A coat drive in November, a shoe drive in January, a toiletry drive in April. In the past, SHARE has sponsored many different drives throughout the year. However, these monthly drives are now a thing of the past.

This year, SHARE plans to host a “Jumbo Drive” from Nov. 2-6 where they will combine at least six different drives. Everything from used phones to toiletries will be collected and then donated to various charities.

SHARE Director Pat Kaufman said that she and the SHARE Execs collaboratively came up with the idea of a Jumbo Drive in hopes that there will be less confusion about the drives and that more people will hear about it.

“Small individual drives throughout the year can be annoying for people,” Kaufman said. “It’s much easier for people to look through all of their stuff at once for things to donate than throughout the year.”

Previously, the volunteer program has separated the drives, but by combining the drives they hope to collect more donations. SHARE is also working hard to get the word out about the drive by putting up posters, passing out fliers and making announcements.

Senior SHARE Exec Louisa Morton said that having one big drive will allow more people to be aware of the donations.

“Hopefully combining the drives will allow for more awareness about the things people need and it will stick in their minds,” Morton said.

SHARE is collecting blankets for the “Care of Poor People Project,” coats for “Project Warmth,” socks for “Sock it to ‘Em,” children’s books for “Headstart,” toiletries for the Village Food Pantry and used phones for the Rose Brooks Battered Women’s Shelter. Donations will be collected in bins by the counseling and administrative offices.

Although SHARE expects the drive to be more successful than individual drives of past years, Kaufman said that if this drive does not work, they can revise it for next year. However, she said that she is not worried because of the generosity of the community.

Kaufman also said that any amount of donations will be beneficial to those in need.

“Most people who are getting the donations could live on the car change we have in our cars for several days,” Kaufman said. “They wouldn’t accept the donations if they could afford it on their own.”


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