Philly hosts event to match donors, volunteers with agencies helping homeless

You can help those in need in Philadelphia Thursday without handing them cash on the street.

The Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services will host an event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center from 4 to 7 p.m. featuring representatives of service organizations that always need volunteers or funding.  Liz Hersh is  Director of the Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services.

“We’ll have 30 not-for-profit providers there offering opportunities to volunteer or donate,” said Liz Hersh, office director. “So if people want to do more to help the homeless, whether it’s families or people on the streets, we invite them to come on down. The event is free and open to the public.”

Giving people on the street money isn’t a good idea, she said.

“When you give money to somebody, you don’t know what you are paying for. What we want to encourage people to do is to get housing and services to get to real solutions,” Hersh said.