What if….
You were so hungry you were light-headed, weak, or couldn’t think straight?
You were threatened with eviction or no heat in winter because you’d lost your job?
You worked long hours and multiple jobs and still weren’t making ends meet?
Your child was hungry?
There is hope. There are people in the world working to alleviate hunger, to address the imbalances in our food system which cause incredible waste and surplus in one place, and deprivation in another. There are people working to change hunger in their community. If you’re a donor to ShareNet’s annual fundraiser Neighbor Aid, you’re one of them.
October kicked off Neighbor Aid 2010, when we hope the community that has always generously supported us will rally again so that we may keep serving through 2011.
Many of our donors or readers may not have experienced grave hunger or poverty, but many have, or have a friend or family member or coworker who has. Many who donate to us bring their story with them: of family poverty when they were children, memories of the Great Depression or a life-changing job loss. The difference between a donor and a non-donor is that quality of empathy, and belief in the services provided. You may not have experienced it yourself, but you can imagine what that desperation would feel like.
The help you’ve given in the past is alive and functioning in the community.
ShareNet has:
• Served over 6,000 local residents with emergency food boxes as of this writing; that rate of distribution accelerates during the last quarter of the year.
• Distributed more than $25,000 in screened emergency rental and utility assistance, preventing evictions and shutoffs.
• Established a weekend take-home food program for school children not receiving adequate nutrition.
• Established a program providing free business attire for job seekers unable to afford work or interview clothes.
• Provided 165 students with new, stocked back-to-school backpacks, with surplus donations going to our local schools.
• Provided clothing and household items at reasonable prices, or free in hardship cases.
• Served as lifeline and support network for those in our community with nowhere else to turn.
ShareNet provides Thanksgiving food boxes to folks in need on November 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at our food bank. Signups to receive a box must be done during open food bank hours through Nov. 16. Holiday donations needed are: stuffing, turkeys, cranberries, gravy, canned pumpkin, baking items, and chicken broth.
ShareNet’s Food to Grow On is a weekend take-home food program for local school children identified by school counselors as struggling with hunger issues. We are currently serving about 25 children at Wolfle Elementary and Kingston Middle School. Parent authorization forms are still pending from Gordon Elementary, Kingston High School, and Spectrum Community School. We expect the program to be in all local schools soon, and to reach 50 students by the year’s end.
If you believe in the services ShareNet provides, please consider a contribution to Neighbor Aid 2010 at whatever level you can afford; any amount is appreciated.
Donations may be mailed to PO Box 250, Kingston, WA, or made through our website, sharenetfoodbank.org. Regular monthly giving allows us to better anticipate funding and service ability.
