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End of the Month Club
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Today, many people right here in America are worried about where their next meal is coming from. More and more people are turning to food pantries to help them put enough food on their tables. And these are not just homeless people, but often people with jobs who simply do not make enough money to feed their families. Indeed, one local food pantry that just 18 months ago was serving 9000 people each month, last month served more than 13,500! At the same time, food pantries are facing the same struggle as other nonprofits: While demand is up, funding is down, which makes keeping shelves stocked difficult. To help meet this need, Big Sunday is proud to introduce our new End of the Month Club. |
Every month, Big Sunday will sponsor a food drive to collect food for a local food pantry. The food can be dropped off at the Big Sunday offices starting on the 3rd Monday of the month. The following Wednesday morning – the 3rd Wednesday of the month – anyone who’d like is invited to stop by the Big Sunday office between 9 and 11 a.m. to drop off any additional food, and then stick around to sort and box it – not to mention enjoying the company of the others who’d like to help, too. Of course, since it’s Big Sunday, we’ll be serving coffee and pastry, too.
In the first year, we’re hoping to collect 500 items of food each month. To help us meet this goal, each month we pair up with at least one business, school, faith group, club, family or individual who will take up a collection in their community.
Great News: We're off to an amazing start! In May we collected 1,000 jars of peanut butter for SOVA. And in June, we collected nearly 900 boxes of cereal for Hope-Net. In July we collected more than 1500 cans of tuna for M.E.N.D.!! Clearly, people want to help! In August we collection over 10,000 (!!!) granola and energy bars for the Westside Food Bank. In September close to 1000 packs of pasta and jars of sauce for Friends in Deed in Pasadena. In October more than 1000 bottles and boxes of juice for the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition! In our huge November Thanksgiving drive we provided more than 500 bags full of yams, stuffing, cranberry sauce, fresh vegetables, corn bread, pies and Ralph's gift cards to more than 500 families at more than 20 nonprofit organizations! In December we gave more than 1500 items of all kinds of wonderful food to the Program for Torture Victims. And 2013 is off to get a great start with over 800 cans of soup and beans for vets and military families.
More great news: Here are some of the groups who have already taken part in TEOTMC: The Authentic Literary and Talent Agency, The Center for Early Education, Centro Evangelistico Ebenezer Church, City National Bank, Cornerstone on Demand, Disney Animation, Dreamworks Animation, IKAR, Kehillat Israel, The Westmark School, Wilshire Rotary Club, The Oakwood School, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, the cast and crew of "Justified," Hancock Homes Realty, and more! We've also received generous donations of food from Clif Bar and Village Pizzeria.
If you’d like to get more involved, please contact Paulette Light and Melanie Staggs at endofthemonthclub@bigsunday.org.
Upcoming:
February is Hot Chocolate Month to runaway teens and homeless youth at Covenent House L.A. This is in response to their special request. The Wonderland Avenue School and JP Morgan Chase in Century City on already on board to help. We'll be collecting starting February 10 at our Valentine's event. And yes, we are happily accepting donations of marshmallows, too!
The End of the Month Club has been possible by a generous grant from Joshua L. and Lisa Z. Greer.
