ShareNet had plenty to be grateful about this Thanksgiving.
We were able to serve 213 Thanksgiving Holiday boxes, which is 11,861 pounds of food, assisting about 950 individuals when you total the number of people helped by each box, or the number of people in every family who received one. We are grateful for the community support that gives us the resources to host an event with such an impact in our community, and for the volunteers who came forward to help.
One of the pleasures in the event is witnessing firsthand the act of community, since it brings together people and ideas not frequently on the same piece of real estate or in the same room: people in need, volunteers, staff and community members from all walks of life.
Some of the greatest gifts given to us are of time or labor. It takes a lot of labor to pull this event off, from collecting the results of food drives to sorting, processing, and storing food; from repackaging goods delivered in bulk to packing the holiday boxes that will go out; from finding space for hundreds of turkeys to retrieving them when the time comes; and, finally, getting the food into the hands of the people who have come for it, more every year.
Whether it’s making sure the potatoes and onions or celery and eggs were pre-packed in bags or helping a senior or disabled person get the food into their car, our volunteers do it all, and not always in comfortable conditions. Our community does it all, and ShareNet is glad to be the agent of such generosity and goodwill toward our neighbors.
The holiday planning starts in October or sooner, and does not let up until the New Year. Though everyone contributes, our Food Bank Manager Kathy Melseth is the staff person most responsible for making this event happen, and we congratulate her on again keeping all the balls in the air.
We get pretty stressed about it, and then it all works out and we have a great day and a lot of grateful people. Then we turn around and do it all again for the Christmas distribution three weeks later.
We’d like to remind everyone of the good work done by our Thrift Shop as well. The employees and volunteers there frequently help beyond their duties in the store, contributing in a big way to our overall effort to assist people in the community.
Looking for that just right last minute Christmas gift? Think of ShareNet’s Thrift Store for bargains and those items you just won’t find anywhere else.
For those who have not yet donated to Neighbor Aid 2009, the annual fundraiser that keeps us going throughout the year, please consider a donation this holiday so that we are able to continue efforts such as our holiday distributions.
Finally, we’d like to thank all our volunteers and the following list is not a complete list but those specifically associated with the Thanksgiving effort:
Albertson’s, Beddo family, Theresa Burns, Shelley Chase, Lee Demmert, Marion Fuller, Rex Gallaher, John and Linda Golden, Rick Healy, Linda Hell, IGA, Carmina Johnson, Kingston Curves, Kingston Kiwanis, Kingston Middle School, Kingston Rotary, Dr. Tom Lamar, Simon Purser, Jean E. Latham, Terry Laurence, Julie Morrison, Greg Myrick, Wilma Redhed, Jan Richards, Geralynn Ross, Debbie Sheffer, Walmart, Wolfle Elementary, and finally Joe (whose last name we don’t have).
After the big Christmas giveaway, our food bank will be closed from Dec. 23 through Jan. 4, and will reopen for a regular open day Jan. 5. Our Thrift Store will be closed from Dec. 24 – Jan. 1, reopening for business Jan. 2.
