What is the Valentine Community Project?
We are a volunteer group of friends and neighbors who mobilize once a year to give Valentine’s day gifts to survivors of domestic abuse living in emergency temporary housing. More on that here.
Who gets the Valentine’s Day gifts?
Every year is a little different. In 2023 we gave 548 gift bags to the adult residents of 13 different shelters:
8 Safe Horizon shelters in NYC
2 Sanctuary for Families shelters in NYC
Elizabeth Freeman Center Pittsfield MA
2 Barrier Free Living shelters in NYC serving people with disabilities escaping domestic abuse
We are using 535 as a ballpark number for 2024 but it’s impossible to know what volume of donations will come in. This is a volunteer run stone soup effort so it all depends on what comes in and our ability to organize it. We will play it by ear.
Does everything donated go to the Valentines?
YES!
Everyone involved with the project is a volunteer and the space we store and pack our things in is donated. All of the money sent in goes towards buying the bags, the stuff that goes in them, and minimal operating expenses (like the website). Nearly every item sent to us goes to our Valentines in the gift bags, but there are a few exceptions: Some things may be appreciated by someone at a shelter but aren’t a good fit for the gift bags (like foundation make up which you can only use if it’s the right shade; a book about dieting, or hair dye. Rather than wrapping these up in the gift bags, we give them to the shelters directly for them to give people who want or need them). Occasionally we make the call that something is too used or broken to be passed on but that is quite rare. Details on donating money are here.
I want to donate a lot of stuff or help another way. What should I do?
Thank you! The best thing to do is contact Emily to make a plan.
Learn more about the kinds of stuff we usually give away here or look at pictures here.
Are my donations tax deductible?
Nope. More on that here. We’re just a group of friends, not a formal non-profit.
Where does all of this happen?
After rapidly outgrowing the Brooklyn apartment it started in, the project was nomadic. In 2019 a co-heart made the generous donation of a space in Douglaston Queens, where we can receive and store donations year round, and assemble the goods over the course of the year (rather than two frantic / endless nights!)
Can I help distribute the gift bags?
Nope. The shelter locations are confidential (even to us). We just make up the bags and send them off to the shelters with prayers and wishes for each of our Valentines. Safe horizon’s van picks up the bags from our assembly site in Douglaston & delivers them to the shelters - we drop bags off to the other shelters’ offices for them to distribute.
When’s the last day contributions can be received to be included in the 2023 gift bags?
We are accepting donations year round. The very last day to receive items for inclusion in this year’s gift bags is January 15th. Anything received after the deadline will be gifted to next year’s Valentines.