The S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank is a unique project that distributes, completely free of charge, donations of surplus inventory from manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and other vendors to homeless service agencies throughout Los Angeles County.
Established in 1989, $337 million in new goods has been donated from 800 companies and nonprofits and distributed to over 600 agencies that serve people living in poverty. By meeting these immediate needs, the project enables participating Los Angeles homeless agencies to focus their energy and scarce resources on case management, support services, and organizational capacity-building.
The success of the S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank lies in its ability to solicit, collect, sort and distribute large amounts of new goods, and in our ability to leverage our resources. We estimate it costs us less than five cents to distribute a dollar’s worth of goods. The vast majority of donors are corporations, including major film studios and Fortune 500 companies. Benefits of participation for donors include above-cost tax deductions, positive public relations, the opportunity to free-up warehouse space and participate in corporate philanthropy.
The project operates out of a secure and fully operational 108,000 square foot warehouse in the City of Bell. Shelter Partnership is now the proud owner this warehouse. We received the deed free of charge under Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. All donations are physically inventoried and the data on these goods entered into our computerized system. Annual audits are conducted by an outside accounting firm to maintain the integrity of the information contained in our database.
The S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank is the only project of its kind in Los Angeles, and one of the largest homeless resource facilities in the nation.
The S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank only accepts new items and we often solicit on a large scale. We receive new items such as clothing, underwear and sleepwear; shoes and socks; new toys and books; personal hygiene products; paper products such as toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissue and diapers; office supplies; household products; cleaning supplies; mattresses, mattress covers, comforters, pillows, blankets; furniture, and more. By receiving these items through our S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank, at no cost or administrative fee, the agencies are able to use more of their funding for direct services, and use less time trying to secure these items themselves. The agencies distribute the goods to their clients free of charge to help them meet their basic needs
We are seeking additional donations to distribute to the agencies we serve. Current immediate needs include: facemasks, disposable gloves, liquid soap, cleaning wipes, facial tissue, and toilet paper. Other needs include: toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, baby wipes, cleaning wipes, shampoo, new underwear, and new men’s and boy’s clothing. Please contact Jennifer Marquez, Director of Product Donations at jmarquez@shelterpartnership.org
Since 1989, Shelter Partnership has secured large-scale donations of new and unused items and distributed these items to our community partner agencies completely free. We leverage our relationships with small businesses, start-ups, movie studios and Fortune 500 companies to secure products that would normally be destroyed or shipped overseas. In our history, Shelter Partnership has distributed $321 million worth of goods to nearly 600 agencies that serve the homeless and very poor.
Shelter Partnership acts as a broker: we receive these items from companies, store them in our warehouse, and distribute them to social service agencies (homeless shelters, foster care facilities, etc.) at no cost. Providing our community partners with these free items allows agencies to spend more time, energy and resources on providing direct service
For more information on becoming one of our community partners, please click here.
