Below is an email sent out last week by the Rev. John Kemp, executive director of Neighbors, Inc. in South St. Paul. St. Anne's is one of the partner churches of Neighbors.
Dear Friends,
I’m very sensitive to being perceived as the boy who cries wolf, so I try to not ask our faith community partners for additional help too often. We know all of you are stretched to the ends of your own capacity, and you already do so much for your community through Neighbors that we feel guilty asking for more.
In January, when we took inventory, we had 82,500 5-oz. bags of laundry detergent. Each bag was sufficient for two loads of wash. At our July staff meeting, I was told we were out of laundry detergent. I didn’t believe it. I had counted that detergent myself and I knew where it had been stored, so I assumed it had just been overlooked. I went looking for it, and guess what? We don’t have any laundry detergent.
This isn’t really about laundry detergent; it’s about the food shelf. After looking for the laundry detergent I made a loop through the food shelf. I don’t ever remember seeing so many empty shelves. Shelf after shelf, and box after box, are empty. For example, at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, July 13, we had 12 jars of jelly, all of which would be given out that morning. And we wouldn’t have had those 12 jars of jelly had it not been for the 12 bags of food we received from Knowlans that morning, all with a jar of jelly included.
The problem isn’t just that the summer months are always a time of lowered donations, although that’s part of it. It’s also that the number of people seeking help from the food shelf continues to increase at an alarming rate. In May of 2011 we served 254 families. In June of 2012 we served 382 families. That’s a 50% increase in just 13 months, and the number keeps going up every month.
We are buying as much as we can from Second Harvest, but as you know, we can only buy what they have. So, for example, while we were able to buy 77 cases of stew, and a skid load of shampoo and conditioner, we aren’t able to get many of the items that are most needed. The list of those items is posted on our website and it changes frequently, but right now we badly need pancake mix, syrup, jelly, canned meats, chili, cereal, toothpaste and tooth brushes.
If there is anything you and your parishioners can do in the next couple of months to help it will be greatly appreciated. If we can help with collection barrels or signs or flyers, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Just give Daniel Zhu a call at 651-306-2154 or send him an email at Daniel@neighborsmn.org and he’ll be happy to help.
Thank you for all you do, and all you have done, for the people of our community. May God continue to bless you in your work.
John Kemp
Executive Director
Neighbors, Inc.
