In 2023, NEEDS served an unprecedented number of families — and ran out of freezer space to store enough food for our clients. The Freestore Foodbank, whose mission is to fight hunger in the tristate area, generously provided a new freezer for the pantry to use.
Pantry coordinators Janie and Maureen shared this note of thanks to our partners at the Freestore:
“Thank you for purchasing a freezer for the NEEDS food pantry. We certainly needed it! As you can see in the second picture below, it’s already fully utilized. The number of families visiting our pantry in 2023 was double the neighbors we served two years ago. With that increase, we needed more freezer capacity. This new freezer is a TRUE BLESSING!!!
Please share our thanks with the Freestore team. We appreciate the ability to get food and household products at a reduced price and to get items that we need to run our pantry efficiently.
The volunteers and the people we serve thank you for your service to our community.”
As we start the new year, the pantry is critically in need of two items: boxed cereal and laundry detergent. If you can only donate two items, please choose these! Other much-needed items are listed below.
Donations can be dropped off at Kenwood Baptist Church during our open hours (Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-1:00). If you would like to arrange a drop-off on another day, please call (513) 378-8767. Thank you!
Even with a holiday closure, the NEEDS pantry provided food to more than 500 people in December, including 17 new families. NEEDS also responded to numerous requests for emergency financial assistance.
Here are the latest numbers:
During the month of December, the NEEDS pantry provided food to 155 families – for a total of 565 people. In 2023, the pantry served a total of 2024 families and 6987 people!
NEEDS also provided emergency financial assistance to 17 families in December, distributing $5531.00 to cover rent and utilities. In 2023, NEEDS provided a total of $73,748.00 in emergency housing and utilities assistance to 189 families!
During the past year, NEEDS has seen both unprecedented need in our community and amazing generosity from our donors and volunteers. Thank you to everyone who made this impact possible!
