Every single Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m., volunteers for My Friend’s House Foundation set up a few folding tables in Skid Row, where they give out basic staples to the homeless. The Los Angeles neighborhood is home to America’s largest homeless population, and everyday items like socks, underwear, toiletries, footwear, and food are always in hot demand.
Tiffany A. Rose, the founder of My Friend’s House, thinks of those items as essentials that every human being needs and deserves. So we asked you to gather up a few basics and donate them to a worthy organization in your community. We also invited Los Angeles natives to join GOOD, Sambazon, and My Friends House on one of those Wednesdays at noon in Skid Row to donate and volunteer.
Check out this slideshow for a few moments from the day, and get a glimpse of the impact that a smile and a new pair of socks can have on someone’s afternoon. If you haven’t already, be sure to get a few tips from Rose about how to take the pledge to change someone’s world with a donation of your own everyday basics. You’ll even find a few tools to organize a drive at your office, church, or apartment building.
















Volunteers who drive homeless people to shelters talk with a person from Ukraine in Berlin on Jan. 7, 2026.
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Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND
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