NEEDS’ pantry coordinators work hard to keep our shelves stocked with fresh food for our neighbors, tirelessly seeking the best deals in order to stretch our pantry budget. So it was a tremendous blessing to be included in the Community of the Good Shepherd’s Advent Giving Project this year. Participants were incredibly generous in donating gift cards to buy food for hungry families in our community. NEEDS’ pantry coordinators shared this letter of gratitude:
“On behalf of everyone here at NEEDS, all I can say after opening the gift cards donated through your Advent Giving Project is WOW! These will help us keep the pantry stocked for months to come. While churches, schools, and community organizations donate nonperishable food items, we purchase fresh dairy, produce, meat, and whatever does not come through regular donation channels. Those purchases challenge our already limited budget. Your donation will help us make those necessary purchases, enabling us to meet the food needs of our less fortunate neighbors.
We’ve been blessed to participate in this project for two years now, and we treasure the opportunity to be included.
Our sincerest thanks for the generosity of your church’s members and, as well, our warmest wishes to you and yours for a blessed holiday season!”
Click HERE to find out how you can get involved, too!
While every donation to NEEDS is appreciated, some personal care items are especially difficult to keep in stock. So our volunteers were thrilled when the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church MomCo (mothers’ group) donated a supply of these crucial items. Our pantry coordinators wrote:
“We were beyond thrilled when Mardi Hull of Good Shepherd delivered your amazing donation of feminine care supplies, diapers, and incontinence items. WOW! At one of our busiest times of the year, you donated the most expensive items we stock! Sincerely, those are our most challenging items to source. Our warmest thanks, and our best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful holiday season!”
Click HERE to find out how you can help meet needs in our community!
Students at St. Vincent Ferrer School recently helped NEEDS to restock a pantry staple: cereal. Our pantry coordinators shared this note of thanks to the faculty who organized the drive:
“Oh, what a great donation you collected for the NEEDS pantry…. over 200 boxes of cereal! That will keep us in stock for months. We understand that you made it a fun event for the students, creating a cereal box domino display. That’s a creative way to encourage participation while helping the less fortunate in our community. We are thankful to Michelle Frost for coordinating the event and for sharing the donation with NEEDS. We appreciated the help of the students to load it all in our cars.
Please know that the cereal you collected will benefit people in the community where you live. The NEEDS volunteers and the families we serve thank you!”
Click HERE to find out how you can help NEEDS serve our community!
Students in the Madeira High School World Language Department are speaking the language of service! Pantry coordinator Janie shared this note:
“Thanks so much for your generous donation to the NEEDS Pantry. You all did a great job of collecting so many of the items we needed to stock the pantry, filling three cars. Wow!! And thanks to your students for helping us load everything. We love seeing young people getting involved in community service. We hope it leads to a lifetime of helping others. We also thank Jenn Bruening and Julie Leugers for leading this effort.
The NEEDS pantry has been operating for over 40 years, serving our neighbors in northeast Hamilton County. This year we will serve 2300 families making it a challenge to keep up with the demand. We rely on donations from schools, churches, and businesses to meet the need. Please know that the food you collected will benefit people in the community where you live.
The NEEDS volunteers and the families we serve thank you!”
You can help, too! Click HERE to find out how you can join NEEDS in serving our neighbors.
Each year, NEEDS holds a Student Assistance Drive to help provide school supplies and warm winter clothing to students in our community. Teachers and administrators in the Deer Park, Princeton, and Sycamore districts know all too well how many families struggle to afford these necessities — so they’re thrilled to receive gift cards enabling them to purchase exactly what their students need!
As you can see from these photos, there were big smiles when NEEDS volunteers stopped by each school to distribute gift cards. NEEDS is so grateful to the many donors who contributed to this year’s successful drive!
The NEEDS pantry serves hundreds of people each month — sometimes more than 30 families per day! You can help by donating some of our most-needed items.
Canned Food: Mixed vegetables Collard greens Potatoes Beef stew Chili
Home and Personal Care: Shampoo Pump hand soap Feminine hygiene pads and tampons Diapers (sizes 4-7) Laundry detergent
Donations can be dropped off at Kenwood Baptist Church, either at the drive-through during our open hours (Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-1:00), or in the marked boxes at each entrance. You can also donate via our Amazon Wish List, and your donation will be shipped directly to the pantry!
The NEEDS pantry has been serving our community for over 40 years. As grocery prices remain high, families are struggling. This year, we will serve 2400 families – a 30% increase over last year! We rely on donations from schools, churches, and businesses to keep up with the demand.
Recently, three local elementary schools stepped up to help. Families and faculty in Montgomery, Madeira, and Silverton organized food drives to benefit the NEEDS pantry – and the results were truly impressive! Montgomery students filled an entire large SUV with donated food. Madeira students collected no less than 850 items, and Silverton students filled 23 boxes with donations. Wow!
As pantry coordinator Janie notes, the best part of these drives is seeing the students’ enthusiasm. “They are proud of their accomplishment and so excited to help load our cars, working together to carry very heavy boxes. It’s so impressive to see them involved in community service at a young age,” she writes.
You can get involved, too! Click HERE to learn more.
Help NEEDS provide food and personal care items to our less fortunate neighbors – one day at a time during Advent! Please add each day’s item to a shopping bag as you prepare to celebrate Christmas. Then drop off your bag at NEEDS during our open hours (Tuesday / Thursday 9:00-1:00).
Sibcy Cline realtor Laurie Simon Goldman is a regular donor to the NEEDS pantry. But just ten days before Thanksgiving, she really outdid herself! Laurie writes:
“One of my FAVORITE moments in my annual work life: a pre-Thanksgiving ‘pay it forward’ project. Each year I select a few local non-profits to which I will make donations in honor of my clients, and my current/former local clients have the opportunity to select the one to which I’ll donate in their honor. Some former clients have been ‘voting’ for more than a decade! (I kick in the $, and clients ‘vote’ to choose where the donation in their honor goes.) Such a joy to hear back from HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of clients, and turn their votes into donations sent back out into our community!
This year a check earmarked for emergency housing assistance went to Neighborhood Bridges, and personal care items went to the NEEDS food pantry (the boxes in the pic show some of what went there). Someone asked what all went to NEEDS, so I counted! It was: detergent for 400 loads of laundry, 72 tissue boxes, 80 rolls of toilet paper, 16 bottles of dish soap, 72 razors, 12 boxes of band-aids, 612 tampons, 392 menstrual pads, 24 cans of shaving cream, 200 toothbrushes, 31 bottles of shampoo, 88 bars of soap, 45 toothpaste tubes, 26 deodorants, and 100 reusable market bags to fill for their guests.
So grateful for my clients who ‘voted’ with their hearts for these two projects! And always thankful that our work together means we can share some love with our neighbors through these remarkable organizations!”
NEEDS couldn’t be more grateful for Laurie’s generous support! Click HERE to find out how you can get involved, too.
