Department of
Health & Human Services

Long Beach, CA – On Saturday, Sept. 23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the City of Long Beach will host its seventh donation drive thru to collect essential items to distribute to people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The event will take place at the Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) Main Facilities Center, located at 2525 Grand Ave. Donations received during the event will be distributed at the Multi-Service Center (MSC) to people experiencing homelessness and will also be available to local partner organizations to distribute.

“Our community has been so generous in their contributions over the last six months,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “Through these donations, we’ve been able to provide more than 11,300 essential items to people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach.”

The City is currently seeking clothing, as well as the following items, for contribution:

• Hygiene kits or house-warming gift kits from the Multi-Service Center Amazon Wish List.
• Backpacks filled with needed items such as hand warmers, flashlights, battery packs, batteries (especially D batteries), emergency blankets and charging cables.
• Pet care kits with things like pet food, treats, collars, leashes, pet toys or collapsible pet bowls.
• S, M, L, XL or XXL sweatpants, shirts, socks and men’s and women’s underwear, beanies, scarves, caps, hoodies, towels or blankets. Gently used items are appreciated, too.
• Welcome home kits with some of the suggested items above and a special hand-written motivating message to go in the kit.
• Food items like canned food (and small, manual can openers), bottled drinks like juices or water, and snacks such as granola bars or power bars, instant oatmeal and instant soup.

While gift cards will not be accepted at the drive thru event, they can be donated at the MSC. To schedule a drop-off time, people can call 562.570.4586.

Since launching donation efforts in late February 2023, the City has collected over 18,350 items generously donated by community members, including 10,347 items during the City’s first six donation drive thru events and over 8,000 items from drop-off bins and items donated through other avenues. Over 60% of these items have been distributed to the MSC and community organizations thus far.

Local organizations that support people experiencing homelessness and are interested in receiving donations to support their organization’s mission are encouraged to submit a donation request form based on their charitable outreach needs.

More information on how community members can get involved is available on the Volunteer, Donate and Get Involved tab at longbeach.gov/homelessness.

The City does not represent or warrant that any donations made to the City are tax deductible. Donors are encouraged to work with their tax professional. Receipts of donations are available at all drop off locations.

For more information on the City’s efforts to reduce homelessness in Long Beach, people may visit longbeach.gov/homelessness and follow @lbhealthdept and @longbeachcity on social media and follow the hashtag #EveryoneHomeLB.