Day of Giving: A way for the community to help those in need Published April 15, 2014 By Greta Morrow Day of Giving Board F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- The Cheyenne community is invited out to the Kiwanis Community House on May 9 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to join in the eighth annual Day of Giving, a way for the community to help local residents who are sick or in great need. The community will collect everything from food for local food pantries and hygiene items for places like Salvation Army, the Wyoming Safehouse and the Boys and Girls Club to medical supplies, leftover prescription medications and used eyeglasses and hearing aids for patients in need. Volunteers will sort and deliver many tons of donations to local agencies, new bone marrow, organ and tissue donors will register and 17 local agencies will have a surplus of supplies from the donations collected. Personnel from F.E. Warren Air Force Base have joined in the Day of Giving efforts the previous years, helping with pre-event collections, signing up to help run the event and encouraging friends and family to participate. Organizers hope the military community will have the same helping spirit this year. New donation requests This year's Day of Giving organizers are requesting two new items that are currently in short supply for those who are struggling to get by. The first is for used cell phones and chargers, which will be donated to the Wyoming Safehouse so abused women will have a way to call 911. The second is for packages of new underwear for all ages, newborn to senior citizen. The community has realized the people who have trouble providing food for their families often struggle to buy basic hygiene items, such as soap and detergent, and have no money left to buy underwear. As a result, they often go without. The new underwear will go to seven different agencies - the Boys & Girls Club, the Interfaith Family Support Services, the Wyoming Safehouse, the Salvation Army, and The Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless. Day of Giving youth event The youth of Cheyenne are invited to the Day of Giving youth event May 8 to drop off donations of non-perishable food, personal care items, and craft items at the Community House from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Organized teams of high school junior and seniors will run the event, performing the same jobs the adults will be doing the next day. All youth groups are invited to participate - including classes, 4-H clubs, Scout troops, and youth groups. The community knows that hundreds of kids in the local area struggle to have enough food and hygiene items, and we hope the community can come together and help those who have almost nothing. Year-long devotion The annual Day of Giving event is just a single event in a year-long process of giving to the community. This year's organizers hope to raise $40,000, which will go toward helping ten local agencies in acquiring needed items that are not donated. Donation jars will be available at the event, or donors can mail donations to PO Box 192, Cheyenne, 82003, or go the Donate button on the website. For more information, visit the Day of Giving website at www.cheyennenetwork.com/dayofgiving or call Greta Morrow at 635-3943.