What a joyous month this has been. Generosity has shown itself in so many ways. The food donations connected to Thanksgiving show an appreciation for what we all wish to enjoy with family and friends. The financial donations will see us into the new year and the leanest months we face in deep winter.
We want to make a special request for towels, blankets and queen and king sheets. If new linens come to your house over the holiday, please consider donating those that will most likely stay on the linen closet shelf. Thanks to all those who find these resources and drop them off at First Baptist Church.
Our food pantry always needs volunteers. We presently use five volunteers for each shift of three hours. Coverage is needed 30 minutes before opening for stocking and for organization and 30 minutes after to finish with clients that come in at the end of our open hours after their work. We are open 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 9-11 a.m. Wednesday. Steady experienced volunteers add to our clients comfort and increase quality of communication. Please consider if you would like to assist those in need to put together meals with what we have available. Sometimes the ability to use a food new to you may not be obvious. Discussions of support solving life problems outside of food often occur among volunteers and clients when trust is established.
We know that many churches are doing special holiday drives. If your organization is making a special collection, let us know the kinds of foods you are gathering so that we do not use funds to make those purchases. Please call 765-362-3474 if your collections are of specific foods. More than 200 families had a special Thanksgiving because of your generosity but life is more than one meal. The needs continue to be great.
As the new year approaches we need to review and revise our organization. We have new directors starting in January and we have some people going off the board. The term is three years. Officers are elected in January. We also want to review church representatives who act as communicators between our organization and the church families who support us. Both directors and representatives need to attend our six meetings a year or as many as they are able to promote better communication. We are looking for interested community members who would like to serve as directors or church representatives. Having interested up to date communicators of our progress and needs helps us to be efficient and effective. If you are interested in participating, please send a note to P.O. Box 261, attention Linda Cherry. We meet the third Thursday in January at 7 p.m. in the Knights of Columbus Hall at the rear of St. Bernard Catholic Church. We welcome people who want to help and be a part of our progress.
Our organization has the need for strong muscles two days each month. The third Thursday of each month at 9:30 a.m. the truck load of government commodities comes. Items vary from month to month but there is always a heavy load. This month it was 3,200 pounds. Most products are dry and canned foods. The second day we need help is the first Wednesday at about 11 a.m. This is a two pallet load of free food we bring from a distribution site north of us.
Special thanks to all those who provide help and support. A big holiday thank you to all our volunteers. Together we make our community better.
Linda Cherry, president of FISH, contributes a monthly column to the Journal Review.
