MARCH FOR HUMAN DIGNITY HIGHLIGHTS HOMELESS NEEDS

Los Angeles Mission 8th Annual Underwear Drive

February 18, 2008 --- Los Angeles, California --- In what may be the largest collection of its kind, more than 500 volunteers and donors brought thousands of underwear items to Skid Row Monday for the 8th Annual March for Human Dignity. The March has been conducted by the Los Angeles Mission to each President’s Day to highlight the need for underwear for the homeless.

The Los Angeles Mission is a leader in the effort to restore dignity to the guests and neighbors they serve. The annual underwear event gets civic groups, churches and even political leaders to collect donations of underwear, socks and t-shirts for donation to the homeless of Skid Row.

“While many may look at this as something to joke about, we take it very seriously,” said Herb Smith, president of the Los Angeles Mission. “To us, and to our guests, respect is a very important subject. When we treat people with dignity, they begin the process of retaining their self-respect, and over time, that can result in recovery and self-sufficiency.”

City Council members Dennis Zine and Bernard Parks joined the marchers as they gathered before the events started. Zine showed the crowd some of the donations he collected, and thanked them for being part of the solution. “We want this crowd to grow even as we get more homeless off the streets,” Zine said.

Parks related his experience on the streets of Skid Row as a police officer. He too talked about the need for there to be housing and help for the homeless.

“We were blessed with support from Easy Life Furniture this year,” Smith added. “The company supported us in their advertising, and put collection bins in their stores. We are very grateful for their efforts.”

Easy Life Furniture stores in the southland joined in the drive. 14 stores and the outlet store featured drop-off bins for customers. The stores also featured the March in its advertising flyers and radio spots. “Basically, we wanted to take advantage of having all these southland locations as a forum to help assist the Los Angeles Mission in this event,” said Nancy Hsieh, Project Manager for Easy Life. “Someone in Murrieta may not drive down to make that donation in downtown but have the intention to, but since we advertise it and use our Murrieta showroom as a drop off point, it’s simple!”

Whittier Area Community Church also went out in a big way for the event. The church arranged for a storage “pod” to be delivered to its campus, and donations filled the container. Delivery is scheduled following the March event. Crystal Cathedral in Orange County also collected underwear at services and on its campus for the event. Underwear drives were also conducted at several city and state elected representatives’ offices, and at numerous businesses.

Everyday of the year, the Mission provides the hungry and homeless of downtown Los Angeles free food, clothing, safe lodging, and rehabilitation programs, as well as an opportunity for homeless men and women to take a shower and receive a change of clothing. “It has long been our desire to offer new underwear to each guest when they freshen up,” said Smith. “But often we have to launder their old underwear for them because we don’t have any in stock or are out of their size.”

Recently a count of need was undertaken by Los Angeles Mission staff, and it found that more than 13,000 items of underwear were needed each month for guest and men and women in the long-term recovery programs at the Mission.

Monday’s March began at the Richard J. Riordan Central Library at the corner of Flower and 5th Streets. Falling in behind a fire engine from the Los Angeles Fire Department, LAPD cars and a Boy Scout Troop color guard, the marchers made their way down 5th Street, which was closed to traffic, to the Mission at 5th and Wall. Waving banners and signs – singing and shouting cheers for support, the marchers completed the march by placing their donations of new underwear in several plastic bins.

For more than 60 years, the Los Angeles Mission has served the people of Skid Row, providing emergency services such as shelter, food, clothing, as well as professional medical and dental services. In addition, the Los Angeles Mission also offers long-term residential rehabilitation programs including education, job training/placement, transitional housing and counseling.