Adopt a Family for Christmas

The annual Jammie Drive for 2022 has concluded. 

  

2022 marked the 10th Anniversary of the Jammie Drive, an event Merideth started to benefit the residents of Alameda’s Midway Shelter.  Over the years as participation grew, the Jammie Drive expanded to serve four other shelters in the East Bay.  These shelters support local women and children including those affected by domestic violence and homelessness. This effort was coordinated through the Building Futures for Women and Children (BFWC) organization, which operates the shelters for our community. All gifts and monetary donations received directly support the women and children residents of the shelters.

During the 10 years of the Jammie Drive, the support from our community has been simply amazing. Together, we have been able to provide Jammies and slippers to over 1,600 people and provide for other basic needs with just over $50,000 in financial donations.  We continue to be amazed at the caring and generosity of our community as participation and donations have grown each year.

With the continued growth of the Jammie Drive, and the even larger expansion of support needed, we realized that it is time to turn over control to those with the resources necessary to drive this seasonal giving event to new heights.  For this reason, we are passing the baton to the City of Alameda.  Merideth and her team will still be involved in the future, but as donors rather than organizers.  We hope everyone will continue to participate in this very worthwhile cause which provides a positive impact on the lives of the most vulnerable in our community.

FAQs

Who receives my gift?

Clothing gifts are provided directly to individual residents of the five local facilities that support homelessness and victims of domestic violence: Midway Shelter and its accompanying safe house, as well as three additional shelters in the East Bay. Some residents are single women, while some are single moms with between one and six children each, ranging in age from newborns to teenagers. The Shelter’s safe house is a place for moms who are back in the workforce, further along in their transition than the Shelter residents.

We have decided to make this a personalized giving campaign. This means we have set up a way for you to adopt an individual family. We provide age, gender, and size information so that clothing gifts can be purchased which are specific to each family member. For the purposes of confidentiality and to protect the residents, family member names have been fictionalized, but your contribution does go to the family you select.

How do I donate money if I don’t want to do the shopping myself?

Financial donations can be made in one of two ways:

1. Via check made payable to “Building Futures for Women and Children”.  Send via mail directly to:  Jammie Drive, c/o BFWC, 1840 Fairway Dr.  San Leandro, CA 94577.
2. Visit the BFWC direct giving web page here.

The deadline for financial donations to the Jammie Drive 2022 is Friday, December 30th, however, BFWC will gladly accept donations all year long.

If I am doing the shopping myself, what do I buy?

For the moms: pajamas or sweatshirts/pants.  For the kids, pajamas plus optional underwear and socks. Including other cozy clothing is fine too. All items must be new.

Can I wrap the gifts?

Shelter staff has asked us NOT to wrap the gifts. Sometimes there is a need to make a few substitutions, so being able to see what is being provided is very helpful to the Shelter staff. Once donations have been matched to the intended recipients, BFWC has volunteers, civic groups, and staff who take great joy in contributing to the giving effort by wrapping all the gifts. Thank you for your understanding.

If I want to make a card for my adopted family, who should I address it to?

You can make a card but please omit any recipient names.  Keep in mind the names of the family you are donating to have been fictionalized for privacy reasons.  Please do not use these names on your card as that is not something the actual family will recognize. Just put your card with your gifts and they will get to the right family.

Can I include other things such as new toys in my gift?

Yes, the shelter welcomes your additional gifts.  All additional gifts should be new and unwrapped.

I haven’t adopted a family and wish to make a general monetary donation to be used for whatever still needs to be purchased.

To make a financial donation, please visit the BFWC direct giving web page here. Once this page closes on December 30th, please reach out directly to Building Futures for Women and Children.

Do you need any additional help?

Yes! We certainly could use some help with various aspects of this event. If you are interested in helping out with organizing the party or helping with additional shopping required for the families that are choosing to donate money, please be in touch.

Warmly,