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.
Each year, St. Xavier High School holds a food drive to benefit NEEDS and other pantries — and the generosity of the school’s families and faculty really makes a difference! Pantry coordinator Janie shared this letter of gratitude:
“Thank you once again for including NEEDS in your annual food drive. We look forward to your event every year as it makes a significant impact on our pantry. Each year the number of neighbors visiting our pantry increases and we are challenged to keep food on our shelves. This year we will serve over 2200 families.
The effort your students put into this event is so impressive! We loved seeing their energy and enthusiasm as they brought load after load to our truck. The impact you make on the less fortunate in our community is huge, as we know that we are just one of many pantries who benefit from your efforts.
This is one of the biggest donations we receive. Please thank all the students, their parents, and your staff who work so hard to make this a success. It’s great to see these young men involved in community service. It instills a giving spirit that carries on, as evidenced by St. X alum Tom Young ’57 who helps pick up and deliver the goods to our pantry every year.
Please know that you are truly making a difference in the lives of our less fortunate neighbors. The NEEDS volunteers and the families we serve thank you.”
Want to help meet needs in our community? Click HERE to find out how you can get involved!
Pantry coordinator Maureen shared this note of gratitude:
“Members of the Susanna Wesley Fellowship — part of the United Methodist Women — weren’t fretting about the outcome of the national election on the evening of November 5. They were focusing on the NEEDS food pantry and how they could help.
Eleven members of the Fellowship visited the pantry to learn about its history and current operation. And they didn’t come empty handed! Having previously checked out the pantry’s ‘Most Needed’ list, they came bearing gifts of laundry detergent, diapers, and the plastic bags so essential for packing up groceries for those seeking food assistance.
Thank you, ladies, for all you have done for NEEDS!”
You can get involved, too! Click HERE to find out how you can help meet needs in our community.
The women’s group at Sharonville United Methodist Church recently surprised NEEDS with a generous donation to the pantry. Coordinators Janie and Maureen shared this note of thanks, offering a peek into the pantry’s day-to-day operations.
“On behalf of everyone here at NEEDS, we’d like to thank each and every one of you for choosing to help support our food pantry.
Your donation comes at the perfect time, as more and more families are seeking emergency food aid. Our volunteers arrive each service day to find a line down the side of the building — a line that forms well before we open. In the four short hours we serve, we provide dairy items, fruit and vegetables, meat, nonperishable food, and personal/household supplies to up to 30 families.
Your support will help us continue to meet their needs, especially as we approach the busy holiday season.”
NEEDS is so grateful to Sharonville UMC and all of our donors and volunteers. You can get involved, too! Click HERE to learn more.
