More than 2,000 volunteers each year deliver 65,000 brown bag meals, 10,000 pairs of socks and underwear, 7,500 toiletry kits, 49,000 cups of soup, and literally tons of donated clothing to over 21,000 people in New York City, Newark and Irvington, NJ. Provide new backpacks and school supplies for more than 1,000 children eligible for free and reduced lunch in Summit and to sheltered children in Newark and Irvington.
Bridges ends homelessness through volunteer-driven outreach and individual case management focusing on health, housing and independence. We form relationships with those experiencing homelessness while meeting their most urgent needs. Our program goal is simple and straightforward: to bring community to the most vulnerable homeless and food insecure in lower Manhattan, Newark and Irvington.
Bridges ends homelessness through volunteer-driven outreach and individual case management focusing on health, housing and independence. We form relationships with those experiencing homelessness while meeting their most urgent needs. Our program goal is simple and straightforward: to bring community to the most vulnerable homeless and food insecure in lower Manhattan, Newark and Irvington.
Services
Today over 2,600 volunteers help us deliver more than 65,000 meals to New York, Newark, and Irvington. On Fridays, we open our doors to Summit neighbors in need. Bridges offers volunteer opportunities to adults and high school students to make a direct impact that is often a life-changing experience.
The Bridges Run is an opportunity for a group of trained volunteers, along with Bridges' staff, to go directly to the streets and shelters to meet homeless men, women, and children. On a typical Bridges Run, our truck is loaded with fresh, ready-to-eat meals in bags, sustainable lunches (long shelf life provisions), and soup, among other items of necessity, for those living on the street or in dire need.
We are accepting fresh and sustainable lunches. Please wash hands and wear surgical gloves when preparing lunches. Bridges delivers more than 65,000 brown bag lunches every year. You can help provide meals by holding a lunch-making party with your friends, neighbors, colleagues or service organization.
Hygiene kits are very important to our friends on the street. You can collect travel size toiletry items on your own, or purchase the items from Bridges at cost and assemble them on your own. Please pack each kit in a quart size plastic bag. Kits are $3 each, and come in quantities of 50. Contact us at info@bridgesoutreach.org to make arrangements for picking up the hygiene kits.
Clothing drives are a great way to support our friends in need, and are vital to Bridges' mission. Narrow the focus of your drive: Choose one or two items to focus on for your drive. If you open it up to any and all clothing donations, then you usually just end up with a large collection of assorted items that people would otherwise just throw away.
