CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE
Tis that time of year again. As we reflect upon the passing year, we know we are blessed to have so many wonderful friends help as we offer nourishment for body and soul to those in our community battling with AIDS. Following is a slice of life from The Lord's Pantry to let you know what has been happening during the past year.
Our numbers continue to grow
We are getting busier that ever, hitting 97 dinners a night by the end of October, for a total of 8,200 meals for the month! Only God knows how we manage to do so many dinners with our limited space and time. Thank heaven for our volunteers!
Helping other communities hard-hit by AIDS
As part of our community outreach, we continue to assist other cities that are hard-hit by increasing numbers of people with AIDS. The seed has been sown in Mt. Vernon, where we have established a meal drop-off site at St. Mary s Church under the direction of volunteer coordinator Diane Papa. The site is costing The Pantry more than meals - we ve had to hire a livery service to deliver the dinners. Mt. Vernon is hoping to open a kitchen of its own soon.
A soup kitchen in Orange County is presently serving a noon meal to 12 people with AIDS. They are off to a wonderful start, and recently paid us a visit to see how we operate. Best of luck.
We continue to deliver to a growing number of clients in Ossining, Mt. Kisco and Bedford Hills, and we are having a hard time finding drivers. A crew of local volunteers has been a God send picking up and delivering meals from a drop at Mt. Kisco Presbyterian Church. We are still in need of more drivers up North, and are hopeful that a recent meeting with the Ossining Ministers Association will help us recruit more volunteers and involve other area churches.
Grant writing pays off
Hooray for NYNEX! They presented us with a check for $10,000 - what good neighbors they are! We also received a SNAP Capital Equipment Award for $1,285. What a surprise! No one thought we had a chance because they process applications from non-profit corporations all over New York State. Another welcome award, $1,500, came from the Tzedahah Committee of the Westchester Reform Temple. Other proposals out for review include Philip Morris and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Fundraising
For St. Valentine's Day we designed and printed special cards that were lovingly filled out by our volunteers. The cards were wonderful, many bringing you to tears. They also succeeded in raising $4,000. Thank you to all our Cupids out there.
For St. Patrick's Day there was a gala held at St. Bernard s and we were one of the beneficiaries, receiving $3,100 (talk about the Luck of the Irish ).
An AIDS benefit held at Stutz in White Plains raised $1,000 for The Pantry.
News & views from the kitchen
As we grow, additional equipment becomes a necessity. This year we had to purchase a holding cabinet (courtesy of our SNAP award) that keeps our cooked food hot while we prepare more.
To battle with August s blazing heat, we had to install a commercial-sized fan to keep the cook and volunteers cool under pressure.
Thank heaven for our volunteers
It was too hard to nominate just one of our wonderful volunteers for the Volunteer of the Year Award, so we submitted them all.
We won honorable mention in two volunteer contests: one from the United Way, for which we were guests at a luncheon and received $100; the other from Diversified Investment Advisors*. Diversified created a special award of $1,000 for us, which was presented to Fran and Joan at a lovely breakfast. Thank you!
*(Please see Volunteers We WON this year!!!!)
Good News
The Ryan White Title I grant awarded us some extra money , which we badly needed for our budget. In June we were audited and came through with flying colors.
The Lord s Pantry has a new look for our logo - our loaf of bread is now sporting a red ribbon.
Getting the word out
Made the Westchester Weekly on August 3. A full-page article featuring four good-sized photos of the kitchen and great interviews with Fran, Joan and one of our volunteers. Who could ask for anything more?
Making the holidays extra special
Easter Sunday went beautifully this year with hand-made cards and small Easter baskets from those wonderful girls at Holy Child Middle School. A special dinner was served for the occasion - 62 of them. We were blessed to have entire families coming in to volunteer.
It took nearly all of November to get ready for Thanksgiving! We did double dinners, plus all kinds of special goodies, including 17 home-made pies, cookies, and a small holiday bouquet, courtesy of Poison Ivy in White Plains.
New Statistic Emerges at The Pantry
As part of our requirements for funding under the Ryan White Title I grant, we have to break down our daily delivery numbers into three categories: clients (people with AIDS or HIV infection); adult care givers and children. We are now serving 19 children! The tragedy of AIDS is a reality for them. It s sad , but true, that many of them will be orphaned.
Doing our part for AIDS awareness
Throughout the year we participated in school and community AIDS Awareness programs, including the Lipton Volunteer Fair and a Volunteer Fair at the Temple Israel.
Joan and her daughter, Eileen, were a big hit with high school students at AIDS Awareness Days in Harrison, New Rochelle and Hastings-on-the-Hudson. The kids were wonderfully receptive.
Fran and Joan were invited to participate in a PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) videotape. The interview proved to be both interesting and intense. The women form PFLAG opened a whole new topic for us to talk about: homosexuality and teenagers. We shared stories about our experiences with our sons, Tommy and Peter.
Quotable Crumbs from the Table
As part of our closing for 1995, we want to share with you a letter from one of our clients, which we d like to extend to all of you:
I would like very much to take this opportunity, from my heart, to thank you...All of you - not just for the holiday meals, but for the entire year round. You are a beautiful, wonderful group of people who care a lot more than most! Your help is helping me, and I am sure others, win our fight against AIDS. You are a great bunch of people and we all love you. God Bless You!
The letter from our client says it all. We couldn t do it without you. Thank you. We wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year.
The Lord's Pantry
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