This month, Next Highest Good was lucky enough to sit down with local superhero, Chad Christensen, Founder of SF Smiles - an Inner Sunset based nonprofit organization that collects donations of new and gently used essentials for individuals and families in need throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
The philosophy of SF Smiles is about sharing the items in a community with those in need while also being sustainable. To SF Smiles, that means investing in our community while, at the same time, keeping as much as possible out of the dumps and landfills.
Read on for Chad’s tips for staying organized, the background story on his personal style and to discover ways you can support this incredible community resource.
How did SF Smiles begin?
The idea for SF Smiles began in 2009 when I was watching a bunch of TV shows during the holidays and noticed a lot of charity drives going on. I began to realize that someone needed to make a difference in the community throughout the year and not just during the holiday season. So I began to play around with the idea of having a central place for donations that was specifically geared towards the city of San Francisco and its community. Then I got together with friends who had the same ideas.
Our plan for SF Smiles was hatched in a coffee shop over pie.
Can it get any more San Francisco than that?
At first, we planned to hold monthly drives that would be geared towards a specific community, and over the years we’ve experimented and changed how we do things. At first we took EVERYTHING you could think of and our reach was really broad. We had a donated warehouse for awhile and when that was no longer available, we scaled back, sold our delivery truck and moved the donation center into our garage about five years ago.
SF Smiles has evolved and currently we are focusing on helping families get things that they need to take care of their children.
The donations we ask for now are specifically geared toward the needs of families. We have been a 501(c)(3) nonprofit since 2011 and have been helping families for 8 years now, on a small budget and at NO charge to the families.
Sometimes we take a break from our regular activities to focus on a specific need that comes up. The huge fires up north are a great example of this. SF Smiles experienced the biggest increase in requests for assistance after the devastating fires in northern California in 2018. We held donation drives to help these people. As a result, gathering supplies and gift cards in order to help those families in need brought a lot more visibility and community awareness to SF Smiles.
In 2019 to date, we have had:
700+ requests directly from families in need
200+ requests on the SF Smiles website for appointments
150+ Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) requests via email
50+ requests through my personal FB messenger
130 messages through SF Smiles messenger
120 requests via text messages
21 SF Smiles email requests
139 requests from HPP requests via Google Docs
I try to document many of the donations through storytelling of the pictures I have taken.
The philosophy of SF Smiles is about sharing the items in a community with those in need while also being sustainable. To SF Smiles, that means investing in our community while, at the same time, keeping as much as possible out of the dumps and landfills.
Why does SF Smiles do this?
SF Smiles is bringing awareness to sustainability as well as giving back to our community. We reuse, repurpose and recycle as much as possible. If we didn’t do this - where would it all go? We want to keep it out of the dump.
We try to strip down items as much as we can sending the minimum to the dump. For example, expired car seats are stripped of their covers and cushions, which are used to replace dirty car seats. We encourage others, like artists, to use the leftover donated items for found art pieces, etc. Imagine if every program was able to be efficient in breaking down donations this way and so much could be kept out of the dumps and reused?
What is the most rewarding part to you?
The most rewarding part are the smiles on the families’ faces when they begin to realize that ALL of the baby and kid’s items in the garage -- which were items they badly needed at the time! -- are COMPLETELY free and they can take whatever they need.
It’s really amazing to see the parents kind of melt because they are so surprised and in awe that they have entered a space where a lot of their needs will be met immediately.
It’s pretty humbling to see all of the kids smiling so big because they have a lot of toys to choose from here. It’s more than just one toy to choose from but rather so many boxes that they can sort through to find something that really speaks to their heart.
The gratitude that the parents and families have for this program is pretty apparent but it is also wonderful to see how the program impacts the donor families.
People are thrilled to have a place to donate things where they know they’ll go directly to another family. I love how so many different communities come together and help one another.
Where do you get the inspiration for your style?
I have been inspired by watching other programs do similar things to help out the community. I am definitely learning as I go!
I wanted to create a fun playhouse-designed storage area in our garage that’s filled with things that are ready to go for the families. About 95% of the items in the garage were donated. So I wanted to have an environment that is like a hip consignment shop or modern swap meet where everything is free and that is fun for everybody involved.
At night we change up the lights to make it fun.
Peace and love is the basis for our garage decorations and for SF Smiles.
Many of our donors follow us on Facebook for all the stories that we tell through photos, and we often get feedback about how amazed they are at how organized our garage is.
As for my personal style, ever since high school I’ve always wanted to do things differently. I always told myself,
“Don’t be like everybody else. You are your own person. You are your own individual. Be yourself. Be unique. Be spontaneous.”
What are your best tips and tricks for how to stay organized?
The first step in getting organized is clearing out what you don’t use anymore.
Staying organized means being mindful about what you buy, collect, and bring into your home.
Don’t collect odds and ends and hang on to things you might use “someday.” The more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to deal with every day. Don’t let it pile up.
How can the community support you?
Currently we are focusing on collecting the following most highly requested items: toys, blankets, coats, car seats (less than 5 years old!), infant carriers, bikes, strollers, backpacks, socks, diapers, gift cards and towels. Check www.sfsmiles.org for updates to our collection list and donation hours. At SF Smiles we like items that are “ready to go” so they can be quickly handed off to a family. That means: clean, undamaged, with loose parts (e.g., puzzle pieces and crib components) and hardware secured in a repurposed bag and directions included for items that require assembly. We LOVE it when our donors sort, organize and label their donations before dropping them off!
We need volunteers to help organize the SF Smiles space. Specifically, volunteers to sort, organize, and check items such as toys, breast pumps, strollers, etc. We can also use help delivering and picking up items, and we would love to have volunteers who can haul off the items to the dump. It would be wonderful to have help with creating and promoting our fundraising efforts, such as having social events during Happy Hour or finding sponsors willing to match donations. Our goal is to raise at least $100,000 this coming year. We have been running SF Smiles using minimal donations and our personal contributions for the last eight years and would love to take it up a notch with that budget. We would welcome funds to cover the cost of insurance for the SF Smiles Space, as well as for our day-to-day operations.
As for our plans for the future, we would love to have a larger space -- with the rent and insurance donated by a generous community member -- for families to come in and “shop” more easily. We are also very interested in expanding our philanthropic efforts, such as providing scholarships for needy children to do extracurricular activities, retreats, etc.
