LOWER CAPE OUTREACH COUNCIL Summer 2023
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Happy Summer!
I am thrilled to bring you the recent news from LCOC! Over the last several months, we have not only been busy meeting the increased demand for our services, but also looking toward the future of LCOC. We have conducted a needs assessment, held a strategic planning session, updated our software, utilized grant money to purchase new refrigeration in our main pantry and received a large grant from Barnstable County to support our food programs.
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We also recently launched our annual Summer of Hope campaign and are looking forward to presenting you weekly client stores to illustrate how your support benefits our neighbors in need of assistance. We are thrilled to share that you have the chance to double the impact of your donation as the first $25,000 will be matched by a generous anonymous donor!
This year, the need in our community continues to grow and the largest increase in demand is in our food pantries. As many of you know, LCOC saw a 95% increase in visits to our pantries in 2022 and so far this year, those numbers continue to grow. The average number of visits across all nine food pantries in 2022 was 685 per month. In 2023, the average number of visits per month is 953 and climbing. That’s a 39% increase over last year’s average!
The team and I are working hard to keep up with this demand and we couldn’t do it without your support, whether it is with volunteer hours, monetary or in-kind donations, or simply spreading the word about our work with the community. Collectively, we are having a significant impact on the lives of all those we continue to serve. We hope you will continue to support our mission during the Summer of Hope campaign.
Sincerely,
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Katie Wibby, Esq.
Chief Executive Officer
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Larry Marsland Scholarship Recipient |
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We are excited to announce the first ever award from the Larry Marsland Scholarship for the Arts. The Scholarship was created last year in honor of Larry Marsland, former LCOC CEO, for his 20 years of service to the organization. The Scholarship is managed by the Cape Cod Foundation and this year they chose Elizabeth “Libby” Anderson.
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Libby is a native Cape Coder who grew up in Harwich. She is going into her junior year at Anna Maria College where she is majoring in Music Education, with a minor in psychology. Libby will be doing her pre-practicum in the Worcester Public Schools and hopes that when she graduates, she will be able to return to the Cape to fulfill her dream of becoming a Music Teacher. Congratulations and best of luck to Libby in the years to come! |
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LCOC is proud to be one of 20 organizations to receive a grant from Barnstable County as part of the distribution of $5 million of ARPA funds. With these funds, LCOC will reinstate a pre-COVID program called Foods to Encourage. In partnership with the Barnstable County Public Health Nurse and the Cooperative Extension of Cape Cod, LCOC will host eight events a month. |
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These events will not only provide more fresh protein and produce to our food pantry clients, but also give them access to a check up with a registered nurse, who will assess their blood pressure and glucose levels, and a food demonstration from a nutrition educator. These events will be hosted at our food pantries during their regularly scheduled hours. Please visit our website for the schedule of events. |
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Cape Associates Playhouse Raffle |
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We are excited to announce that Cape Associates has generously donated a playhouse valued at $20,000 to be raffled off over the course of the next few months. The Raffle will begin on July 7 th when the Playhouse will be on display at the artist cottages near the Hot Chocolate Sparrow. Thank you to Cape Associates for this incredible donation and to Todd Thayer for donating the space to display this beautiful creation. If you are interested in entering, please visit our website to purchase tickets. The drawing will be held on Tuesday, October 17 th! |
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We are happy to highlight the hard work of our Orleans Food Pantry volunteers! This year the volunteers put together 30 “bucket gardens” for our clients. Each garden included a tomato plant, bell pepper plant and an herb. The clients were thrilled, and this is another example of LCOC working to provide our clients with healthy food options in our pantries. Kudos to the creativity and commitment of the volunteers who put this project together! |
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LCOC hosted our annual meeting on Monday, June 26 at Casa Del Cabo. It was a fantastic turn out and we were happy to share the current LCOC news with so many of our members.
This year we are excited to announce two new board members, Justin Blair and Roger Pearson. Roger will be serving as our Treasurer for the next two years. We also gave a heartfelt farewell to Susan Walsh who finished up her 6-year term, including two years as Treasurer. See a current list of all board members here. |
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We also honored longtime volunteer and donor, Steve Gulrich, for his 16 years of service to LCOC as an advocate administering our financial assistance program. Steve’s hard work and dedication will be sorely missed! |
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Restaurant Blowout Winners |
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Finally, the winners of our Restaurant Blowout Promotion! Thank you for all those who entered to win and supported LCOC! The lucky winners are:
1. Sally Joyce of Braintree
2. Donna Smith of Brewster
3. Frank Steponaitis of Brewster
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