March 26, 2012
103 families were welcomed last Thursday to the pantry including 7 new ones. They were helped on Tuesday by 15 volunteers that stocked shelves and 46 on Thursday that assisted giving out food. We are continuing to see over 100 families each week.
Our needs this week include healthy cereals, oatmeal, pancake mix and syrup, cake mixes, boxed dinners, dry beans, rice, dish soap and size 5 and 6 diapers.
Thank you for each item that you donate. We are continuing to weigh all of our donations to turn into the Feinstein matching grant which matches $1 per pound. The boys scouts brought in food this weekend from Scouting for Food. Our pantry has been so blessed by all of your donations. Thank you for sharing your bounty with others.
Thank you to the Morse Beach Disc Golf club for raising $2000 this year for the pantry. That is just amazing! This is their 3rd year to raise money for our pantry.
March 11, 2012
We had 112 families last Thursday including 6 new families. 18 volunteers assisted with stocking on Tuesday and 48 volunteers helped on Thursday. We were fortune enough to give guests a choice of oranges, apples, jalapenos, ice cream or a bag of mixed greens that we received from Midwest Food Bank. Families also received a bag of flour in addition to their bag of groceries and a meat or protein item eggs, pizza or pork. Thanks to Gleaners each family has been able to receive a V-8 fusion. We have also given a bag or 2 of chips from a large donation.
Thanks to a great bunch of girls that are part of the American Heritage girls, we received 6 grocery carts full of donations. They came to a total of 520 pounds. Thank you girls for spending your Saturday helping others in need. We are weighing all of our donations as part of the Feinstein Challenge which will donate a portion of one million dollars spread among several food pantries. Plastic bags are available at the community outreach counter for individuals, families, or small groups to hold food drives in your neighborhood. Thanks for remembering to help fight hunger in our area.
Our numbers continue to increase. We had 136 families including 8 new ones on Thursday afternoon. They were helped by 17 volunteers on Tuesday and 43 on Thursday. Along with the normal bag of groceries, breads and sweets, each family received a dozen eggs and a half gallon of ice cream. Families have been receiving a bag of chips for the past several weeks which is great for packing lunches and snacks. Since it was the first Thursday of the month each family received homemade laundry soap and toothpaste.
Needed items this week include peanut butter and jelly, any breakfast item, boxed dinners and boxed potatoes, dish soap, dried beans and diapers size 5 and 6. The Feinstein challenge is in progress. Any donation that is placed in the food pantry drop box will be weighed and counted toward the pounds of food collected. Every can counts!
The food pantry and many families would like to thank you for your generosity.
There are a lot of exciting things happening at the food pantry. We had 125 families this past Thursday including 14 new families. They were helped by 44 volunteers and another 13 volunteers stocked on Tuesday. We had a youth group from Lord of Life Lutheran Church that volunteered Saturday checking expiration dates, stocking, and breaking down boxes. One of the youth came back a short while after leaving carrying a bag of groceries some plastic bags and an envelope with some of his own money. He said, "it won't do a lot, but it will bring some food to the pantry." How sweet and awesome it would be if we all had the heart for others as our children do.
We have an opportunity to really increase our food in the pantry. We are going to be part of the Feinstein challenge which starts March 1 and goes through April 30. They will divide $1,000,000 among all agencies that are participating in this program. The more food that is donated during this time, the more of the million dollars our pantry will receive!! It would be a great time to get your co-workers involved by providing a donation box at work, your small group can bring donations each time you meet and a designated person can bring the donations in. Have a neighborhood food drive and help feed our community.
We would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU! to White River Sports Hoops for Hunger. They have donated 2,616 pounds of food as of yesterday. Wow, wow, wow is all I can say. Thank you guys and gals!
Our big needs this week include healthy cereal, oatmeal, pancake mix and syrup, cake mixes, boxed potatoes, dried beans, rice, and snacks. We always need dish soap, kleenex and paper towels as well as any cleaning product since none of these items can be bought with food stamps.
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