Do1Thing Blog

The Do1Thing cake donated for the Covenant House prom in Newark

If you’re wondering what all those single acts of kindness added up to on Valentine’s Day, here’s an early report from Covenant House:

In New York City approximately $20,000 was raised and you filled the clothing room with in-kind gifts.

In New Jersey you raised another $10,000, you filled half of a large room with donated goods, you filled the gym with people, threw a prom for the kids and you topped off the pantry and filled the freezer.

In Orlando you delivered new clothing, baby items, hygiene supplies, gym supplies, books and cash.

In Missouri local media coverage from St. Louis Catholic Review, KIHT and KLOU-FM spawned numerous clothing drives amongst you and you raised more cash for the local Covenant House.

In Georgia one of the highlights was a group of high school and college students from Christ Harvest Ministries, who stayed all day and played basketball with the kids. Covenant House also received numerous gift cards, clothes and school supplies from you.

In Michigan more than 100 of you showed up and donated cash along with in-kind gifts estimated at another couple of thousand dollars. The local Fox news television station helped raise awareness.

In Texas they’re still trying to add up the in-kind, monetary and gift card donations you delivered. They had terrific turn out due to coverage in the Houston Chronicle and a 3.5 minute piece on the local Fox morning show. Tours went on all day long. Importantly, many of you said you had never heard of Covenant House and came out that day because of the coverage.

In Washington D.C. coverage on the local NBC affiliate, local cable News Channel 8, and two local newspapers, the D.C. Examiner and East of the River, caused you to come out in large numbers and give in-kind donations.

Around the country Covenant House received at least $75,000 in cash donations, which is enough to keep at least two kids in a Covenant House facility for an entire year. This includes the cost of feeding them, housing them and providing them with all the medical and professional needs they might require.

Additionally, traffic at the Covenant House website was “way up” (we still don’t have exact numbers) and awareness of the youth homelessness problem was raised.

This all happened because so many of YOU did 1 thing.

If you weren’t able to Do 1 Thing on Valentine’s Day, that’s OK, there will be plenty of future opportunities.

Keep coming back to this site for more information. Or better yet, sign up for our e-mail list so you won’t miss your opportunity to do 1 thing.

By Chris Stanfield

Atlanta, Georgia – It’s Valentine’s Day and here at Covenant House Georgia Bertrand Kane is putting his talents as a resident adviser to good use by cooking hot dogs and chicken wings for guests stopping by. It’s cloudy outside but spirits are up throughout the building as teens finish their daily chores before heading out to jobs or visiting with friends. Chad Smith, a new resident who came to Atlanta from New York, stays behind to have his portrait made by photographer Ann States, who arrived at 7am with her assistant to document life around the shelter for Do1Thing. Dressed in a collared shirt and blue tie for his photo, Smith smiles as he talks about one day joining the military, going to college and making millions. After more than 13 years in foster care throughout the country, Smith now lives here at the Covenant House where he shares his dreams with 20-25 other homeless teens on any given day. People in his life may have given up on him, or never really tried at all, but Smith’s confidence in himself is reassuring and reflective of the attitudes displayed by the majority of the teens living here. All of them are unique but share a common bond in the smiles they offer to people who are walking around the complex. Maxine Shoulders Brandon is the executive director and takes advantage of the weekend to spend more time getting to know the kids. She’s got a tough job during the week, full of administrative duties that come with running a shelter that takes about 2.4 million dollars a year to run.

Reflected through the front glass window of Covenant House Georgia, photographer Ann States works on a portrait with teen resident Kenneth Logan on Valentine's Day.

Outside making hot dogs with Bertrand is Tanou Zoumanigui, a 19 year-old college student taking a semester off from school and living with his brother here in Atlanta. After doing some research online about volunteer opportunities in the area, Tanou came across do1thing.org and decided to donate his entire day to helping around the shelter. At first glance, he looks just like every other young man at the shelter, but isn’t faced with being homeless at all. “We all came here for a purpose,” says Zoumanigui. “Like so many, I have certain privileges and benefits that I can use to help others and I can also guarantee that no one got to where they are today by themselves.” Like so many volunteers donating their time and efforts today, Zoumanigui believes that all of us are supposed to give back and that at some point in everyone’s life, a special person extends their hand to help us along the way.

Volunteer Tanou Zoumanigui, left and resident adviser Betrand Kane cook up chicken wings for guests stopping by Covenant House Georgia on Valentine's Day.

Long after today’s holiday fades, the dreams and hopes of the teens living inside this small shelter will continue to grow and strengthen. In a time starved culture, I think that all of us struggle to donate the amount of time we want to, letting life and its distractions get in the way of pursuing what all of us are called to do for others. A few hours at this shelter or talking with teens who are living on the streets should change that for anyone.

Back inside, Chad Smith’s photo session has ended with Ann and he heads into the kitchen to help Bertrand prepare more food. He has two balloons tied to the back of his belt as he struts around the shelter lending a hand. These small balloons reflect the bubbly persona Chad gives off. He certainly has a future and I’m hopeful that one day soon, that special person will come into his life, say the right words and inspire him towards success that will last a lifetime.

Chad Smith sits on his bed inside Covenant House Georgia as photographer Ann States works on his portait.

Chris Stanfield has more than 15 years of experience as a versatile photojournalist and picture editor. Working at eight newspapers across five states, Chris was named by Presstime magazine as one of the top 20 journalists under the age of 40 in the United States. Stanfield is a founding member and past president of the Associated Press Photo Managers – one the nation’s largest organizations for photo managers, picture editors and photo educators. A graduate and faculty member of the Eddie Adams Workshop, Chris resides in Atlanta with his wife and two children and works as an independent photographer and storyteller.

Atlanta is wet and windy today, teens are huddled in abandoned buildings, cruising food courts for free samples, taking naps at the library. It’s Valentine’s Day, I’m sure they are painfully aware of this… not as young single teens but as discarded, forsaken children outcast from their homes and most of society…they blend in and lay low. Their desire to not be seen or heard suffocates their cries for help. That is why we are here. At urban grind in downtown atlanta, trying like hell to get others to care. Few come in, but those who listen walk away with something to consider for the rest of the day, hopefully for the rest of their lives: We are the youth sex trafficking capital of the United States. The majority of these kids are homeless, many unwillingly forced in from another continent, many are from the United States. All are desperate, vulnerable and scared. None of them chose this, but the street is often more appealing than a drug infested or violent, abusive home. Sometimes the choice has been made for them, often kicked out by the people who raised them. What to do?

It’s the small things. We just received three donated warm winter jackets. It can be the big things, GlaxoSmithKline recently gave StandUp For Kids a $75,000 check to fund a new youth center. Now homeless kids in Atlanta will have more hot showers, hot meals, access to a nurse, laundry, computers, job counseling, clothing, blankets, shoes, hygiene kits, friendship and a place to relax…things we all need to lead our lives, realize our goals, feel confident and able…

so if you can do 1 thing do this:
Your research: Between 1.6 and 2.8 million kids runaway each year. Studies suggest 90 percent of these kids leave because they’ve been physically, sexually or emotionally abused. 34,000 to 60,000 kids in Atlanta run away every year. Runaway kids turn to prostitution and other illegal acts for survival within 48 hours. Youth 15 to 17 make up two-thirds of this group. Misconceptions and myths distort the reality of this issue.

Give what you can: from bags of clothes to shoes and food, hygiene products and money, there are organizations helping, but it is impossible to sustain this effort without continual help. There are too many kids and too little hands offering support. StandUp For Kids is an all volunteer army committed to making sure these kids are not forgotten. We need your help to help more kids.

Be there: homeless youth need mentors, friends, parents, guidance. They need someone to hold them accountable and someone to be there day after day. You have skills and expertise, compassion and patience…share it!

Solving the problem takes lots of people doing one thing.  It matters.