Dear Friends:

When I think back on my early years here, it reminds me just how dramatically community support has helped us grow.

I remember when . . .

• The Center was just a 900 sq. ft. space on East Walnut, behind Gene’s Grinders. It held all our food, clothes, desks, sitting area and even four refrigerators. Now we have more than 25,000 sq. ft., including two distribution sites, a thrift store and a warehouse – and we need more room.
• I was the only employee, and relied on about ten volunteers to help. Now we have a staff of over 20 and count on hundreds of volunteers. Last year, our volunteers worked a total of over 43,000 hours.
• Our only vehicle was an old blue van, and it made all of our pickups. Now we have four box trucks and a van, and we keep them all rolling.
• We served 300 unduplicated families (about 1,000 people) and wondered how we could possibly serve that many. Now we serve nearly 4,000 unduplicated families (over 12,000 people) and still wonder how we will do it.
• We gave out 10,000 pounds of food a month and I thought that was really a lot of food. We only had canned goods, dry food and bread back then – no milk or dairy, very little fresh produce or frozen foods. Now we give out over 300,000 pounds of food a month—nearly 4,000,000 pounds last year – including lots of milk, dairy, frozen foods, and tons of fresh produce. Now, that’s a lot of food!

While it’s fun to reminisce, change is a constant – and we have definitely evolved. We’re part of a wonderful community that’s worked with us, supported us and helped us really make a difference in literally thousands of lives.

This year, we’ll continue to battle the down economy, the Haiti crisis, the lack of jobs, and the challenge of giving more folks than ever a hand up with love and dignity. With your continued support, we’ll do our best. In the meantime (I wish I could sing it to you!) … thanks for the memories.