FOOD FOR OUR NEIGHBORS
"For I was hungry and you gave me food..."
Mt. 25:35
Each month at Westminster Presbyterian Church and Dilworthtown Community Church specific items are collected to donate to the Cares Food Network in West Chester. In Chester County, where the median income was $77,570 in 2006, the Food Cupboard serves over 275 families each month whose income falls below 150% of the poverty level. Many individuals work two or three jobs and still are unable to make ends meet.
According to a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in April, 46% of Americans report that recent food price increases are causing them financial hardship. The biggest burden is being felt by those earning less than $30,000 a year - 64% of them say they are hit hard by food cost increases. This is on top of hardships caused by the high cost of gasoline. The poor are the ones who feel the most pressure and have the fewest options. Summer is a particularly difficult time of year for our low-income neighbors as subsidized school breakfasts and lunches are often not available, with the result that many children go hungry.
But we can help. In July we will be collecting everyone’s favorite...peanut butter and jelly. Help our neighbors in need through the summer. Just imagine, if everyone who came to worship brought in PB and J, what a difference that would make!
Members and friends are invited to bring designated food items and put them in the containers marked Food for our Neighbors located throughout the church. The Food for Our Neighbors calendar lists the food items to be brought each month. Calendars are available from the office, the information center in the narthex, or here on the website.
Many thanks for all the toiletries that were donated in June. Every little thing counts when you are trying to stretch your dollars and have them last all month.
July: Peanut butter and jelly.
August: past, stuffing mixes and rice (look out for medium grain).
Contact Fiona Allison fmallison@comcast.net or Trudy Warren for more information, or for more ways of supporting this program and the Cares Food Network. See below two Westminster volunteers working at the Network.
