For anyone looking to help or give to the trans community of Maine, care package drive - MaineTransNet

Submitted by teeleturtles t3_zf6f55 in Maine

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one of last year's care packages

Howdy all,

MaineTransNet is a statewide org w/a mission to serve the transgender community of Maine and y'know help us out via support groups, advocacy, and resourcing.

This year we are asking for donations to our drive to get care packages, i.e. highly requested goodies and items, into the hands of the youth in our community. This is part of MaineTransNet's overall youths program which has a great coordinator and team and does so much for youths who are unfortunately under-served.

One component of that status quo of under-service is that a lot of these youths could use a smile. I hope it's not too difficult to imagine why given the nationwide political climate we live in. We also hope, beyond that, this project will help foster a feeling of love, acknowledgement, and connectivity for the youth in this community.

This program was soft-launched last year and was successful. This year we hope to expand the project and we would love for this to be a success. For those who are in a position to give or contribute to a project with a simple thesis of joy bringing, you can use our link which I've attached this post. From there you can cover items, picked by the youths, that will be distributed by our youth program team.

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https://tinyurl.com/mtnpackageproject

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Comments

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Reap_it_and_Weep t1_izac6ue wrote

I'd donate if I could, but finances are tight right now. Upvoting though for visibility

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[deleted] t1_izahd85 wrote

[deleted]

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teeleturtles OP t1_izaje4p wrote

Okay, so news from the war front: I spoke to our youth programs coordinator and they said it was okay and possible to send these letters to our office in Portland with a few key conditions. The inner/card content cannot be sealed in anyway. No contact information can be left on the card.

Other than that it should be gucci.

MaineTransNet Youth Programs
15 Casco St
Portland, ME 04101

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gazebo-the-beer t1_izbgj47 wrote

How many trans kids are there in Maine that we need to do a toy drive? Genuine question not trolling

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Dogsbottombottom t1_izbqbdb wrote

Seems like more of a care package than a toy drive.

It's a little hard to figure how many exactly, but according to this graphic, 1.5% of high school students identify as trans, which is over 800 students.*

It also points out that:

  • 71% are depressed, and 54% are suicidal. The numbers for cis kids is 26% and 14% respectively.
  • 25% have dated someone who physically hurt them on purpose, 25% were forced to have sexual contact. 8% and 4% for cis kids.
  • 49% have experienced violence, or the threat of violence so badly that they want to leave home. 20% cis.
  • They're the least likely to feel supported by their parents and the community
  • They're more likely to abuse prescription drugs, drink alcohol, and smoke.

Life is fucking hard if you're a trans teen.

*As a side note I'm pretty sure this number comes from a percentage of kids enrolled in public schools, so the number is likely slightly higher when accounting for private and home schooled.

This data is also from 2017, so numbers are probably somewhat different now.

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teeleturtles OP t1_izbk1y9 wrote

I'm curious as to what the litmus even is for meeting "needing to do a toy drive" in proportion to "how many trans kids there are."

Like 10/1000 trans kids without toys?

100/1000 trans kids without toys?

Is it like once we hit an overall quota of trans kids then we have permission for a toy drive? 1,000? 10,000? 20,000? 100,00? (even more)?

Or is it like a ratio? Like 1:1000 of the total population of Maine is not enough to justify a toy drive but 2:1000 would be?

I think we do collect demographic data on things like this but my guess is it probably had more to do with the director of our youths program wanting the folx in their care to experience something good.

If you can figure out which of those numbers and which methodology you'd like used I can probably ask someone from our executive team.

Though, I have a genuine question too because I like to volunteer and help out y'know. Should this be standard operating procedure for interacting with the community and altruism? Like if someone is doing an Eagle Scout project should I ask them if they have formed a class action with other Eagle Scouts to establish their need? High school doing a bake sale -- well how many students even are there that we need to do a bake sale?

The numbers are probably not off the scales, suppressed in part because this is a hard demographic to survey, many would be trans folx simply choose to suffer instead of transition or join the community because of pressure, and because we are generally resistant to inquest. Even if we did rule out all those factors it may not be enough to please everyone.

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200Dachshunds t1_izbpktm wrote

I think its more to assess how to best spread the effort of donators. Everyone likes donating toys, so you might get-- for a very out of my ass example-- 60% of the donations as toys but only 40% as toiletries/clothing/stuff for older teens/adults while the community you serve is 30% kids and 70%teens/adults, you know? Not digging for demographic info but I think its good for everyone to know 'the toy needs have been met! Please make your future donations in the form of toiletries/clothes! Thank you!"

(Also this whole thought exercise might have nothing to do with how you guys do your drives. I just wanted to offer a perspective on where the poster above was coming from!)

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GolemNardah t1_izag8px wrote

Good luck! I hope you can find some help! 💜

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ccskero t1_izc41mx wrote

Another quick question- are we able to have the ordered items sent directly to the office address from the webpage? Not sure what the rules are on receiving packages or if you’d prefer we drop them off in person.

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teeleturtles OP t1_izc62q8 wrote

We operate a thrift shop called Safe Combinations and they should be able to receive it during store hours. It might be better to like call ahead or, if you're comfortable DMing me, to discuss the drop off scenario (like name and time you're coming) so they don't worry about a package being suspiciously left there. But, it should work out, yes.

>Open Friday thru Sunday, 11am to 6pm Located at 15 Casco St. Portland, ME Inside the Equality Community Center

https://www.safecombinations.org/

Thank you for your interest, btw!

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ccskero t1_izd5ldr wrote

Yeah, makes sense. I can probably stop by sometime next week but I’ll call ahead. Also, for things like the sketchbooks, are the requests for the specific ones from the online list, or are comparable quality sketchbooks also good?Sorry for so many questions lol 😅

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teeleturtles OP t1_iza855y wrote

We are hoping to get all of these package items covered by January!

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[deleted] t1_izad7m6 wrote

I’ll share this post but like someone else said. Times are tight. Will you all do this for elders as well?

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teeleturtles OP t1_izadp9r wrote

Shares are very appreciated. We also proudly serve the elders of our community through programming. The way things are structured we always try to obtain leadership from different communities we intend to serve. They have a leadership team that advises MaineTransNet and can make these sorts of requests too!

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[deleted] t1_izaf0lw wrote

That’s great! Given how many elders are on a fixed income, doing things for them like this or gift carding(?) heating oil might be things to look at for future events.

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teeleturtles OP t1_izaflxd wrote

I will legit pass it on. We are always looking for new ideas.

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Every_Deer6834 t1_izaw2q0 wrote

Such a wonderful project! Will absolutely be purchasing stuff for the care packages 💖💖💖

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uumopapsidn t1_izd0t4u wrote

Thank God my bubble machine has arrived. I dont know how I was going to survive the winter.

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teeleturtles OP t1_izd43ys wrote

I think you might be thinking of the Department of Health and Human Services, this is a post for MaineTransNet.

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uumopapsidn t1_izd51ni wrote

Honest question: if someone needs or wants a "care package" or just help with supplies in general, what is the purpose of labeling it in this way? People are people, after all, and what would make you feel more included in a community than getting things where everyone else does?

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Every_Deer6834 t1_izgodqa wrote

Damn, I wonder why a trans advocacy org would do care packages for trans teens specifically? Couldn't possibly be due to their mission or anything they wrote in the post about trying to bring some joy to trans teens in the current political climate.

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uumopapsidn t1_izgse29 wrote

I'm not asking this right. Why separate as trans? Why not just be people?

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lex2187 t1_izg9gtu wrote

The care packages are for kids. So they might enjoy a bubble machine…

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Whitetooths t1_izc8t5s wrote

Why can I only donate junk food to the trans youth community

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teeleturtles OP t1_izcb8q4 wrote

IDK, I think there are options to donate books, art implements, toys, and journals on there too.

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Whitetooths t1_izchxc1 wrote

Junk food or a few toys or books is what I can donate?

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teeleturtles OP t1_izcjw62 wrote

Money is good too. I think for right now its best practice to let the kids choose to a reasonable extent. I don't think we are taking public forum on this program right now. It's still in development and we tend to look internally for this kind of feedback so trans-friendly/culturally competent suggestions can take focus. If you'd like to get involved feel free to use mainetrans.net/volunteer

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Whitetooths t1_izcln36 wrote

Would the money be spent on junk food and this lousy toy selection

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Every_Deer6834 t1_izgmy1g wrote

Why do you hate joy and teens having snacks/things they enjoy? Like, real talk?

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Whitetooths t1_izgq5ri wrote

I don't, that's why I'm wondering why the selection of items is so disappointing

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DescriptionLocal4040 t1_izgt97u wrote

The wishlist is growing and changing as MTN gets more request. The snack selection was all picked by the teens in our program and there are also some things that are not being listed on the wishlist because we want to purchase them locally. The toys and books were also all selected by the teens. I was never really into things like stuffed animals as a teen but honestly I’m very glad that these kids are more into Squishmallows than the more dangerous activities I thought were cool at their age. I think it’s really important that we just listen to the teenagers about what they want to be gifted instead of telling them they have bad taste. Young people often feel so out of control so if they want to eat Doritos and be in charge of that than why not? If you have ideas for programming or interest in supporting youth in other ways please feel free to reach out to us! You can contact the youth programs team by emailing mtnyouth@mainetransnet.org - Sedum aka the person who processes the request for this program.

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Whitetooths t1_izgyx41 wrote

Do they have to choose from a list? How could they possibly all requests the same few items

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DescriptionLocal4040 t1_izh0y6d wrote

This is an interesting question. There is both a list to select from and an option to add whatever you want. The list was created by teens in ours program. They made a list of 19 common snack items. Because of how the form works it was significantly easier to have selectable items because we can just look at it and very easily go 18 kids want sour gummy candy instead of seeing 18 different ways of requesting sour gummy candy and having to sort through that. I’m very lucky to get to do a lot of problem solving with our youth around this project (and every other project) to make sure it’s both personalized and functional. And again we are buying a lot of stuff locally like pickle chips from Trader Joe’s and Samyang Instant Noodles from Veranda Asian Market. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to have someone mail us a single bag of chips from TJ’s but the young person who requested it will definitely get it in their care package. Also just want to take another moment to say our youth leadership is amazing. - Sedum

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DescriptionLocal4040 t1_izh4g86 wrote

90+ kids actually. Dried fruit and seaweed are both on the list. Sadly we decided to not include trail/nut mixes because too many kids brought up themselves or siblings having tree nut allergies. Most of the kids didn’t like the idea of including granola/protein bars because the ones without tree nuts are honestly kind of bad and also generally not fun. The methodology for this program I think actually covers any genuine concern you might have about food wants being met outside of the fact that we can’t ship vegetables. If you have any ideas for solutions about further concerns you might have please let me know! Otherwise we have opted out of food policing a community that has higher chances of developing restrictive eating disorders than the rest of their peers. - Sedum

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Whitetooths t1_izhbe1b wrote

So it's the adults that don't allow healthy food?

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DescriptionLocal4040 t1_izhbsz3 wrote

I think you need to work on your reading comprehension before engaging further. I really appreciate some of your questions and being able to answer them and talk about how wonderful our youth leadership is. I would also suggest looking into some stuff around intuitive eating as it sounds like you are experiencing a lot of internalized food shame. Best of luck to you on your learning/healing journey!

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Whitetooths t1_izhijlz wrote

It's not like its anthrax and some of these kids probably wants some nuts

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