Latest news with #CATCH
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Boise housing organization seeks donations for people experiencing homelessness in summer heat
CATCH is a Boise-based nonprofit housing organization that seeks to end homelessness in the Treasure Valley. (File photo courtesy of CATCH) With the onset of summer heat, a Boise-based housing organization is asking the public to donate emergency summer supplies to be distributed to people experiencing homelessness in Ada County. The Boise nonprofit CATCH is seeking donations of sports drinks, reusable water bottles, socks, sleeping bags, sunblock, bug spray, bicycle lights, underwear and hygiene items for its 'Beat the summer heat' campaign, CATCH Outreach Team Lead Connor O'Hora said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX CATCH's outreach team spends three days a week traveling through Ada County by bicycle and van delivering supplies to people experiencing homelessness. 'We've already broken the record and hit 100 degrees in May in Idaho, so we can expect a hot summer where people will be struggling with heat-related illnesses,' O'Hora said in a phone interview Tuesday. 'As we make contact, we want to be able to offer people something to keep cool and safe while they get started in the direction they feel is appropriate.' CONTACT US O'Hora said many of the items CATCH is seeking for donations can help people and families endure short-term hardships as they work with CATCH team members to get connected to additional support services like shelters, health care facilities and food banks. With summer coming, O'Hora said the need is great and the population of people experiencing homelessness in the Treasure Valley is on the rise. More than 1,800 households are experiencing homelessness in the Treasure Valley, CATCH estimates. The group defines households as any of the nonprofit's clients who are seeking to live together, including traditional families, single parents, individuals and couples. Last year, CATCH ended homelessness for a record 486 people, including 223 children and 114 families, he said. 'There is a great need, and we are seeing our population growing in key demographics,' O'Hora said. 'We see our population is aging and many folks who are living in their vehicles or are staying outside had been renting for five, 10 or even 15 years and then they got priced out of their housing or it was sold to a different property management company.' To donate, people may: Drop off donations at the CATCH office at 503. S. Americana Blvd., in Boise from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Purchase items online through CATCH's Amazon wish list. Visit to make a financial donation. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
BBC News
20-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Leeds beekeeper teaching children on World Bee Day and beyond
A beekeeper from Leeds is inspiring a generation of schoolchildren from urban parts of the city to love the winged insects. Kate Turner took up beekeeping during lockdown and began cultivating her own 30,000-strong hive after taking an online course. Ms Turner set up Bee Inspired Eco Education, a community interest company which aims to educate young people about the natural world, last ahead of World Bee Day on Tuesday, Ms Turner said the creatures were "vital" for the future of the planet. The species' powers of pollination keep the world's eco-system and food chain thriving, but the United Nations has warned that bees are increasingly under threat from human activities."I started learning about bees with a view to then teaching and talking to others about them and inspiring people to love nature," Ms Turner said. "Our young people are our protectors of the future and it's really important that we inspire them to love the world around them and care for it." With the help of a Leeds City Council grant, Bee Inspired now has a partnership with 10 inner city schools, most of them primaries from deprived neighbourhoods where children may struggle to regularly access green space and Turner, 51, will regularly take a colony to the schools so pupils can learn about the lives of bees. In addition, she runs a hive at the CATCH community centre in Harehills where children from an after-school club get a buzz from observing the insects in their own habitat. "The kids absolutely love it and their enthusiasm is really infectious," she added."We do other activities around the importance of planting for bees all year round. We make wildflower seed bombs and talk about the simple things everyone can do, regardless of whether or not they have a garden, to help conserve our bees."Ms Turner said beekeeping was a "fascinating hobby", but warned that due to its cost and complexities it is not one "you can just jump into without thinking about it". She added: "If you want to save bees and help them, the big thing to do is to plant for them. "Even if you've not got a garden, you can just use a window box and plant flowers in it and that's a brilliant thing to do." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
