JACKSON, Wyo. — The Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole and Teton County Library are hosting events on Oct. 14 and Oct. 18 to help Jackson residents in need ahead of the winter season.
Big 5 Winter Clothing Give Away — Rope De Inveirno Gratis
The Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole hosts the Big 5 Winter Clothing Giveaway on Saturday, Oct. 14 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
According to Big 5 Winter Clothing Giveaway Event Coordinator and Presbyterian Church member Laura Soltau, the church’s mission team offers this event annually as a way for families to afford winter clothing and boots.
“The church recognized five years ago, that if a child doesn’t have the Big 5, they can’t go outside for recess,” Soltau said. “It’s an annual expense and once a child outgrows their clothes, especially if there is more than one child, this becomes really expensive for families.”
New and gently used donated items will be offered free to youth and children. Big 5 winter clothing items include hats, gloves, boots, jackets and pants. Parents can take home one of each Big 5 items, per child.
Kids are asked to be accompanied by their parents in order to try on boots and winter items.
“We are really excited to offer this event annually and support the community,” Soltau said.
The Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole is located at 1251 South Park Loop Road.
Love Your Neighbor Outreach Event — Evento de Divulgación Ama a tu Prójimo
The Teton County Taskforce for the Unhoused sponsors the Love Your Neighbor Outreach Event on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Teton County Library, in the Ordway Auditorium from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The event will provide essential supplies, including health and hygiene, clothing and survival gear, and will offer community members the opportunity to learn ways to support those facing homelessness and housing insecurity.
Children can join the event by assisting in the making of health, hygiene and shower kits.
According to Teton County Taskforce for the Unhoused, it’s difficult to determine an accurate metric for homelessness in the valley due to inclement weather and the changing populations of seasonal employees and migrant workers. TCL has become the defacto daytime shelter for the homeless in Teton County.
“The library has patrons who come daily to use computers, print and scan documents, pick up their kids from an after-school program, study in a quiet space, charge their phone, or just hang out and relax without fear of being hassled. These are the folks we need to focus more of our attention on,” Teton County Librarian Alex Cook said.
This past spring, TCL was looking for ways to better meet the needs of the Jackson Hole unhoused and low income residents. According to Cook, the library does not have the staff to offer off-site outreach, so he came up with ways to distribute emergency and travel kits on-site.
In early 2023, Cook reached out to Spread the Love Commission, a Jackson non-profit providing advocacy and outreach to the unhoused and displaced, for assistance in distributing essential health kits to the community.
Their partnership, along with support from the Jackson Hole Police Force, gave birth to the Teton County Taskforce for the Unhoused, with the goal of being a model for resource communication. Since its inception, many other human service organizations have joined including, Teton County Health, Teton County Parks and Recreation, VoicesJH, Wyoming Workforce Services, Community Safety Network, Good Samaritan House, Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, First Baptist Church and One22.
The event’s free takeaway kits, funded by the Library Foundation, will contain soap, shampoo, first aid supplies, feminine hygiene products, granola bars and a pamphlet containing contact information for locating food and critical supplies, public restrooms, physical and mental health services, and other relevant resources in town.
Spread the Love and TCL held events in July and August to collect donations and within the first hour, staff were inundated with high quality clothing and products
TCL also provides a daily health resource cart to patrons, located in the lobby next to the One22 satellite food cupboard.
The Love Your Neighbor Outreach Event is strictly an outreach event and the library is not able to accept any material donations at this time.
