Catching Up with Yvonne

By Yvonne Cavalli

President of Bountiful Harvest

So far, we are having a good year. Not great, But good and looking up. To us that is a real plus from 2022.

Partners

Unfortunately, we will not be receiving the Meijer Simply Give donations any longer. Gleaners made the decision to keep them internally. We are grateful for the time we enjoyed having that partnership with Meijer.

We are very proud to announce that we are the Charter Organization for Boy Scouts of American BSA Pack 3344 and BSA Troop 0347. We are excited to be involved with these young boys and young men in their strive for learning and excellence.

Bradford Financial is continuing the Match Donation Fundraiser. They have donors that have committed to match up to $20,000. Please consider making a donation to the matching program.

Volunteers Needed

We have kept the pantry closed to clients coming in due to all the new forms of COVID. Most of our volunteers are seniors, and we do not want to put them at risk.

We are in desperate need of help for the following:

Tuesday: Front Desk, Grocery shopping (in our building), checkout, driver
Wednesday: Kitchen, Grocery shopping (in our building), checkout
Thursday: Kitchen, Grocery shopping (in our building), checkout.
Friday: 1 Driver, Front Desk, Grocery shopping (in our building), checkout
Saturday: Front Desk, Grocery Shopping (in our building), checkout

As you will notice a resounding need for kitchen help is needed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the last Saturday of the month.

Please consider volunteering your time and contact us if you have any questions. I have lots more news for you. I will be sending out another email with the new happenings.

Fun Events Coming Up

Watch our website and newsletters for upcoming events. We have some exciting fun events happening this year. On April 7 and 8, we are holding Egg My Yard. This was a big hit last year so don’t miss out on the fun.

God Bless,

Yvonne

Chez Vonz

Michele Benser, Manager

Sorry I missed last month’s newsletter. It has been a wild and crazy start to this 2023. All I can say is we have been giving out a ton of winter clothes, blankets, comforters, knit hats, gloves, etc. This cold snap was brutal. Thank goodness we have had a large selection coming in.

Socks, socks, socks, we can never get enough. Anyone who can donate socks, we will love you for ever and ever.

There are two holidays coming upon us quickly: Valentine’s Day and Easter. For Valentine’s Day, if you can spare some Valentine’s card for the kiddos to give to their friends at school, it would be fantastic. For Easter, we are doing Easter baskets for the children, so we need help with baskets, grass, small Easter candy, etc.

We will not be accepting winter clothes after March 1. We will start to change over from Winter to Spring clothes. THINK SPRING!!!!

We welcome bedding and stuffed animals. However, if you are donating pillows or stuffed animals, they have to be new.

God Bless you, and thank you for all your wonderful donations.

Pet Pantry

At Bountiful Harvest, we recognize that your pets are family too. The Pet Pantry provides dog and cat food, as well as pet accessories based on availability.

Check out our Chewy account for specific needs for our four-legged friends. Anything shipped from Amazon or Chewy is very appreciated and easy for you too.

Events

By Vanessa Mink

Egg My Yard

Eggers are needed for our “Egg My Yard Fundraiser” on Friday April 7 – Saturday, April 8 beginning at 9:00 pm. We need volunteers to deliver/hide eggs for little ones to find the next morning. We are also collecting candy to stuff the eggs. No peanut butter please.

Together we CAN

While our community needs us more now than ever, we need YOU! Let us know if you have a team, troupe, group, company, or organization that would like to partner with Bountiful Harvest.

If you are interested in helping or for more information, please contact Vanessa at vanessabountifulharvest@yahoo.com or visit our Events page.

Kidz Bitz – Password Security

By Jeff Hauk, Director of Connected Kidz

Passwords – we ALL have them, and they are the keys to your kingdom. Keep your financial and personal information secure. Here are some tips on how to do that:

First and foremost, don’t use personal information that hackers could guess about you. Never use your name/Kids Name/Dogs Name (all findable on your social media).
Always log off if you leave your device and anyone is around—it only takes a moment for someone to steal or change the password.
Use comprehensive security software and keep it up to date to avoid keyloggers (keystroke loggers) and other malware.
Avoid entering passwords on computers you don’t control (like computers at an Internet café or library)—they may have malware that steals your passwords.
Avoid entering passwords when using unsecured Wi-Fi connections (like at the airport or coffee shop)—hackers can intercept your passwords and data over this unsecured connection.
Don’t tell anyone your password. Your trusted friend now might not be your friend in the future. Keep your passwords safe by keeping them to yourself.
Depending on the sensitivity of the information being protected, you should change your passwords periodically, and avoid reusing a password for at least one year.
Do use at least eight characters of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols in your password. Remember, the more the merrier.
Strong passwords are easy to remember but hard to guess. Iam:)2b29! — This has 10 characters and says, “I am happy to be 29!” I wish.
Use the keyboard as a palette to create shapes. %tgbHU8*- Follow that on the keyboard. It’s a V. The letter V starting with any of the top keys. To change these periodically, you can slide them across the keyboard. Use W if you are feeling all crazy.
Have fun with known short codes or sentences or phrases. 2B-or-Not_2b? —This one says, “To be or not to be?”
It’s okay to write down your passwords, just keep them away from your computer and mixed in with other numbers and letters so it’s not apparent that it’s a password. Better yet, use one of the many password keeper programs on your phone with a UNIQUE password.