Hundreds of people come through the doors of First United each day seeking comfort, care and a place to belong. When you give goods to our Community Help Desk Program, you increase free access to basic personal hygiene and emergency care items and provide vital support to our neighbours in need.
Summer 2023 Update
During the redevelopment of our building at 320 East Hastings, our programs and services will be moved to satellite locations throughout the Downtown Eastside. The location of the new Community Help Desk cannot accommodate the same volume of in-kind items and we ask that you aid us in our work by only donating the items listed below. Other items cannot be accepted.
We’re in need of the following items in new and original packaging, or gently-used for clothing items:
- Rain ponchos
- Tampons
- Bar soap**
- Razors and shaving cream**
- Shampoo
- Toothpaste and toothbrushes
- Combs/hairbrushes
- McDonald’s and Tim Horton’s gift cards in $5 or $10 amounts
- Men’s and women’s underwear**
- Socks
- Sweat pants**
- Lotion**
- Towels
- Winter gloves
- Blankets (twin sized). No feather duvets, or afghans
- Twin fitted sheets (no flat sheets or other bedding)
Items marked with ** are in high demand
An appointment must be arranged to safely drop off donated gifts of goods. You can make an appointment to drop off these items by contacting Cristien Donhuysen, Program Manager, at [email protected].
Our Spiritual Care team is also in need of:
- Craft supplies, including:
- Watercolor paper
- Canvas boards
- Beads (seed beads to pony beads size-wise)
- Cardstock
- Buttons
- Books
- Family board games
Make an appointment to drop off these donated items by contacting Lauren Sanders, Indigenous Spiritual Care Chaplain, at [email protected].
We will update this space periodically to reflect which items our community members need and that we’re able to accept.
Tax Receipts for Gifts In-Kind
In order to receive a charitable tax receipt for your donated gifts of goods please fill out our Gifts In-Kind Donation Form and submit your original receipt for the value of the items. Your Gifts In-Kind Donation Form and receipt can be provided when you drop off your items, or you can scan and email to [email protected]. Unfortunately, we cannot issue charitable tax receipts for items without a receipt.
If you have any questions about donating gifts in-kind please contact our Resource Development department at 604.336.3047 or [email protected].
Other organizations accepting gifts of goods
While we can only accept the above listed items, there are a number of other important organizations accepting in-kind gifts that we encourage you to direct other items to:
