Coming Up: Earth Care Festival
The Earth Care Festival is a community event packed with education and fun. Mark your calendar for June 15!
Author: Olivia
May Impact
More families visited NEEDS in May than in April, including 20 new families. Requests for emergency financial assistance also rose this month.
Here are the latest totals:
During the month of May, the NEEDS pantry provided food to 184 families – for a total of 648 people!
NEEDS also provided emergency financial assistance to 17 families, distributing $6002.00 to cover housing and utilities.
Click HERE to learn more about how you can help our neighbors in need!
Freestore Hunger Walk: Donate Today!
Today is the Freestore Foodbank Hunger Walk! Freestore Foodbank helps more than 600 organizations in the tristate area — including NEEDS — provide food to our neighbors. The Hunger Walk is a great opportunity to support their mission of improving lives by eliminating hunger in our community.
Even if you’re not walking today, you can still make a difference! Donate HERE to help Freestore Foodbank and NEEDS fight hunger this Memorial Day!
Personal Care Items Needed!
While the NEEDS pantry primarily supplies food, coordinator Maureen notes that “we increasingly provide a range of personal care products to those seeking our help. Why? Everyone should be able to have what they need to keep clean and healthy. In addition, it’s hard to present yourself at a job interview if you don’t have what you need to look good.”
You can help us provide these crucial items to our neighbors! Please consider donating some of our most-needed items from the list below.
Most-Needed Personal Care Items:
Shampoo
Toothpaste
Pump hand soap
Bar soap
Shaving cream
Disposable razors
Deodorant (men’s and women’s)
Laundry detergent (Aldi currently has the lowest price in town for a small bottle of Tide: $3.44!)
Donations can be dropped off at Kenwood Baptist Church during our open hours (Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-1:00). Thank you!
Current Pantry Needs
The NEEDS pantry is stocking up for the summer, a time when many families lose the subsidized meals they rely on during the school year. You can help by donating some of our most-needed items!
This month’s top needs are canned beef stew, toilet paper, and paper towels.
Other much-needed items are listed below.
Nonperishable Food:
Pasta sauce
Canned collard greens
Canned pineapple
Peanut butter
Canned beans (kidney and pinto)
Donations can be dropped off at Kenwood Baptist Church during our open hours (Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-1:00). You can also donate via our Amazon Wish List, and your donation will be shipped directly to the pantry!
April Impact
April saw a sharp increase in requests for both food and emergency financial assistance. More than a dozen new families visited the NEEDS pantry for food, and requests for financial aid doubled!
Here are the latest totals:
During the month of April, the NEEDS pantry provided food to 173 families – for a total of 588 people!
NEEDS also provided emergency financial assistance to 16 families, distributing $5398.00 to cover housing and utilities.
To learn more about how you can help our neighbors in need, visit https://cincyneeds.org/donate-volunteer/
Thank You, Ursuline Academy!
Each year, families and faculty at Ursuline Academy hold a food drive to benefit six local organizations — including NEEDS! Pantry coordinators Janie and Maureen shared this letter of appreciation:
“Thank you once again for your generous donation to the NEEDS food pantry. We are so blessed to be a part of your program each year. Your donation is one of the largest we receive. This year you provided two full pallets of food, home, and personal care items. Wow! Our shelves are now restocked! We also appreciate the way you sorted the product and delivered it to us. That really helps us in the effort to put it away.
It’s impressive to have your students help lead this effort. It warms our heart to see young people involved in community service. Many thanks to Rowan Haas and Lara Licu for contacting us to coordinate the delivery. And a special thanks to Megan Knapke for leading this program. We understand that you all collected 15,000 pounds of product. That’s amazing!
As we explained to the students, our pantry visits increased another 40% in 2023, serving over 2000 families. It’s challenging to keep our shelves stocked. We look forward to your donation each spring in preparation for the summer when our donations typically decline. Your donation will go a long way in helping needy families in our area. Please share our thanks with the students, families, and faculty who made this food drive successful. The volunteers who keep our pantry running and the families we serve thank you all.”
Learn more about you can help meet the needs of our neighbors here.
Volunteers Needed for the Montgomery Market Gleaning Team
As the weather warms up, many of us are eager to head to the farmers’ market for delicious local produce. But did you know that farmers’ markets are also a great source of fresh food for our neighbors in need? Gleaning teams collect unsold food to donate for hunger relief — and thanks to these volunteers, the NEEDS pantry receives fresh produce all summer long!
You can help by joining the Montgomery Market team! Contact Sue Plummer at the Society of St. Andrew to learn more.
Thank You, Madeira High School!
Madeira High School’s Key Club, a student group focused on service, has often supported NEEDS by organizing food drives. Pantry coordinator Janie shared this note following the club’s latest successful drive:
“Thank you so much for coordinating another food drive for the NEEDS food pantry. You collected so many of the items we needed. And as if that wasn’t enough, you also sorted and labeled everything!! Wow! That is such a huge help for us.
The Key Club is an impressive organization. We know that leadership and caring are among the core values of the club and clearly the students are demonstrating those qualities. Please know that you are truly making a difference in the lives of your neighbors in need.
The NEEDS volunteers and the families we serve thank you! We look forward to continuing our partnership in the years ahead.”
NEEDS is so grateful for the individuals and organizations who help us serve our neighbors. To learn more about you can get involved, visit https://cincyneeds.org/donate-volunteer/ .
An Easy New Way to Donate: Amazon Wish List!
The NEEDS pantry relies on community donations to provide food and household supplies to our neighbors in need. But not everyone has time in their busy schedules to shop for and drop off donations.
Enter our newest way to give: Amazon Wish List! Just like a wedding or baby registry, the NEEDS gift list enables you to select the items you would like to give and have them shipped directly to the pantry. The list is kept up to date with the pantry’s most-needed items — and if you’re an Amazon Prime member, shipping is free! It’s a simple and convenient way to help meet needs in our community.
Check it out here: NEEDS Amazon Wish List
Thank you!