January 2012 - Shepherd`s Pantry

News

“Hope and A Helping Hand”

January 2012

Happy New Year! Well, time to usher out the old and welcome the new. We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and your New Year is off to a positive start. 2011 was a another banner year at the Pantry as we served food and clothing to more than 22,000 individuals, a 33% increase over 2010. Even though we did not anticipate such a large increase in demand, we were able to meet the demand without turning anyone away. Many of you have probably read stories lately about the difficulty food pantry’s are having finding sources of food supplies and we are no exception. As we look ahead to 2012, one of our major concerns is: Will we be able to find enough food, especially if the demand continues to increase as it did in 2011? Obviously, we are forced to purchase a larger percentage of our food supplies than ever before which impacts our financial resources. All of us at Shepherd’s Pantry are tuned in to this challenge and will continue to search for ways to be more creative. If you have any contacts in the food distribution industry, we would love to hear from you.

Here are a few of the highlights from our 2011: Implemented children’s reading tutor program; hosted our first one week children’s reading tutor camp in August; partnered with Abundant Harvest Organic to provide fresh organic fruit products; continuation of our relationship with Soles4Souls to provide new shoes; held our second annual fund raiser event; distributed GCCC holiday food baskets to Glendora residents; implemented an in-house haircut program; partnered with CCV Church to serve Thanksgiving meals to 150+ people at the Pantry on Thanksgiving day; distributed more than 650 toys at our Christmas Toy Store on December 17th.

In all 2011 was a good year at the Pantry, and we were fortunate to be able to serve so many families who are really struggling in this economy. Lack of jobs continues to be the number one obstacle for most of the people we serve. Without the ability to earn an income, most are left to make ends meet anyway they can. More and more families are moving in together to share the cost of rent and utilities, so it is not unusual to talk with families where 8-10 people share a small apartment or house. Unfortunately, the local job situation is not expected to significantly improve in 2012 so we are gearing up for another challenging year. Thank you to all our sponsors, donors and volunteers who make this program possible. Contact Information:Ph: 626-852-7630 Fax: 626-852-7801 www.shepherdspantry.com Address: 657 E. Arrow Highway, Glendora, CA 91740

News

Page 2

Thanksgiving Day Meal Program

Reading Tutor Program

On Thanksgiving Day 2011, Shepherd’s Pantry & CCV Church in San Dimas joined together to provide hot meals to more than 150 pantry clients. CCV provided a small army of volunteers, enough hot food to feed an army, live music and enough tables and chairs for everyone. Each client was treated to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal while they relaxed at a table with family or friends and were served by a group of warm hearted volunteers. This was our first Thanksgiving day meal program joint venture with CCV and we look forward to the next event in 2012. We can’t thank CCV enough for their generosity. Here are a few photo’s from the event:

We completed the last reading tutor program ten week block in December 2011. Over 25 children participated in the program along with more than twelve tutors. Everyone really enjoyed the program and the children are definitely benefiting from the personal attention they receive from the tutors. Our next program starts Monday January 9, 2012 and we already have a full enrollment plus a waiting list. Many thanks to all the tutors who volunteer their time and gifts to help children who otherwise might not have this type of opportunity.

Haircut Program A local beautician from Glendora has volunteered her time and equipment to provide free haircuts at the Pantry to the people we serve. The response has been very positive and other beauticians are interested in volunteering as well.

If you are interested in applying to be a tutor, contact Sara Moncayo at: [email protected]

Page 3

Christmas 2011 Toy Store

The Cake Mama’s

Here are a few photo’s from the Kid’s Cup-Cake On December 17, 2011, Shepherd’s Pantry Camp mentioned earlier that provided over 500 hosted a Christmas Toy Store for the families we serve. Planning and preparation for the event toys for our toy store event. started well before Thanksgiving and fortunately we received a lot of help from volunteers, local businesses and civic groups. Most notably, “The Cake Mama’s” business in Glendora donated more the 500 toys through their Kid’s Cup-Cake Camp event held at Glendora High School on December 11th. This was their first Cup Cake Camp event and it was a huge success. Many thanks to Janelle Copeland and Fabiola Gomez, co-owners of The Cake Mama’s, for supporting us in such a meaningful way. We also received a lot of support from John Schmidt at Grace Church in La Verne. He canvassed many businesses, groups and individuals to help collect a large amount of toys for the event. In addition to the toy store, Glenkirk Church’s Men’s Ministry provided a free pancake breakfast which everyone really appreciated. They provided all the food, tables and chairs plus a small army of volunteers. Since all of the toys were unwrapped, local girl scout troops from Glendora brought wrapping paper and ribbon and provided free gift wrapping during the event. The girls did a great job and all the attendees really appreciated their efforts.

Thank You Cards Periodically, we receive thank you cards from the people we serve expressing their appreciation and gratitude for the services we provide. We’d like to share a few with you:

This one is from Homework House in Azusa. Brown bag lunches during the summer.

Page 4

Community Sponsors (Partial List) ADP Corp – San Dimas

America’s Christian Credit Union – Glendora

Boeing Employees Community Fund

Brighton Collectibles

California Preferred Properties

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

City of Glendora – Block Grant Program

Costco – San Dimas

Curves - Glendora

ERA ‘Yes’ Real Estate - Glendora

Excelitas - Covina

First Baptist Church - Glendora

First Christian Church – Glendora

First Thai Presbyterian Church USA

Glendora Church Homes, Inc.

Glendora Community Church

Glendora Kiwaniannes

Glendora Women’s Club

Glenkirk Church – Glendora

Grace Lutheran Church - Glendora

Grace Lutheran Church – La Verne

Graves & Company, Inc.

Kiwanis Club - Glendora

Northrop Grumman

Organic Milling – San Dimas

Rotary Club – Glendora

Sam’s Club - Glendora

Smart & Final

Southern California Edison (SCE

Southland Properties - Glendora

The Cake Mama’s - Glendora

Trader Joe’s - San Dimas

Wal-Mart Store - Glendora

Wells Fargo Branch – Glendora

Mission Statement: Provide emergency food, clothing and resource assistance in times of crisis to families in need; Provide the necessary tools and resources to help them become self-sufficient Our Vision: Strengthening families for stronger communities

Items We Need 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Client Food Volume 2004 Thru 2011 25000

22671

20000

Non-Perishable food items Shampoo Deodorant Toilet Paper Toothpaste Bread Diapers (Sizes 4, 5 & 6) Men/Women’s clothing Children’s clothing

17011 14397

15000 10000 4256

5000 1409

0

Thank you for your support!!

9353

20042006

6207

4955

4737

3792 2670

1544

2007

2008

Families Served

2009

2010

2011

People Served

Client Clothing Volume 2008 thru 2011 17,000 15,000 13,000 11,000 9,000 7,000 5,000 3,000 1,000 -1,000

14,867

Lbs. of Food Served by Year 275,000

248,280

225,000 8,856

150,880

175,000

5,367

106,800

125,000

1,813

75,000 25,000

Aug-Dec 08

198,200

2009

Clients

2010

2011

-25,000

8,000

2004

15,000

2005

33,000

2006

60,000

2007

2008

Lbs.of Food

2009

2010

2011