Janie and Maureen of the NEEDS pantry shared this letter to our friends at Ursuline Academy:

“Wow! We can’t thank you enough for your generous donation to the NEEDS food pantry! Each year the students work so hard to plan and execute this canned food drive that helps so many of our neighbors in need. NEEDS is blessed to be one of the recipients of this event. We were excited to pick up two full pallets of food and personal care items. We appreciate the work the students did to sort and box the product. This made it so much easier for us to put it away.

Students Emma Clark and Mary Noschang did a great job of keeping us informed of the plan. They gave us the opportunity to share a list of items that we needed the most and coordinated our pickup time. What a great display of leadership! We love seeing young people involved in community service.

Your donation will go a long way in helping needy families in our area.”

NEEDS is grateful for the support we receive from our faithful partners. Regular donations from churches, schools, and other organizations help us to maintain pantry supplies throughout the year. Recently, pantry coordinator Maureen shared two great examples. The first was a large donation from Hartzell United Methodist Church:

“What a surprise to have a full carload of nonperishable food and personal care items show up in our drive-through last week! Just who was our benefactor? We found out that the generous members of Hartzell United Methodist Church had collected many of the items on the ‘wish list’ we send out to our member churches. Thank you so much for the wonderful donation, and most of all, for your ongoing support!”

Another terrific donation arrived thanks to the Madeira High School Key Club:

“Julie Leugers, advisor to the Madeira High School Key Club, contacted NEEDS recently to let us know that her students and their families were holding yet ANOTHER drive to benefit our food pantry. What wonderful supporters they have become in our efforts to meet the emergency needs of our neighbors!

Julie and her fellow teacher, Kim, arrived Monday April 18 with two full vehicles of donated food and personal care items. Club members and their families couldn’t have picked a better time to donate. Summer has always been a long dry spell for those who donate to the pantry. Schools are out, and members of local companies and churches are on vacation. But the emergency needs of our neighbors don’t take a holiday. Every donation helps us to stock the pantry for the summer months ahead.”

A big thank you to Hartzell UMC and Madeira HS Key Club for their reliable support!

Pantry coordinator Maureen shared this story about local realtors helping to stock our neighbors’ homes with much-needed food:

“Three well-heeled, professional women pulled into our NEEDS drive-through recently – all members of a Comey & Shepherd realtors branch. Cindy Flynn, Sue Miller, and Sue Wahl brought their office’s carload of donations personally.

The 10-pound bags of rice they brought alone were amazing! They’ll be perfect for the larger families of six to ten that we serve. And all of the other items will go far in stocking our shelves for the long summer months ahead. With schools closed and members of local churches and companies on vacations, few people donate to us during the warmer months.”

The best part? Comey & Shepherd will be holding another office food drive later this summer – and their goal is to double what they brought in this time!