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chapelhill.porchcommunities.org |
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PORCH Views – January 2024 |
Hello!
Welcome to another edition of PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro’s quarterly newsletter, helping you stay up to date on everything happening within our organization.
Some of the most recent headlines:
– Earlier this month, because of your dedication, our volunteers packed 516 bags of non-perishable food for our Food for Families participants. We are now serving a record number of families. Each of our 630 families (more than 2,570 of our neighbors, including more than 1,450 children) also took home two dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a large box of fresh produce from Produce Box, and a grocery store gift card. Our participants who are refugees from Burma also received a large bag of rice and additional fresh produce.
– Employees of the Town of Chapel Hill as well as Blue Cross Blue Shield recently volunteered with us. We are so appreciative!
– Congratulations to our art contest winner, Salome, pictured above with PORCH Family Engagement Manager Lucky Reumann. We appreciate all our artists' entries and look forward to holding more participant engagement activities in 2024!
– We are currently seeking Neighborhood Coordinators in communities all around Chapel Hill and Carrboro. If your neighborhood doesn't have a Neighborhood Coordinator, would you or someone you know want to help fill this role? This is a great leadership opportunity for students! Prospective NCs can reach out to us at chc@porchcommunities.org. Check out our Neighborhood Coordinator information page, which gets into the nuts and bolts of what NCs do; it includes this very handy video.
– This month's Food for Thought messaging encourages the U.S. Senate to support efforts to eliminate debt for school lunches. It's easy to write a postcard. Get all of the details on our website.
Read on for more exciting updates. And check our blog regularly to learn the latest developments. Thank you, as always, for being part of the PORCH community!
Best,
The PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro Team
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Food Drive Season
To every neighborhood, organization, workplace, and club that held a food drive as 2023 came to an end – thank you so much. You made a huge impact on local families!
We received an abundance of non-perishable food from
Gonzalez Painters and Contractors, Goldfish Swim School, Ribbon Communications, Timber Hollow Apartments, Berkshire Hathaway in Meadowmont, Montessori Community School, Cosgrove Hill, Duke’s Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy, Morris Grove's Girls on the Run Club, UNC Public Health 360, Carol Woods, and more!
Food drives are an easy and incredibly effective way to help PORCH! Find a list of our most needed items, a promotional flyer, and some instructions on our website. Use a designated tub/bin/basket to set up your food drive collection site. Choose a high-traffic location, whether that’s your front porch, office, neighborhood clubhouse, or gym.
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Volunteer Spotlight
“When I go grocery shopping and see the steady rise in groceries while hearing about food insecurity in our county, I honestly don’t know how families do it! It makes me sad to see the highest prices on the healthy food along with the lowest prices on the ultra-processed food! I love to see the big boxes of fruits/vegetables at distribution. I believe that we should be taking care of each other in whatever way we can.”
Read our latest blog to get to know volunteers Mike and MaryAnne Pilcher. We are so lucky to have them on our team!
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A Birthday Wish
Michelle Sheran-Andrews was looking for a service project that she could tackle with her son Luke, a freshman at Chapel Hill High School.
After researching, they decided to focus on food insecurity. They uncovered several project ideas online, but one stood out: assembling birthday celebration boxes for families who otherwise might not have the resources for a cake, candles, and more.
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Fighting Food Insecurity in Schools
This month, school social workers picked up their second Food for Schools bundle of this academic year.
Food for Schools provides supplemental food – like protein and granola bars, cheese crackers, and other non-perishables – to kids in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools who are hungry and struggling to concentrate in the classroom. PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro provides each of the 21 schools (including pre-K, Phoenix Academy, and Spire) with $1,100 worth of snacks per school year.
“When students come up for a snack, I often think how hard it must be for them to do work – to focus – when they’re hungry. I am so very grateful for this program,” says Smith Middle School social worker Tina Moore.
Food for Schools is made possible by sponsorships from local businesses and benefactors.
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Pitch In to Help Us Provide More Food for Families in Chapel Hill and Carrboro
The number of families in our programs is at an all-time high of 630.
We anticipate another 100 families will seek our food assistance in 2024, and we want to be able to say yes to every single one.
We provide fresh and non-perishable food to more than 2,570 individuals each month (including more than 1,450 children). Our programs are made possible by caring community members like you. Since our founding in 2010, we have provided more than $6 million in hunger relief thanks to our dedicated army of volunteers, donors, and partners.
For families facing food insecurity, help cannot wait. Can you make a financial contribution to help PORCH combat hunger in Chapel Hill and Carrboro?
$300 – or $25/month – will provide a family with a grocery gift card each month so they can buy much-needed items specific to their well being.
$600 – or $50/month – will provide a family with a large box of fresh fruits and veggies, a gallon of milk, and two dozen eggs each month.
$1,200 – or $100/month – will provide a family with a large box of fresh produce, milk, eggs, a $25 gift card, and a bag of groceries each month.
Go to our donate page to make your gift online. Click on “recurring donation” if you wish to become a PORCH monthly sustainer. You can also mail a check payable to PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro to P.O. Box 16363, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-6363.
Whether you contribute $25 or $600, your support makes a huge difference.
Don’t forget to claim any matching funds from your employer. This can double your impact!
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"PORCH helps me conserve money on my SNAP card. And my heart is warmed by the generosity of the community."
– a Food for Families participant
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PO Box 16363
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
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