contact: Mike Kolasa, 456-6212

• Services: One-on-one and small group instruction for children, adults and families in reading, writing, English speaking, math and computers.

• Needs: Computers, books, tutors to help clients learn to speak English and volunteers for the Guys Read program.

LOVE Inc.

• Address: 818 26th Ave.

• Contact: Judy Dellinger, 452-3876

• Services: Provides churches opportunities to help meet the needs of the poor.

• Needs: Furniture, firewood or cash for energy the assistance fund, which is used to provide heat and electricity for struggling families.

North Star Council On Aging

• Address: 1424 Moore St.

• Contact: Brian Wooldridge, 452-1735

• Services: Home-delivered meals, group lunches, transportation, exercise programs and activities for people 60 years and older.

• Needs: The video game system Wii with four controllers and Wii games, including “Wii Play” and “Wii Sports.” A 52-inch LCD television, a couch, a docking station for a Canon PowerShot camera, new dishes, center pieces for tables, tablecloths, a handicap-accessible van, soft chairs, drapes and a garage addition.

Presbyterian Hospitality House

• Address: 209 Forty Mile Ave., Suite 100

• Contact: Drenda Tigner or Beccy M. Monsma, 456-6445

• Services: Promotes the healthy and productive development of troubled and at-risk youth through behavioral treatment in family-style group homes.

• Needs: Theater tickets, Nanooks hockey tickets, Mary Siah swim tickets, Chena Hot Springs Resort family passes, coupons for hot chocolate, job opportunities for youth during the holiday vacation, movie tickets, newly released CDs, school supplies, gift cards and phone cards.

Ralph Perdue Center

• Address: 3100 S. Cushman St.

• Contact: Kate Wood, 452-6251

• Services: Detoxification from alcohol and drugs.

• Needs: Warm hats, gloves, mittens, scarfs, socks, sweaters and sweat shirts.

Resource Center for Parents and Children/Stevie’s Place

• Address: 726 26th Ave., Suite 2

• Contact: Jane Atkinson, 456-9007

• Services: A variety of services centered around the well-being of families, including parenting classes, nutrition for pregnant women and support for sexually abused children.

• Needs: Taxi and bus tokens, diapers, children’s books, formula, home-baked goods, gift cards and volunteer baby-sitters.

Santa’s Clearing House

• Address: 280 North Cushman St. behind the News-Miner building

• Contact: Nava Peterson, 457-1934

• Services: Food boxes during the holidays for families and senior citizens along with Christmas gifts for children.

• Needs: Money and gifts for children through age 17.

Stone Soup Cafe

• Address: 915 Second Ave. in the basement of First United Methodist Church

• Contact: Mary Mitchell, 456-8317

• Services: Free breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday no questions asked.

• Needs: Food, hats and gloves.

The Salvation Army

• Address: 1602 10th Ave.

• Contact: Maj. Michael Bates, 452-3103

• Services: An evangelical organization that helps people with food, shelter and warmth.

• Needs: Christmas gifts for children and teenagers and donations to the Red Kettle Campaign.

Women and Children’s Center for Inner Healing

• Contact: Shelly Carlson, 451-8164 ext. 245

• Services: Long-term residential substance abuse treatment for adult females and children up to the age of 6.

• Needs: Television, bath towels, bassinets, toddler car seats, sleds, self-help books, children’s books, family games, dining room chairs, hats, gloves, snow pants, boots, toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo and conditioner.