Letterwriting GuidelinesThings to consider when writing to someone who is incarcerated:
The Nitty Gritty: Important Things to Know and Do!
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Monthly Birthday CardsEvery month, we send birthday cards to our inside members with birthdays that month. Due to COVID-19, we have moved to a remote model, where outside volunteers sign up to make and send cards, either on their own time or with a buddy. If you would like to sign up, check out our Updates or our Facebook page for links to the current sign-up form!
Click here for our Birthday Card Guidelines as well as for postcard images you can download and print. Where to go to sign up for a penpalIt is always a great time to become a penpal. If you want to start a penpal relationship, you can learn more and sign-up here anytime: https://blackandpinkpenpals.org/
Or if you want us to match you with a penpal, just reach out to us! Or check out our instagram page where we highlight potential penpals (@FlyingOverWalls). Once you become a penpal, you can join this group to stay connected to other outside penpals for support and resources: https://www.facebook.com/groups/blackandpinkpenpalsupport/ Where to Refer Inside Members who Want a Penpal**Our FoW chapter does not take direct penpal requests from the inside. Please do not give our address directly to folks on the inside, unless they are in Northern California.
We match folks through the national Black & Pink list, mostly focusing on Northern California prisons. Generally, if we receive requests for penpals, we send them a letter redirecting them to our national office (address below). Folks not already on the B&P list can send their name, mailing address, a short bio, a short description of what they are looking for in a penpal match and any identity descriptors they want to share to: Black & Pink 6223 Maple St #4600 Omaha, NE 68104 RestrictionsMany prisons have lots of restrictions on what you can send in the mail. The following is a list of things you should not include:
Regulations vary by prison, so check the specific prison regulations once you have connected to your penpal. Please know that we think this is ridiculous and we are only sharing these restrictions based on personal experience with things getting refused, not because we don’t want your arts and crafts to look super fabulous. If you make a beautiful letter with any banned materials, you can scan it, print out the image, and send that instead! |