Holiday Tighten-Up Gift Bags

Volunteers with Arkansas Interfaith Power & Light will distribute 100 Holiday Tighten-Up Gift Bags in a low-income area. Each bag will contain a CFL bulb, weather stripping, faucet aerator, socket sealers, power strip, and instructions, tips, and information for signing up for a free energy audit.

We conducted a successful pilot test of this project when we distributed Green Halloween Tighten-Up Treat Bags to 50 families on October 29 at the Hillary Clinton Children's Library on 10th Street. The Orchard (on the campus of the Mosaic House of Worship), Tuesdays, 2 to 6 p.m., reaches out to low-income families in the 72204 area by providing food and other basic needs. The Orchard is the most likely location for distribution of the Holiday Tighten-Up Gift Bags. No religious messages will be connected to the distribution of gift bags during the holidays.

All donations to Arkansas IPL in 2013 will be matched. Matching funds will allow us to continue and expand our efforts beyond December 2013.

1. Identify best distribution point.
2. Invite partners and volunteers.
3. Distribute news release.
4. Purchase items.
5. Assemble bags.
6. Hand out bags in mid-to-late December.

Members of Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light believe that sacred writings of all faith traditions ask us to care for creation, protect the planet, and protect fragile eco-systems that sustain life. We want to help our neighbors reduce energy consumption, lower utility bills, reduce carbon footprints, and share success stories with neighbors who might make the same efforts. For our organization, reducing toxic emissions is a social justice issue; those most impacted by respiratory illnesses and other negative consequences of environmental degradation are those least able to afford energy efficiency improvements, least able to afford high utility bills, and least able to afford medical care needed after exposure to pollution of air, water, soil.