Ways to Be Kind
We don’t, and can’t, do this work alone!
Thanks to the support of the community, and alongside our peers in the homeless-serving sector, the Calgary Drop-In Centre is able to provide shelter, food, health services, and housing support to our city’s most vulnerable people.
It takes an entire community to end homelessness, so there’s a lot of ways to get involved. Here are six quick and easy ways to make a difference in your community.
We’ve teamed up with the Calgary Homeless Foundation to re-open our Free Goods Program for low and no-income Calgarians exiting homelessness and moving into their own home. The Free Goods program is also open to other agencies across the city. We rely on community donations to provide the essential items needed to make a house a home.
We accept all clean and usable household items, furniture, cookware, clothing, and hygiene items.
If you have computers or technology to donate, please contact our Computers for Low-Income Calgarians (CLIC) at 403-699-8276 to arrange a drop-off.
If you have household and personal items to donate, please mail or deliver them to:
Donation Centre
3640 11A St NE
Calgary, AB T2E 6M7
We couldn’t do the work we do without the kindness of our community. Thanks to thousands of donors each year, we’re able to make sure our most vulnerable neighbours are given a fighting chance. Your donation will support hundreds of homeless Calgarians the chance to find their way home.
If you prefer to mail in a cheque donation, please mail to:
Calgary Drop-In Centre
1 Dermot Baldwin Way SE
Calgary AB T2G 0P8
Attn: Fund Development
From stocking our health services department with over the counter medications or making sure DI clients have the supplies they need to be safe in the elements, we rely on new and gently used items donated by the community.
Our Current Greatest Needs:
Critical Needs:
Furniture
Underwear (new)
Razors
Tylenol/Advil
Throat Lozenges
Lysol Wipes
Towels (new and gently used)
Backpacks
Steel Toe Boots
$5 Tim Horton’s gift cards
Winter Items:
Toques
Gloves and mitts
Winter boots *critically low*
Snow pants
If you can spare or purchase any of these items, please mail or deliver them to:
Donation Centre
3640 11A St NE
Calgary, AB T2E 6M7
Volunteering at the DI looks a bit different due to COVID-19, but we still have opportunities at our Donation Centre. Because we are receiving so many much-needed clothing, furniture and household donations for our Free Goods Program, we need a lot of hands to help sort donations and manage our inventory.
PPE is required and provided upon entry, and we are following all the recommended protocols to keep everyone safe.
The DI continues to provide three meals plus snacks each day for more than 300 people across our shelter sites. This holiday season, sponsoring a meal on behalf of your company, organization or your family is an easy way to help hundreds of people at once. During COVID-19, food insecurity continues to be a concern for our community’s homeless population. Give the gift of hunger relief:
Breakfast: $1,000
Lunch: $1,250
Dinner: $2,000
Bagged Lunch: $750
The holidays can be a hard time for some folks. As a community, we can rally together to build hundreds of holiday stockings so that people staying at the DI can open a gift on Christmas morning. On your own or with your bubble (also a great opportunity to do with your kids), you can fill-a-sock with essential goodies and bring them to our Donation Centre (3640 11a St NE). Each sock will go directly to a person, like Chuck, in shelter.
Filling-a-sock is easy. Here are some ideas to fill them with:
- $5 Tim Horton’s gift cards
- Gloves and mitts
- Hats and toques
- Socks and underwear
- Travel mugs
- Deodorant
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Throat lozenges
- Handwarmers
- Lip balms
- Razors
- Calgary Transit tickets
- Cloth face masks
- Chocolates and candies
When you’ve completed your fill-a-socks, please deliver them to:
Donation Centre
3640 11A St NE
Calgary, AB T2E 6M7
Have new or used items to donate?
You can either mail or drop off your donations at our Donation Centre. Please do not bring items to our emergency shelter until further notice.
Address: 3640 11a St NE
Hours: Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
(excludes statutory holidays)
Contact Us: 403-264-0856 or donationcentre@thedi.ca