Thanks for Giving this holiday season
We Care assisted 195 families in finding Thanksgiving food assistance this year. About 100 of those families received help directly from our office. We Care would not be able to help that many people if it weren’t for the overwhelming support we receive.
Thank you to New Community Christian Church for 20 turkeys with trimmings, Brandt’s Construction for 26 turkeys, the Wild Turkey Federation for 15 turkeys and ITW Filtration for 10 turkeys.
Last year, Jewel Food Store in Morris donated complete turkey dinners to 20 families. This year, thanks to the fund drive that they conducted at the Morris store for this purpose, the persistent pleas of their compassionate cashiers and their very generous customers, Jewel was able to provide 42 complete turkey dinners. Jewel will continue this fund drive to provide turkey dinners for families at Christmas, too.
When you’re shopping at Jewel this holiday season, please consider donating toward this effort that will help your neighbors here in Grundy County.
The First United Methodist Church conducted its annual food drive that helps We Care fill our Thanksgiving boxes. This huge collection proceeded to fill the pantry even after the Thanksgiving boxes were distributed. Many other food drives were collected throughout our community over recent weeks and have helped to restock our pantry to overflowing, which will help us through this difficult holiday season. We would like to thank the following organizations for helping us with food: Aux Sable Liquid Products; Delta Kappa Gamma, Omicron Chapter; First Midwest Bank; Grundy Bank; Grundy Area Vocation Center Health Occupations Students; Holt & Sons, Inc.; Total Logistics Control; and Walnut Grove.
We also had a unique donation from White Oak Elementary School students who collected pennies for pies. We Care received 101 pies to distribute to families in need for Thanksgiving as a result of this Market Day fundraiser. We would also like to thank U.S. Cold Storage in Minooka for providing a place to store the pies.
Other contributions came from Morris Soccer Association who contributed soft drinks and Pepperidge Farm who contributed stuffing and bread. There were also many contributions from individuals who simply brought in a bag or two, or a turkey or two, to help as much as they could.
Ninety-five remaining families were assisted by a variety of organizations throughout our community who distributed food to We Care families in their own fashion. They include: Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Gardner South Wilmington High School Business Club, ITW Filtration Products, Minooka Lions Club, Morris Lions Club, and Thrivent Financial.
Finally, We Care would like to thank the American Legion Riders who donated $1,000 and Exxon Mobile Retirees club who donated $310 of proceeds from a cookbook sale.
Thanks to all of those who helped provide for a bountiful meal during a year where economic conditions could have forced many to face a lean table this year. While we were able to meet many Thanksgiving needs this year, please be aware that our requests for food assistance are up more than 35 percent over last year, which was at least 35 percent higher than the year before. The need is great and growing. Please visit We Care’s Web site at www.wecareofgrundy.com to donate with a credit card, or call our office at (815) 942-6389 if you would like to adopt a family or provide food during this upcoming season.
