If you have something our food pantry could use, just ask. We almost always have someone who needs what you have.
For example, a couple of months ago I got an email from a woman who was cleaning out her dad's house. He had recently passed away. She and her siblings all lived out of state in distant locations. They all had homes fully furnished and had no need for the furniture in their parent's home.
Rather than contact one of those "clean-out for a fee" companies, she thought to ask us if we had clients who could use the furniture. It just so happens that I have an email list that I use to send to our clients weekly with our shopping list. So I was able to send out a notice right away asking if anyone was in need of furniture.
We have quite a few clients who are recent immigrants who have arrived with not much more than a suitcase,so I was sure that we would have takers.
I was a bit overcome with the gratitude expressed by those who were able to get some very much needed items from that one act of extreme generosity! After all, I was just the go-between.
One man said that his family had been eating sitting on the floor or on boxes for months since they arrived and they were now able to sit around a dining room table. They also got two of the beds, so some members of his family were not sleeping on the floor any longer.
It's great to be able to meet a need like this. As it is, our pantry currently takes up fully half of our church space because of Covid and the shopping model we have in place. We couldn't house clothing donations if we wanted to.
But, things like this example are doable, if it's something that we can pass on with something as simple as an email blast, or if it's something that's a one-time donation like the snow shovels I mentioned last week.
As I said, if you have something you think our clients could use. Just ask! There is a contact form on this website to make it easy for you.
Here's to one generous woman and her creative idea to share while making a memory and legacy for her dad. She said he would have loved the idea that his furniture helped families get a fresh start.