Wish List helps fulfill nonprofits' many needs

By Marc Ramirez
Seattle Times staff reporter

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

The reading area isn't much to look at — just some tables and a couple of chairs. If they could just have a comfortable couch, Edgar Masmela says, it would help create more of a homey vibe for the at-risk students his agency serves.

"If we could model reading on a couch, maybe they could take that home and realize the TV doesn't have to be on," says Masmela, who manages Friends of the Children-King County, the Central District-based, long-term mentoring program. "Maybe they'll go home and ask mom and dad to read with them."

Looking for a way to help someone out this holiday season? It can be as simple as donating that couch. Or a filing cabinet. Or diapers. Or art supplies.

Here's the deal: Each year, The Seattle Times asks local nonprofits to send us their Wish List — for items they need but maybe haven't been able to afford, for things they can give to those they serve, for tools that will help staffers better do their jobs. We've been doing this for six years now, and as readers, you've responded kindly.

Last year, readers donated clothes and other items to Baby Boutique's efforts for homeless children, while others showered the Humane Society for Seattle/King County with pet food. One Bishop Blanchet High School student, with items collected as his Eagle Scout project, supplied Seattle's Millionair Club with hundreds of hygiene kits assembled for the agency's homeless and unemployed clientele.

This year, more than 500 local agencies need your help. Requests range from large-scale items (vehicles, computers) that would devour huge chunks of limited budgets to smaller things (clothing, food, gift cards, office supplies) that agencies just can't have enough of.

The two things we ask agencies NOT to include on their Wish Lists are requests for cash or volunteers. That's because we think you know that nearly every nonprofit would appreciate that sort of help. We're looking for more specific items, and there are lots of ideas out there.

The types of agencies in need range from those that help seniors (the Northshore Senior Center in Bothell has a very simple request, for used tennis balls) to those whose "clients" are animals in shelters (Friends of the Animals Foundation in King County and Purrfect Pals in Snohomish County seek items such as cat food, kitty toys and paper towels).

The seniors use those tennis balls, by the way, "on the legs of their walkers to make it easier [to move around]," explains van driver Gene Bergmann, who helps clients getting on and off center vehicles.

Among other things, Seattle Indian Center could use a commercial gas range for a community meal program; Clover Creek Council needs wheelbarrows and pick axes for wetlands restoration efforts; Habitat for Humanity of East King County seeks roofing materials and power tools to help build homes for needy families.
 
Friends of the Children, like many agencies, includes computers on its wish list. Its kids not only need them for homework and Web research but simply to keep pace with technology; some come from families who have never surfed the Internet. (Note to potential donors: Be kind. Agencies need working computers, not those simply destined for the recycling center.)

For Holly Ridge Center, serving Bainbridge Island, the Wish List is a chance to bolster its home-based infant/toddler program and another dealing with autistic children.

"We work really closely with these little guys, trying to modify their behavior," says infant/toddler director Kathy Fortner. Her program serves kids 3 and under who are either developmentally disabled or delayed.

The agency seeks sensory-stimulating things like Koosh Balls, child-size maracas and toys that vibrate or have flashing lights. "We also have a hydrotherapy program, so water toys, things that squirt and squish and squeeze, those are all favorites," Fortner says.

Seattle Education Access (SEA) serves low-income youths — many formerly homeless — transitioning to community college.

Among SEA's efforts is supplying reading material for the many youths at city homeless shelters and drop-in centers. Its Wish List item? Used books, especially those that can help develop reading skills — autobiographies, self-help books, pop science, coming-of-age novels.

Homeless kids read a lot, says executive director Polly Trout. They don't have the electronic devices that occupy so much of other youths' time. "What we're really looking for is stuff that is thought-provoking but fun to read," she says. "It's the spoonful-of-sugar approach."

For hundreds of more ideas, check out the 2004 Wish List. It's online at www.seattletimes.com/wishlist.