City officials are asking for sunscreen, hats, water bottles and other donations to be distributed to the city’s homeless residents, which included 2,455 people who were living on the streets without adequate shelter as of the last count.
The Long Beach Health Department will collect the donations on July 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at its headquarters at 2525 Grand Ave.
Anyone who wants to donate can drive through and have the items taken directly from their car.
The city asked specifically for items from the following list:
- Hygiene kits or housewarming gift kits from the Multi-Service Center Amazon Wish List.
- Backpacks filled with items such as sunscreen, reusable water bottles, sun hats, flashlights, battery packs, batteries (usually D batteries) and charging cables.
- S, M, L, XL or XXL sweatpants, shirts, socks and men’s and women’s underwear, caps, hoodies, towels or blankets. Gently used items are appreciated, too.
- Pet care kits with things like pet food, treats, collars, leashes, pet toys or collapsible pet bowls.
- Welcome home kits with some of the suggested items above and a special hand-written motivating message to go in the kit.
- Food items like canned food (and small, manual can openers), bottled drinks like juices or water, and snacks such as granola bars or power bars, instant oatmeal and instant soup.
Gift cards won’t be accepted.
Anyone who can’t make it on July 27 can still drop off donations at bins set up at Long Beach libraries, at the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach at 3635 Long Beach Blvd, and at the Scherer Park Community Center at 4654 Pasadena Ave.
Since starting its regular donation drives, the city says it’s distributed 22,500 donated items to homeless people or organizations serving them.
You can find more ways to help here.