Dear Friends of Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry:

We haven’t talked for some time now, but we heard from many of you over the holidays. For being a difficult year with all of its economic problems, 2008 was also a wonderful year of giving and sharing. Last year local residents, organizations, companies and schools were uncommonly generous to Loaves and Fishes. We were very nervous going into 2009 not knowing if our funding would be cut or if donations would dry up, but that has not been the case. In November and December so many people stepped forth to help us, it gave us the foundation for the challenges to come in 2009. Many people instead of holiday gifts asked friends and relatives to donate to the pantry. Children came in with their teachers bearing pennies and canned goods. It was a remarkable thing to experience and Lana and I are deeply grateful to all.

We finished up 2008 having served 3,661 households made up of 3,515 children, 4,777 adults and 1,108 seniors for a total of 9,400 individuals. Add to that 429 families received Thanksgiving dinners (1,312 people) and 291 families (955 people) received Christmas dinners. That means that all of us together served 11,667 people nearly 180,000 meals. Additionally, well over 100 children received completely packed book bags for school and over 100 children received warm winter coats as we once again collaborated with Operation Warm.

This has been an incredibly busy time. In just four months in the second half of 2008 we went from about 500 families to 714 families by November and December. It has dropped off some in January and February, which it usually does as many seniors and the disabled and challenged clients do not come out in bad weather. At the end of each quarter we go through our forms and pull anyone who has not been in for three months. They are put in an inactive file. Some of these families we may never see again as they have fallen victim to the economy, lost their homes and many have either lost their jobs or had their hours cut. Many have moved in with relatives, sometimes there are four generations living in the same household. By the end of January, however, we were back up to nearly 600 families – some who had been inactive but many who are new.

Linda has spent a good deal of time since November doing advocacy work on behalf of DIFAN (the Delco Interfaith Food Assistance network), of which she is chair. Representative Bryan Lentz has been most helpful and made it possible for Linda to speak before the local Democratic representatives and members of the Appropriations Committee. We have visited elected officials, written a number of letters, and Linda even wrote a resolution in support of the State Food Purchase Program which Representative Thaddeus Kirkland, supported by Rep. Lentz, will present to the members of the Commonwealth’s House of Representative.

Lana and Linda have kept busy speaking at churches and organizations seeking support for the pantry. Linda also does speaking engagements on behalf of DIFAN. This past January on Super Bowl weekend, the youth of three separate churches in Springfield, joined by many adults, went door-to-door seeking canned soup for their annual “Souper Bowl”. The people of Life Christian Fellowship, Covenant Methodist, and St. Matthews Lutheran Church gathered more than 12,000 cans of food to be donated to DIFAN food centers. Linda was there for their wrap up dinner to celebrate how well they had done and speak to them about how a food pantry works and who benefits from it.

Taylor Community Foundation, which gives Loaves and Fishes an annual grant to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, gave us an additional sum this year. Since produce prices have skyrocketed, the second grant has been most helpful. We now have at least two, sometimes three, fresh produce items. This past week it was tangerines, apples and potatoes. The clients really love having these things available.

For the second year, Crozer Keystone Health Systems gave Loaves and Fishes a $5,000 grant. Out of this we will purchase meats to fill our freezers and other food products as we run out of things. The entire Crozer Keystone system has been very supportive of our pantry. Taylor Hospital holds numerous food drives for us that have been a great help.

Interboro School District continues to raise funds and food for our operation, and we have also received gently used children’s books from their libraries. Prospect Park Library has also been very supportive. They do a “Food for Fines” program where people can return overdue books and not have to pay the fee if they bring canned food in with them. They also give us their extra books – both children and adults.

Garnet Valley High School once again did their annual food drive for Loaves and Fishes. More than 20,600 pounds of food were donated. These students work very hard for us and we make sure their food reaches as many people as possible. We share some of our food with the Other DIFAN food centers who need help and help other organizations who are in temporary need of food to help some local families.

We will start our back-to-school book bag program shortly. Last year we were able to supply nearly 150 children with book bags, filled with the notebooks, pens, erasers, etc. that their schools require.

We are also continuing our plea for crock pots – used or new. If they are used, we ask that they be gently used and in good condition. A donor went to K-Mart when two quart crock pots were on sale and purchased ten of them. These smaller pots have mostly gone to seniors as it makes an easy and safe way for them to fix their meals. It keeps them from having to use a gas flame or turn on their ovens. The larger crock pots went to families living in temporary housing, due to eviction and foreclosure, and some just to families whose kitchens are very poorly stocked. Everyone was thrilled to get a crock pot. However, altogether we only had about 35 crock pots for 700 families, so if anyone has a crock pot gathering dust on their shelf, or if they are cleaning out someone’s home, please think of us.

Recently one of our volunteers passed away unexpectedly. Many of her friends are going to make memorial contributions in her honor and/or purchase food products or provide kitchen items for our clients. Several other individuals and families have designated Loaves and Fishes for memorial contributions.

If you know of anyone who is trying to find a new home for kitchen items, once again in good condition, we can use them all. Literally anything for a kitchen will find a grateful new owner among our clients. We can use toaster ovens, pots and pans, utensils, glasses, dishware, microwaves, coffee pots and anything else that would help them make meal preparation easier. Many lack appliances and a lot of families do not have enough dishes so everyone can sit down and eat together.

There are simply not enough words in my vocabulary to thank all of you for all you have done. It was one of the most heart warming years as churches, organizations, schools and individuals reached even deeper into their pockets and were very generous. What started out as a mission outreach program of one church has become a multi-community outreach that has touched the lives of thousands of people. You will never meet them or know who they are, but they are thankful and grateful that you have come into their lives and helped them when they needed it most.

Sincerely,

Dear Friends of Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry:

Please join us in celebrating our seventh year of operation. Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry opened its doors in August of 2001. We had no idea that we would grow to be most likely the largest food center in Delaware County and our growth shows not only the need in our local communities, but the open hearts of the people of this area. We may do the hands-on work, but it is all of you who have helped us help others for the past seven years. We are humbled and deeply grateful for your continued support.

What a summer this has been! Our numbers keep increasing, growing weekly by about six or seven families. We had once been at 600 families, and then dropped to about 400 families. Now, because of continued growth due to our faltering economy, we are now at more than 500 families. Some of the 100+ families who no longer come to the pantry we know lost their homes and jobs and moved on; some to shelters, some to their families. Some of them we have no idea where they are. This has been a difficult year for all of us, but for those living at or near poverty it has been devastating.

Through all of this, however, we have been able to keep sufficient food on our shelves to continue to serve those who come to us. We have been able to do this through the generosity of those who support us. Some of you bring food, some bring money, and some bring both. Your faithfulness is key to our ability to pack boxes of food that provide three meals a day for eight days for each member of each client family.

Recently we have seen how important our work is to our local communities, and that our commitment to those in need is shared by all of you. Taylor Hospital, part of the Crozer Keystone Health System, did a food drive for us and we received 356.6 pounds of food, with more to come. Boy Scout Troop 339, who share their bounty with us when the scouts do their annual food drive, decided to take on our back-to-school drive and brought in 107 pounds of school supplies. Covenant Methodist in Springfield has been very faithful in their support of our programs and recently brought in more than 124 pounds of school materials. We thank all of these fine organizations, and those who are still working on their food and school drives for us. And once again we thank the Rotary Club of Chester Pike for donating the 150 school bags we will be filling thanks to your generosity.

We still need school products, especially three-ring binders, composition books, spiral bound notebooks, pens (no pencils), glue sticks, erasers, rulers, crayons, highlighters, colored pencils, pocket folders, loose leaf filler paper (wide rule), pencil cases, index cards, 5-in. blunt tip scissors, 5-in. pointed tip scissors, 7-in. student scissors, post-it notes, 4 oz. Elmer’s glue, tabbed dividers and pencil sharpeners. We will start to fill our bags in about ten or twelve days, but will continue to collect items as they can be distributed even after we have given out the school bags, if necessary.

State Representative Bryan Lentz has taken an active role in helping with our work. He has shown his support of the Delco Interfaith Food Assistance Network, of which we are a member, and our pantry specifically, not only by actively working towards seeing that we receive adequate funding through the Commonwealth’s annual budget, but also through assistance by his office. We are very thankful for his interest and involvement, and that of his staff. It is good to know he shares our concern for the people of Delaware County who need help.

Since it is August, we are commencing our fall fund-raising efforts. This is an important time of year for us to raise money for our operations. Like most other non-profits, the highest percentage of the funds we need are raised in the fall and early winter. Once the new year is upon us, giving shows a significant decline. We hope over the next several months you will continue to support the pantry and its programs.

We will be doing our three traditional activities this fall:

1. Thanksgiving and
2. Christmas dinners, for which we ask for financial donations to purchase store cards. We cannot store sufficient food to handle the more than 350 dinners we will provide for each holiday.
3. Christmas Angel program. We will be doing this once again this year. If you or your organizations would like to help us by purchasing a present for one of our angels, please let us know. We will be providing this program for the children and senior citizens of our pantry. Many times it is as simple as a gift card to a store or pharmacy (especially for our seniors whose pharmacy expenses are considerable), but those who wish to shop for and purchase a gift (not to exceed $20-$25) may also do so. Our angels will be ready in sufficient time for you to get your angel gifts back to us by the beginning of December so we can get everything distributed in time for the holiday.

Once again, we thank each of you for all that you mean to our pantry and its clients. The more than 20 volunteers of the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry join us in showing our appreciation for all that you have done and continue to do.

Sincerely,

P.S. In the most recent newsletter of the Clearinghouse Connection, a publication that deals with hunger, we read the following statistics:

• Preschool and school-aged children who experience severe hunger have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety and depression, and behavior problems than children with no hunger.
• 7.3 percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger: they have lower quality diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always affo9rd the food they need. 24.7 million people, including 9.9 million children, live in these homes.

Dear Friends of Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry:

This is a difficult letter to write this year. The tumult that our economy continues to experience has affected all of us and many of us are experiencing a shortfall not anticipated by anyone. We, as families and organizations, have had to tighten our belts significantly. But for the client families of Loaves and Fishes, their belts have already been tightened. Their resources have been stretched far beyond their ability to supply even basic needs for themselves and their families.

Our food pantry is growing at a rate never experienced before. We had 14 new clients come in on just one day. We are averaging about eight or so new families each time we are open. More and more people who have never been unemployed before find themselves in that situation. Look around you and see what is happening in our communities. Small businesses are struggling, or closing; large businesses are laying off. More families than ever are living on the edge of disaster.

We have had no food delivery from the government nor have any significant food drives taken place since State Farm Insurance did one for us ending in September.

We are greatly in need of your financial support to provide us with the resources to fill the boxes of food for our client families. I know all of you have been negatively affected by what is happening in our country, and even if you cannot help us in the amount you have before, we ask you to consider sharing with us whatever you can.

Lana and I are doing our very best to make the best use of what we have. However, we now have to purchase significant amounts of food that involve a large outlay of funds. We have already adjusted downwards what we are packing in our boxes. We used to be able to do three meals a day for eight days; now we do three meals a day for five days.

As we have stated before, this is no longer simply an outreach started by two people at one church. It has become an area-wide outreach of families reaching out to their neighbors in need. Whatever donation you can give us goes right back into your community in the form of nutritious food.

Thank you for your constant support for what we are doing. We hope we will be able to hear from you during this holiday season. Without you we cannot help others.

Many blessings to each of you.

Sincerely,