tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87848065578777503212024-03-13T04:02:12.300-07:00Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food BankDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-4132343903900608972013-09-17T07:19:00.001-07:002013-09-17T07:19:23.504-07:00Thousands of hungry people live right here among us. You pass by them every day. They are grandmothers and grandfathers and children. They are hardworking men and women. They are families.
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They are families we see at our own doorsteps when they come to us for help. We are there for them with a shopping cart filled with food, and they are often moved to tears and always express their deepest thanks. We see children at our front door and in our waiting room, hungry and unsure if today will be another day without dinner. We see their eyes light up when the shopping cart comes out with their food. One day we saw a child who at first did not know that all of the food was for his family, and then was filled with joy when he learned how much they had to eat. “It seems like Christmas for us,” he said, and his smiles showed he really felt that. It is mid-September now and we may be experiencing the Indian summer. We may still think the holidays are months away, but in reality for a family needing food, when they get it, they feel like it is Christmas for them.<br />
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Harvest Hope Food Bank has a 33 year history of lifting struggling families and individuals out of their hunger and helping restore balance to their lives. When they face their empty tables and ask us for help, we make sure to give them 90 to 100 pounds of food. We have found that with that help they only come to us three times, and then they are lifted out of hunger and they do not need to come for help again.
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At Harvest Hope we see the faces of the hungry every day at our own doorsteps in Columbia, Lexington, Florence and in Greenville. We hear from our agency partners in the remotest corners of South Carolina that families continue to some to them for help with food. Families and individuals across our state struggle to put food on their tables. But hunger is a problem that stretches across our country.
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A new article shows hunger is still a concern even four years after the economic crisis supposedly ended. For so many, for one in five Americans, the crisis is far from over. Read more about hunger right here: <a href="http://www.blogger.com/:%20%20http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/12/20460846-1-in-5-americans-struggling-to-put-food-on-the-table?lite">http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/12/20460846-1-in-5-americans-struggling-to-put-food-on-the-table?lite</a>
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Our mission at Harvest Hope is to provide for families and individuals struggling with hunger right here in South Carolina. We strive to provide hunger relief across 20 SC counties through our own Emergency Food Pantries and through partnerships with more than 400 agencies. They carry our mission from our own neighborhoods to the remotest corners of South Carolina where hunger and poverty exist for thousands. Our efforts bring hunger relief to more than 42,000 people every week.
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Our food is often enough to take their worries away, to give them enough resources to overcome their circumstances.
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To reach them all we have to have resources to send our trucks to get food from community partners, and then take and give food to the areas where food is needed the most.
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To many the holidays seem two months away but for Harvest Hope holiday need preparation is right now. Please help us prepare with a gift today. Your gift will help us gather loads of food from across the country. That food is often donated and FREE, but the transportation is not. <br />
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In addition, we need sponsors of backpacks for children. A $30 gift will provide 29 meals on the weekends. We have children waiting and wanting - can you help?
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Another great gift is your gift of time. Volunteers are needed both for groups and for counselors in our own Emergency Food Pantries. We have many ways to be involved and we need YOU - the gifts you bring, the love you share, the smiles you give. Click <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/volunteer" target="_blank">HERE</a> to learn more about volunteering.<br />
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Your gifts – right now – give us the resources to keep us going to help lift others out of their time of crisis and hunger. Harvest Hope dedicates 98¢ out of every dollar donated to our mission of feeding struggling families, children, seniors and our very neighbors. Giving is easy. Visit us at our <a href="https://donate.harvesthope.org/" target="_blank">DONATION PAGE</a> to help us help our neighbors.
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Our blessings and deepest thanks for your generosity and kindness,
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Denise Holland
Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-49288769196986598212013-03-26T08:44:00.000-07:002013-03-26T08:44:36.309-07:00An Easter Message From Denise <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sKozIHos7Vk?list=FL5Lq4U6RfVodQFrjo3et1Kw" width="475"></iframe>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-16847272861156730512012-10-03T13:24:00.003-07:002012-10-03T13:25:07.046-07:00<br /><br />This past summer I read a great book called "The Noticer: Sometimes All a Person Needs is a Little Perspective" by Andy Andrews. It was a wonderful book, recommended on several faith reading lists, and I will use it for a book study at my church in a few weeks.<br /><br />This book is a great story about a wonderful person watching and noticing when someone needs help and how to provide encouragement to move beyond the disappointments, frustrations, and failures in life. <br /><br />Reading this book brought to mind some comments that are often asked by others about the hungry families, children and the elderly we feed. We are often approached and asked why are the clients talking on cell phones, or a question will get asked about why we are serving a mother who has acrylic nails, or a particular type of car in our parking lot. I would like to share some perspectives and beliefs about Harvest Hope.<br /><br />Cell phones are sometimes much cheaper than a regular land line and for a family who is losing their shelter or can't afford to pay utilities this is the only way to go as it is portable. In our Emergency Food Pantry, we actually did ask a client why she had acrylic nails but came to Harvest Hope for food? She said she bartered for her nails by keeping her next door neighbor's children and the mom who needed child care was a nail technician. She gave this lady free acrylic nails in exchange for the babysitting so she could go to work. The lady who came into the pantry was also looking for full time work as she kept these children in the evening. Sometimes it does appear that some of the cars in our parking lot may look to be expensive models. Some indeed may be on occasion, but they also may be vehicles operated by our volunteers, visitors, board members or possibly a person who is giving a ride to a client. But for the sake of argument let's just say that this is not the case. Many clients, when a volunteer goes to help them put food in their cars, appear to be living out of their cars as this is their only form of shelter. Frankly, as unfortunate as this is a $200 or $300 or even higher car payment a month is cheaper than rent and utilities. <br /><br />Now please don't mistake that we agree with how some of the emergency situations are handled, but I like to think that when faced with some situations each of us would do all we could to keep our families together...all in all these are other perspectives. More importantly, there are six general recurring reasons why someone is at risk for hunger: unemployment, inability to pay rent and utilities, lack of transportation, a catastrophic event in someone's life's (any of these would be catastrophic, but also consider loss of a spouse or other loved one), can't afford medicine or medical care, or being disabled.<br /><br />Here's something else to think about: we have pretty hard statistics documented from FRAC (Food Research Action Council), Feeding America and others, that the SNAP (food stamp) program does not provide enough food to last all month. But if we can help get families get on SNAP and then give them 90 pounds per person we only see them at our food pantry an average of three times in the course of a year. Our records at Columbia's Emergency Food Pantries show that the majority of people who ask us for food come just three times and then overcome whatever economic crisis or disaster they faced that left them without food on their table. With their immediate crisis overcome, they can go on to support themselves and purchase their own groceries as they need, just like we would all prefer. In addition, for any of those six reasons listed above we try hard to give the clients resources to help them out with whatever other needs brought them to us in the first place. But our main mission is to give them enough food to take the need for food off of the table for a period of time so they can go deal with those issues. What we want to prevent is giving them just a little bit of food that only takes them through a day or so because then that just creates this toxic, never-ending cycle of always seeking food because they are hungry. And we all know that if you are hungry you really can't focus on anything else.<br /><br />We really want the same thing our clients want: to get re-employed. I have heard this statement many times and said it many times myself...'it is always better to have some type of work. It may be menial or less than what one is trained to do, but you can always keep looking for the dream job/career while you have a job'.<br /><br />So at Harvest Hope, we truly want to work ourselves out of a job, we want to get people who are at risk of hunger enough food so they can go deal with any of those six repetitive issues that brought them here in the first place. There are several other good ideas to help as well that includes things like couponing, gardening, and preparing food well, etc that we are also exploring. We want to be involved in these areas solely for our clients who need to also explore how to stretch their food dollars. However, we also have our main purpose and that is to provide food-and this continues to be serving an average of 48,000 people every week across 20 SC counties.<br /><br />Now, none of this can happen without the appropriate resources to get the job done. These resources include food, finances and volunteers-all of which are incredibly important. For us to give 90 pounds per person we have to have great food supplies. We have seen and continue to expect to see a total of six to seven million pounds less in USDA food over the course of this calendar year. Therefore all donated food and particularly food drives are very much needed. In addition, for us to pick up tractor trailers of donated food that is offered to us from all over the US, we have to pay transportation, continue to have warehousing and we have our own 20 refrigerated trucks that work within the state to pick up local donated food from wholesalers, retailers and others. All of this requires financial donations and to be very honest, financial donations continue to be very low. Since 2007, for every donor we had, we have had to augment that single donor with finding four more. Financial donations are tenuous and there are weeks when I truly worry about having sufficient funds to keep us going. This has been our new normal for going on five years. This is not just our new normal, but everyone's new normal.<br /><br />While all of this is very true and heartfelt, keeping our perspective and faith each day is critical. We are also constantly working to gain and refine our perspectives each day, as a pledge to keep going forward to provide for our most vulnerable, and to work with others to help the people we serve get to a point that they don't need us and are empowered, skilled, and using all of their capabilities to help themselves. Please stay tuned for the next blog issue expected to be released Oct. 15, 2012 about one such true story of Harvest Hope and a positive impact on taking just one from unemployed to employed.Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-46334858765254821422012-08-20T08:07:00.001-07:002012-08-20T08:07:05.475-07:00
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Where did the summer go? It seems like only yesterday that
Harvest Hope projected our needs to make sure we had enough resources to feed
hungry families across 20 counties for the three months of summer. We
ended up distributing almost 1 million pounds of food a week through June, July
and so far in August. In June the food bank saw an average of 325 families A
DAY at the Emergency Food Pantries on Shop Road and on 12<sup>th</sup> Street
in Cayce, and provided food for over 6,820 families during the month. This is
an increase of more than 800 families over June of 2011!</div>
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The impact of providing this much food greatly strained our resources
and by late July we were facing empty shelves in Florence, Columbia and
Greenville. Even though donation levels remain consistent with last year, the
increase in demand over last year has almost depleted our food supplies. Our
shelves were empty – but hungry families were turning to us in greater numbers
than ever before.</div>
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You may have seen the news stories our media partners have
run in response to our call for help. We saw that many responded and opened
their hearts to help provide for their hungry neighbors. Donation levels
increased and many sent notes with their donations showing their concern. Our
food levels have slowly begun to resume minimum operating levels, but there is
still a huge shortfall between what we are putting out and what we need. Our
Florence facility has almost no resources to provide food to rural areas
through our Mobile Food Pantries. They have far too little to fill our trucks
to take out into the heavily impacted and impoverished rural communities in the
Pee Dee. We are so thankful to receive the blessings from the many who opened
their hearts, but clearly we have a ways to go to make sure we provide for all
who struggle with hunger.</div>
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But today I heard a story that touched my heart and truly
shows how even the youngest and smallest among us can do their part to help and
show their love for others. A young man in Orangeburg, just five years old, set
up a folding table in front of his house and colored a paper table cloth with
crayons and sold popsicles over the weekend. At first his parents thought that
he, like most kids his age, was trying to raise money to buy a new video game.
But he had something different in mind. He was telling everyone who came to his
popsicle stand he was raising money to, in his own words, “feed the hungry
people.” He had heard his parents talking about the news stories they saw about
us. He raised $163 and donated it all to Harvest Hope. That’s 775 meals! What a
great example to others, both children and adults, about what even the simplest
of efforts can achieve when you show your love to care for others.</div>
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We want to make your compassion and generosity, your
dedication to give to be as simple and convenient as possible. We want everyone
who gives to Harvest Hope know they can become a <i>Beacon of Hope</i> when
they open their hearts to give. Now thanks to a new Electronic Funds Transfer
(EFT) donation plan we have put in place, donating is simpler than ever and
your donations will help us even more. </div>
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With your EFT recurring gift plan, YOU decide your gift
amount, HOW OFTEN and WHEN you choose to give and for how long. Just tell us
the amount and day of the month. It takes just a minute to set up, and then you
no longer need to take time out of your day to think about giving. You become a
<i>Beacon of Hope</i> automatically! As an EFT recurring donor, you can reduce
our mailing and data entry costs. Harvest Hope already spends only 2¢ out of
every $1 donated to administrative costs, and through EFT giving we hope to
spend even less!</div>
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As more donors enroll for EFT giving, it allows us to know
how much our donations will be and when, and can more effectively plan how to
dedicate our resources to feeding hungry families across 20 SC counties. This
way we can hopefully avoid the immediate and critical shortages we faced
recently. Call us at 803.254.4432 and ask about how easy it is to become a <i>Beacon
of Hope</i> and enroll in EFT giving.</div>
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You can take comfort each month that the simplest of efforts
continues to provide for those who struggle with hunger.</div>
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With continued blessings and deepest appreciation,</div>
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Denise Holland</div>
Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-84537632496565414732012-06-25T11:33:00.000-07:002012-06-25T11:33:04.906-07:00A baby with young parents, serving the military, and me-It is a God thing.<br />Please read. It will take 3 minutes.<br /><br />Two weeks ago, one night about 9:30 pm, returning from Walmart, I walked back into my house sobbing because my heart was completely filled with many emotions. My husband looked at me confused, asking what is wrong as a trip to Walmart normally does not do this.<br /><br />I sat down and told him the following very true, very moving story...I hope you will feel moved and called to action.<br /><br />Upon finishing my shopping, I got in a long checkout line in the non-food section. I was there after 9pm to pick up a few last minute items for a children's activity at church. I was behind a young couple, with a small baby sitting in the infant portion of the buggy. They caught my attention. I was struck at how much the young man with his wife reminded me of my own grown children. A nice appearance, the young man had on athletic type shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops, the young lady had on jeans and a hoodie, the baby was clean and dressed in a little onesie. As I stood there, I noticed a little more. They were wearing very simple wedding bands, and the dad kept putting his hand on the back of his wife and child's mother, saying "are you feeling ok?" "Do you want to go sit in the car?" She did look in my opinion pale like she did not feel really great. I heard her reply very nicely to him, "no I am fine" and smiled back at her husband. <br /><br />Well naturally I started playing with the baby, making silly old lady sounds and faces to get the baby to smile and laugh. The baby's dad (obviously a little girl by the pink onesie) occasionally touched the little baby and bent down to kiss her neck of which she just giggled and smiled. At one point he looked back at me and I said to him, "that little girl certainly loves her daddy's kisses". He smiled and said yes. The couple then gave their attention to counting the items in their buggy and began a sorting process counting out 10 jars of baby food, separating them in rows in the buggy. Then it struck me that all they had in their buggy was jars of baby food and several canisters of baby formula. The mom and dad appeared to be in low conversation like they were worried and checking twice everything they had. I continued to play (at a respectful distance) with the baby.<br /><br />While I stood there, I prayed "Lord this could be my children" and I felt in my heart that they were concerned about the amount in their buggy. <br /><br />A register right next to our line opened up. I immediately looked over to the couple and said, “This register is open, ya’ll go ahead and moved my buggy so they could move pass me.” The young man said to me, “oh you go ahead” motioning forward, but I replied, “no I am behind you-you go.” I felt the Lord telling me (urging me) on to stay with this couple. <br /><br />We got in the next line and the couple started placing the baby food on the register belt the same as they had separated in the buggy. They added a coupon of some type on the top of each 20 or so jars. They continued to give each other these worried looks. The cashier started ringing the items up and about the 4th jar she looked at the woman and said, “This jar of mixed fruit cannot be charged to your coupon. Your coupon only covers the single fruit jars.” The young mother looked devastated and looked at her husband with this look that to me was interpreted as, “what do we do now”? She placed her head in her hand and laid it on the check writing stand. The young man, very sweetly asked the cashier, “We have gotten this same type of mixed fruit before, what has changed?” The cashier stated that she was sorry and that it was possible some cashiers always don’t pay attention, but the mixed fruit jars of baby food are not covered. The cashier said, “I am sorry but I have to obey the rules.” He accepted this but the couple maintained their very worried looks. As I watched, it appeared to me that more than half of the baby food jars were being put back in front of the register and taken off of the belt. Their expressions to each other broke my heart.<br /><br />I felt the Lord’s yearning again and a clear command, “move Denise, do the right thing.” I immediately stepped forward, looking at the cashier, and said, “Please stop, add everything that you have put aside to my bill. I am more than happy to pay for this.” I looked at the couple and smiled saying, “This is something I want to do, please allow me to help you and this precious baby.” The young mother’s eyes completely filled with tears, and she made her way back to me and hugged me very tightly saying “thank you.” The young dad said the same and hugged me as well. I told them and the cashier, “this is the Lord’s doing!” I asked the parents did they need anything else such as diapers or wipes? The mother looked at me and said, “no we have plenty of that it is just the food we were concerned about for her (the baby).” She hugged me again. The cashier then told them they could go get more for one coupon, but I interjected and told the couple to put that left over coupon back in their wallet for another time and that I would take care of everything that was left. <br /><br />The young mother hugged me again and I reached into my purse and grabbed my Harvest Hope business card giving her one and said to them, “If you need anything else for this baby please call me”. The young dad looked at the card and he came to me and hugged me with tears falling from his eyes. Frankly, we all were crying. He said, “Thank you so much! I am leaving in two weeks for the military and we are just trying to take care of much as we can before I leave, as transportation will not be easy for her.” I immediately put my hand to my chest and felt the power of the Lord. Here was a young man preparing to go fight for our freedom and doing the very right thing to take care of his family. I grabbed both his hand and his wife’s hand saying with tears of joy, “You take care of yourself! You have a lot to return home for. ” I looked at the mom and said, “if you need me, please call me”. They turned and both said thank you to me so sweetly, picked up their baby and walked away.<br /><br />The cashier said to me at least 5 times, “thank you for doing that”. I said, “It is everything the Lord does. I did very little but willingly stepped up as He led me”. <br /><br />Tears were falling quickly down my face almost rendering me speechless. I loaded my bags and walked to the door. As I got to the outside of the parking lot, I could not remember much less see where I had parked my car. I stood there at the entrance pointed in the direction to my left, hitting the button on my remote to beep my horn. Suddenly I heard, “Angel lady! Angel lady! Your car is right here”. It was the young man and we were parked on the same row on opposite sides. I yelled, “thank you” and he said again, “oh, we thank you.”<br /><br />I got in my car, thanking the Lord that He allowed me to work for Him and prayed for this family, praying and crying all the way home. The money spent was less than what most people spend on one meal going out to a restaurant. This situation was not about me, nor about the money spent—both are inconsequential. What was important was that the Lord did everything to put me behind this young family in line, and He moved my spirit to act as His follower to do the right thing. I pray I did this all to His Glory!<br /><br />This is what hunger is about. This was a family worried about getting food for their baby, before the dad left to go fight for our freedom. They needed help and help was provided. I feel blessed that God used me in this way and pray that at Harvest Hope, our staff, volunteers and our donors understand how vital they are to make it possible to feed people every single day in many ways. Whether it is assisting with our 400 agencies who depend on us for food, or helping the families that stand in the hot sun each day waiting at our own Emergency Food Pantries, or volunteering at one of 40+ mobile food pantries in rural areas, or contributing to our children’s programs or our senior programs—YOU are helping make this kind of assistance a real help.<br /><br />As we approach our fiscal year end, Harvest Hope is $300,000 short of meeting budget, yet our demand is up over 21%. If this story moved you, will you right now <a href="https://dnbweb1.blackbaud.com/OPXDONATE/AddDonor.asp?cguid=F57392C7-B1FD-4666-B7BE-D85304E9E604&sTarget=https%3A%2F%2Fdnbweb1.blackbaud.com%2FOPXDONATE%2FDonate.asp%3Fcguid%3DF57392C7%252DB1FD%252D4666%252DB7BE%252DD85304E9E604&sid=B600D650-3065-47EF-A910-8B7CB2A6B598" target="_blank">click here</a> to make a donation to assure that we can continue to serve hungry families? I hope you will hear the same calling that I hear, that you will be urged to move and do the right thing, right now. God is speaking, will you act? <br /><br />As we approach this July 4th weekend, we are mindful both to be thankful for you our donors, our volunteers, our sponsors, each staff person and for every agency out there in our 20 counties that continues the work of making sure no one goes to bed hungry. <br /><br />My wishes for all families to be fed, our armed forces to return home safely, and for us all to be thankful for the freedoms we enjoy because of those who have fought and fight for our country. <br /><br />God Bless you and God Bless America! Happy 4th, DeniseDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-89213409934092503312012-06-01T11:27:00.001-07:002012-06-01T11:27:40.839-07:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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There are many different ways to know the coming of each
season. We know summertime is here when the days are longer and hotter,
mowing the lawn becomes a weekly pastime, everyone starts talking about their
vacation plans and kids are home from school and plundering the kitchen
cabinets for snacks all day long.</div>
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<br /></div>
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At Harvest Hope we know summertime is truly here when the
waiting room in our Emergency Food Pantry starts filling to capacity first
thing in the morning – everyday. We know it’s summer when the line of hungry
people outside our buildings at Shop Road and 12<sup>th</sup> Street in Cayce
stretch down the sidewalk, and we jump from providing food to 600-700 people a
day to over 1,100-1,200 people a day. We know it’s summer when our agency
partners need more food because their pantries are running out. We know it’s
summer when we start seeing more families and more children at our doorsteps.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The first two days after Memorial Day we were greeted by
long lines outside the EFP and saw so many faces of hunger at our doorstep
before we could even open. We served over 850 families in two days. We know
summertime is here and we know it is going to be long and difficult for so many
families.</div>
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<br /></div>
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South Carolina is second in the nation for families
suffering from food hardship, with 24% of our population struggling to pay for
food. This summer families will struggle to replace the school meals that
normally provide nourishment for their children. Seniors will struggle to
manage paying for their medication and housing expenses. Working mothers and
fathers will wonder what they can do to make sure they have a roof over their
heads and reliable ways to get back and forth to their jobs while they worry if
they will even have a job tomorrow. </div>
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<br /></div>
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To meet the needs of all of them, of everyone struggling
with hunger from the Pee Dee, through the Midlands and up to Greenville and
Laurens Counties, Harvest Hope needs to distribute over 5 million pounds of
food in June, July and August. We know we cannot do it without help from
compassionate souls in our SC communities, and we are blessed to have help from
community partners who have helped us find innovative ways to make donating
easier.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Wells Fargo is a very special sponsor giving the South
Carolina Food Bank Association a challenge grant of $150,000 split
between all of the 4 food banks if we can match it prior to June 15.
This is very important and you can make your donation double by taking
just a minute right now to make a donation at <a href="http://scfoodbankassociation.org/">http://scfoodbankassociation.org/</a>.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Other ways to easily help would be to visit a Corner Pantry
station for gas or a snack, please also consider spending $1 or
$5 and complete an "I HOPE" card for Harvest Hope. This
promotion is going on right now and throughout all of June at all 32
Corner Pantry filling station locations are selling our HOPE Floats mission
cards. You can visit their stores in Columbia, Chapin, Lexington, Hartsville,
Irmo, Manning, Orangeburg, Sumter and West Columbia and after filling up stop
in to make an easy $1 to $5 donation by buying a HOPE Floats card and leave a
simple message of your Hope. Last year this wonderful partnership gave us the
means to provide over 23,000 meals to the hungry in our community, and with
your support we hope to see an even greater result this June.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Most long-time Greenville residents are familiar with The Clock
drive-in restaurants, which have been serving up great diner style local fare
for decades. The location on White Horse Road has pitched in to help feed
hungry families in the Upstate by selling HOPE Floats cards, so plan to cruise
past and show your support when you’re in the area.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As summer is a time for families and family activities,
Harvest Hope is proud to partner for the third year with Riverbanks Zoo and
Gardens for Toucan Tuesdays. Every Tuesday this summer, two can visit
Riverbanks for the price of one with a donation of two cans of non-perishable
food to Harvest Hope. Toucan Tuesdays will run for 12 consecutive Tuesdays
throughout the summer, ending on August 28.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Riverbanks Zoo visitors donated nearly 2,000 pounds of food
during last year's Toucan Tuesdays campaign, which helped provide meals for
those struggling to feed their families. This summer we’re hoping that visitors
will enjoy the many attractions at Riverbanks Zoo and double that amount! </div>
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<br /></div>
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We are more than thrilled to enter our second summer
partnering with ABC Columbia and McDonalds for the ABCs of Hunger. Be sure to
watch any ABC Columbia newscast for information and updates on the food drive,
and drop off canned good donations at any of the McDonalds restaurant locations
in Columbia.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is also the time of year for Harvest Hope’s EXTRA Mile
Campaign. The <b><i>EXTRA Mile Campaign </i></b>is our summer hunger relief
program and offers a simple way for everyone to go the extra mile to help
others during the summer months. All we ask is for everyone to skip a lunch
just once a week until <b>August 31</b> and donate the equivalent of a day’s
lunch money to the <b><i>EXTRA Mile Campaign</i></b>. For example, $10 a week
for 12 weeks would be $120, which would provide over 540 meals for a hungry
family.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Take thirty seconds to think about someone who skips a meal
not because they choose to or because it might be convenient but because the
food is not there and they do not know where their next meal will even come
from. Try to put yourself in that mindset for just thirty seconds, and then
realize that’s the reality many people in South Carolina face every minute of
every day.They fear there will be no food on the table at each meal and wishing
will not change that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If someone needs help putting food on their table – no matter
where they may live in South Carolina – then they are a part of our community
and we must find a way to help them. We must put food on their tables.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are so grateful to so many community partners who provide
many, many ways to donate to Harvest Hope. You can help us make sure we find
the means to feed the hungry as summer begins. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Best wishes to you and your loved ones and thank you for all
you do to help others,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Denise</div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-36254541823121431212012-05-17T13:23:00.001-07:002012-05-18T06:02:41.697-07:00<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Imagine a child who does not look forward to the joy of summer.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The summer months are a challenging time for families across
South Carolina. Throughout the school year, 54% of school age children in
our state are on the free or reduced price lunch program. Eighty-four per cent
are on the free or reduced price breakfast program. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">24% of South Carolina’s children live in poverty.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The free or reduced price meals served at South Carolina
schools give struggling families a little economic breathing room. With 24.4%
of our children living below the basic poverty level, the meals they are served
in school are the most nutritious and dependable they get throughout the year. Many
of these school age children bring portions of their school meals home to share
with their younger siblings. But for three months those children are at home,
and do not have access to this lifeline. Their parents must cope with providing
two additional meals per day per child, and it is often beyond their means.
While many of us think of summer as a time of vacation, for almost 350,000
South Carolina children summer is a time of anxiety and pain.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">There is no vacation from hunger.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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South Carolina’s four food banks - Golden Harvest Food Bank,
Harvest Hope Food Bank, Lowcountry Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank of
Metrolina – all see a tremendous surge in need during the summer months.
Collectively, our four hunger relief organizations must find the means to raise
and distribute 15 million pounds of food during June, July and August this year
to meet that need. As CEO of Harvest Hope, as a long-serving member of the
South Carolina Food Bank Association (which comprises the four food banks
listed above) and someone who stays in constant contact with my colleagues at
the three other South Carolina hunger relief non-profits, I know what a
challenge it is to find the resources to get this food when most everyone is
thinking of vacation and our donation levels drop. It is a challenge for all of
us.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fortunately, there is a valuable and generous new partner to help us
meet that challenge.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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To help feed the hungry in South Carolina communities, the
South Carolina Food Bank Association announces the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Border to Border Hunger Challenge</span></b>
sponsored by Wells Fargo, a statewide donation matching campaign that will
provide $150,000 to help hungry people through our food banks. From now until
June 15, Wells Fargo will match donations made to our state’s four food banks
one to one once they collectively raise $150,000. </div>
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<br /></div>
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This generous matching campaign will help our food banks as
they enter the most difficult and demanding time of the year. The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Border to
Border Hunger Challenge</span></b> sponsored by Wells Fargo will provide a
wonderful beginning at this difficult time of year by giving a financial boost
to us to start the summer.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Donating is easy – visit <a href="http://scfoodbankassociation.org/">http://scfoodbankassociation.org/</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to learn more about the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Border to Border Hunger Challenge</b>. Choose from the tabs on the left
of the page to easily donate to your local food bank and your gift will
automatically be matched! Every donation made to any of the four food banks
from May 14 to June 15 will be matched and will greatly help in our efforts to
feed hungry children this summer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is also a time of year to think about those that have
made a difference in our lives and about giving in their honor or memory. Is
there a teacher who has made a lasting impact on your children? An armed
services member you know who would be honored by knowing that a hungry family
had more on their table because of them? You can make an Honorarium gift to
honor friends, family members, business colleagues, neighbors or others close
to you to help in our mission of feeding hungry families. Find out how donate a
memoriam or honorarium: Tabitha Demetra – <a href="mailto:tdemetra@harvesthope.org">tdemetra@harvesthope.org</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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So please take a little time out from planning all the
wonderful family activities you have in mind for the summer, and think of those
families who cannot even plan on their next good meal. Know that for a limited
time your generous efforts to help them will be met by the generosity of Wells
Fargo. Your gifts will go far toward feeding our hungry South Carolina
children.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And for that kindness I am grateful.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In loving appreciation,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Denise Holland</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
CEO – Harvest Hope Food Bank<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-61849679839215635592012-03-15T07:53:00.000-07:002012-03-15T07:53:10.900-07:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">Hunger is a secret shame that families often try to keep from others. For a family living in hunger, shame and secrecy is the bond they share. For parents who struggle daily to provide for their families, facing the reality of empty plates at their tables at every meal can be overwhelming and embarrassing. No matter how hard they may strive to provide for their families, they often feel they have failed their loved ones. They keep their hunger to themselves.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One Monday morning, I picked up the phone and a woman was calling who said she needed help. She felt she had no choice but to come for us for food for her family, but she had never asked for help before, she did not know anything about getting food from us, and she had questions. Any one of us here at Harvest Hope could have taken that call, but I was so glad that I picked it up to hear her story.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am a single mother and I have three children. A week ago I realized I did not have enough to feed all four of us, so I stopped eating and gave all the food I could afford to my children. I was hoping that something would happen, that I would get some kind of break, but a week has gone by and I can’t go on any longer without eating. I do not get paid again until next Friday and I don’t know where to turn. I work but I just don’t make enough to meet all the expenses. Everything –gas, food, my rent and bills – it all costs so much! I can’t keep up with all the expenses.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I heard that Harvest Hope gives food to people and I want to know more about what you do and how that works. I do not want a hand out. I will work for you to get the food I need. I teach my children how important it is to pay our own way in life. I try my best to be a role model to them and not ask for hand outs, and do not spend my money frivolously. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am at my wits end. I have to feed my children and myself and I need to get food from anyone like you who will help. But I have to be honest: I am so afraid someone will see me there and think I can’t provide for my family. I am afraid someone will take my children and I do not want to lose my children. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you help just for one week until I catch up? I will do whatever I can to pay you back when I get the chance.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Her call meant so much to me, but it is not unlike so many calls we get every day. This mother did not want to ask for help, not out of pride but out of fear she would lose her children. I assured her we would help, we would not judge, and she would not lose her beloved children. All that mattered is that we provide for her the food she needed for them all. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It helped when I told her that when she got on her feet she could volunteer or donate food back to us. But what was important was what happened NOW, that we help her through her immediate hunger crisis. When someone cannot provide food for themselves or their family it is a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">dire crisis RIGHT NOW</b>. Hunger does not wait.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We work with individuals and families when they come to us to help them receive food through the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), which you may know as food stamps. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SNAP provides enough food to last most families through 10 to 14 days. We have found that if we can provide 90 to 100 pounds of food to people when they come to us, that will get them through the shortfall for the rest of the month. We have also found that for those who come to us for food, if we can provide that 90 to 100 pounds they only visit us three times. After that, they have lifted themselves out of their </div><div class="MsoNormal">immediate crisis and get back on their feet. But our ability to provide that quantity is entirely dependent on donation levels, and often we have no choice but to give less. We can only give what we’ve got – it’s pretty simple math, really.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Harvest Hope has different programs to provide food to those in need across 20 counties of South Carolina. We have programs like the Kids Cafe and BackPack programs to feed children, two Emergency Food Pantries for those in the Midlands who can come to us, senior boxes and Totes of Love to feed seniors and Mobile Food Pantries to directly deliver food to those who live in remote or rural areas isolated from many services. We work with over 475 agency partners who provide food to pockets of poverty and need throughout 20 counties.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Helping us provide these services, or to make sure we have 90 to 100 pounds of food for those who come to us, can be simple and easy. Just $30 will help us give enough food to one family, a family like the desperate mother and her three children, to get them through the month. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">March and early April are very crucial and urgent times to donate to Harvest Hope thanks to a wonderful matching opportunity through the Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation. The Feinstein Foundation has set aside $1 million to provide to hunger relief charities across the country, and will MATCH cash and food donations made to Harvest Hope before April 30. Total funds available from the Feinstein Foundation match can be $35,000! By donating now to help us feed hungry children, the generosity of the Feinstein Foundation will help your gift go even further towards their needs.<br />
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Over the last 15 years the Feinstein Foundation has raised more than $1.25 billion for over 2,000 agencies and houses of worship nationwide through this generous annual matching campaign.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </div><div class="MsoNormal">If each of us, each family, will do this to help another family then think of the difference it will make to so many who need just a little help right now.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On behalf of our family at Harvest Hope to your family, will you help others today?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Our most gracious love and appreciation to you,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Denise Holland</div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-24320137823064611422011-12-05T07:26:00.000-08:002011-12-05T07:30:39.105-08:00<b>Everyone Can Make a Difference</b><br />
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Imagine an empty plate at a dining table. Imagine the anxiety and concern of parents who desperately want to make sure their family has enough to eat, but circumstances out of their control prevent them from having what they need to put food on their tables.<br />
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Imagine that Christmas means fourteen days of hunger to many children. During the holiday break, which is two weeks for most area school districts, the free or reduced breakfast and lunches that form the staple for so many at-risk school children are not available. Parents already struggling to make ends meet often cannot find the extra money to feed their children during those chilly fourteen days. Imagine a child who, rather than looking forward to Christmas and being excited about all the holiday season is going to offer, only looks at this time of year as a time of hunger. There are children who dread the coming of the holiday season.<br />
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This is the reality for almost 16% of South Carolina’s population, who currently live below the poverty line. More sobering is the fact that 29% of our children under the age of 18 live in poverty, a total of over 102,000 children in South Carolina. There are a lot of empty plates in our communities every night and the numbers are increasing.<br />
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A measure of this increase can be seen through our work at Harvest Hope Food Bank as we struggle to provide emergency food for the hungry across 20 SC counties. From July 2010 through June 2011, Harvest Hope provided food to 2,522,330 individuals, an increase of 24% over the previous year. Harvest Hope currently feeds an average of 49,000 people a week as we strive to reduce the number of empty plates in our communities. <br />
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During the three days before Thanksgiving, Harvest Hope served over 2,100 families at our Emergency Food Pantries in the Midlands. That’s approximately 6,500 individuals.<br />
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I know when faced with numbers like these it’s almost impossible to think about what we as individuals can do to overcome hunger in our community. But even though we see the large numbers every day and every week, at Harvest Hope we experience those numbers one family at a time. If 600 families come through our Emergency Food Pantry on a given day, then we hear 600 individual stories of family hardship. We see 600 opportunities to make a difference in the lives of a family by putting food on their table. And we <b><i>do</i></b> make a difference, one family at a time.<br />
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Everyone can help us make a difference for struggling families, one family at a time. For just $50 per family, we can make sure they have enough food to last throughout the holidays. Compare that to how much money most of us spend on food at this time. The average family spends upwards of $150 on the Thanksgiving or Christmas meal alone. So think about the value of feeding an entire family throughout the entire holiday season for just $50. Help us give the Hope of food when they need us the most.<br />
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At this time of year, we are fortunate and blessed that many offices or businesses think about our hungry neighbors and find a way to help by using funds usually used for the office holiday party to donate to Harvest Hope. It is a way to spread the joy of giving throughout your workplace and getting everyone to share in contributing to the community. If your office is planning a holiday party, please think about how beneficial it would be to dedicate a donation to put food on the tables of hungry families. Harvest Hope uses 98¢of every dollar donated to feed the hungry, and every dollar buys up to seven pounds of food. Think how far a donation from your business will go toward bringing food to those who need a little help right now.<br />
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During the holiday season, Harvest Hope offers donation options to note the festivities and honor or treasure memories of loved ones, friends, colleagues, neighbors or other community acquaintances through our memorial or honorarium giving programs. These programs allow donors to contribute in honor of or on behalf of others to recognize their place in the community or preserve their memory. <br />
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We make donating as easy and as affordable as possible. Just go to our website at<a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/"> www.harvesthope.org</a> and click on “Donate Now” to see the options we provide for giving.<br />
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Help us make sure that all children in our communities look on this season with hope and excitement rather than the fear of hunger. Help us get them through the fourteen days of hunger. <br />
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Thank you for your blessings and heart-felt generosity,<br />
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Denise HollandDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-5468310629354571532011-11-02T09:59:00.000-07:002011-11-02T10:07:12.113-07:00<b>A Miracle of Service</b><br />
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Miracles can reveal themselves to us in the smallest of acts. I have never had doubts about the works of God and His ability to hear our prayers and move to answer us in His own way. So when I heard the following story on WMHK FM it only strengthened my faith in the existence of miracles. I am remembering the details of the story, so please forgive me if portions are paraphrased from the original inspiring story. I am so thankful to the mother who called in to uplift others with this personal story as well as WMHK FM for allowing her the opportunity to do so.<br />
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A woman called in to the radio station to tell a story about her grandmother, who years ago faced hardship as a single mother with several children. She had no money and had run out of food in the house, and became deeply depressed after putting her children to bed hungry with no idea how to feed them the next day. She got down on her knees and prayed. Through her tears, she first thanked the Lord for His graciousness and acts of good to others, then began to pour her heart out about her situation and how she and her children had nothing to eat. She prayed for specific grocery items she knew she could stretch out and make last as long as possible to feed her family. She, in effect, gave the Lord her shopping list. <br />
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The next morning as she was getting her children dressed and ready for school, wishing with all her heart she could provide them breakfast, she was surprised by a knock at the door. The person outside her door was a stranger to her. They did not know each other at all. The stranger said the Lord “laid it upon my heart to go and provide for someone in need, and directed me to come to you specifically with these groceries.” The woman was shocked to find that everything she prayed for the night before, all the items she knew she needed to provide for her children, were in the gift brought by this stranger.<br />
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I was moved and touched by this story for many reasons. I was struck by the faith, earnestness and complete honesty of that mother, talking to the Lord as if He were right there with her, listening to her and holding her hands. I believe God always knows already what our needs are, and just wants us to be direct and communicate our wishes and needs to Him.<br />
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I was also touched by the testimony of the stranger who came to her door. This person responded without question to the urgings laid on their heart by God and acted without hesitation to fulfill the inspiration and provide exactly what was needed. All for someone they did not know. <br />
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As we enter the Thanksgiving season, we are already seeing long lines of families in need at our doorstep. Mothers and fathers who tell us with tears in their eyes they do not know what they would do if we were not there from time to time to help them. We are already seeing hundreds of families, who like that woman years ago, do not know where their next meal will come from and worry about their immediate future. As a charitable organization, we need faithful servants like the man who did not question and answered God’s call. We can make it easy for those who choose to be faithful servants and help with our mission. <br />
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You do not have to leave your home to go to the store or go shopping. You don’t have to fill grocery bags. You can visit our website and provide a monetary donation of $20, $50, or $100 that will greatly assist Harvest Hope in meeting the community’s hunger needs this Thanksgiving. Harvest Hope dedicates 98¢ out of every dollar donated to feeding the hungry in our community. Please <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/donate.aspx">click here </a>and see the easy ways to help us help those in need of food.<br />
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The Bible reminds us, “It gives us joy to give”. Will you be that faithful servant to help us right now in this easy way? I am on my knees, being thankful for you and at the same time, asking the Lord to help us in this way.<br />
<br />
Wishing you and your family the best of all Thanksgiving blessings as you share time together,<br />
<br />
Denise Holland<br />
CEO – Harvest Hope Food BankDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-47392031220211779982011-10-19T08:12:00.000-07:002011-10-19T08:12:40.769-07:00Henry Edwards Manning, the 19th Century Westminster Archbishop wrote, “Gratitude consists in a watchful, minute attention to the particulars of our state and to the multitude of God’s gifts, taken one by one. It fills us with a conscientiousness that God loves and cares for us, even to the least event and smallest need of life.”<br />
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This quote reminds me so much of our volunteers and the financial and food donors who show great care and concern for our mission by their thoughtful generosity. When I consider their acts of generosity one by one I am quickly overwhelmed by such thanksgiving. I am moved by how great all of the supporters are to Harvest Hope Food Bank. These gifts fill me with a conscientiousness that God does love and care for all of us.<br />
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A recently published US Census study shows SC has a population of over 4.5 million people, 18% of them living below the poverty line. This equates to 1 in 5 adults experiencing financial hardship putting them at great risk for hunger.<br />
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When a person is hungry that is all they can think about. All of life’s other problems are entirely too much and can’t be dealt with when one is hungry. I see the faces outside my office window daily. Over the last four years we have continued the highest distribution of food than ever in our 30 year history. We are blessed with more donors than ever before, but the donations are between 50-70% less than what we have seen in years past.<br />
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Harvest Hope’s outreach embraces a diverse selection of feeding initiatives that provide essential nutrition to the hungry through church-led food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters as well as our own children’s hunger programs, senior programs, mobile food pantries and our own Emergency Food Pantries. Some of those coming to our pantries have no feeding options in their own communities and are force to travel to our Shop Road or Cayce facility from such distant areas as Williamsburg, Charlotte, Augusta, Dillon or Marion. Can you imagine traveling these distances to find a friendly face who will show care and concern and will provide food when there is simply no place else to go?<br />
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I am so thankful for each and every person who helps to make our mission possible through their humanitarian presence as a volunteer, a food donor, or a financial donor. This Thanksgiving as you and your family plan your special time together, can you help us assure that hungry families standing in line waiting patiently and hopefully for anything we can provide for them do not leave with empty hands? You can honor a family member with a card showing that because their love made your holidays special in the past, you want to preserve your fond memories of that by helping another family with a gift to fight hunger. We make giving easy by visiting our website at <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/">www.harvesthope.org</a>. You can participate in a virtual food drive, make a donation, engage your company in HOPE floats with “I HOPE” cards or make an announcement during a holiday event for everyone to text message a donation. Will you help us?Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-51453472100870755522011-08-02T07:03:00.000-07:002011-08-02T07:03:34.654-07:00Many think of Harvest Hope solely as a food pantry, a door step where the hungry come to directly ask for and receive the Hope of food. But direct service through our emergency food pantries only measures a small portion of the food we distribute across 20 counties in South Carolina. The majority of the food we provide reaches hungry families and individuals through the efforts of our agency partners.<br />
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Harvest Hope is the life line for over 450 agency partners who share with us a dedication to meet the hunger needs of those struggling under economic uncertainty. Without us, many of them would be forced to shut their doors. We provide critical support for many organizations dedicated to feeding the hungry. Some of our agency partners have told us they could not survive without us.<br />
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Who are these agencies who work hand-in-hand with us to meet the needs of those who struggle with hunger daily? Many are faith-based: churches or faith organizations that include as part of their mission hunger outreach services. Other agency partners include children’s homes, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior centers, women’s shelters, and other service outreach providers. <br />
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Over the years Harvest Hope has grown and identified that the best way to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of hungry people is to provide quality food to these agencies while serving as a role model for others to follow. Through our shared maintenance partnership, they receive a variety of food from us for 19¢ a pound or less. Fresh produce, dairy, baked goods or other perishable food items are provided at no cost. For charities such as soup kitchens, food pantries, family shelters, missions or other organizations that provide a variety of services to at-risk populations, this means they have more funds available for all the different facets of their operations. <br />
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Our agency partners benefit from relying on Harvest Hope as a one-stop location where they can purchase all of the quality food they need for their operations at enormous savings. They tell us they could not survive without the blessing of our shared maintenance assistance and would have to close their doors, cutting off food for many who suffer from hunger in small and rural SC communities. To learn more about how we work with agencies to feed hungry families across South Carolina please visit our website here: <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/agencyzone.aspx">http://www.harvesthope.org/agencyzone.aspx</a>.<br />
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Help us make sure we remain the reliable partner for organizations that depend on us to provide food to the hungry across 20 counties. <br />
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Thank you for your blessings,<br />
<br />
Denise Holland <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~ Winston Churchill<br />
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Our prayers for others flow more easily than those for ourselves. This shows we are made to live by charity. ~ C.S.LewisDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-40626862328496173722011-06-15T06:54:00.001-07:002011-06-15T06:54:17.573-07:00Sometimes thirty seconds can show us a lot. If we open our minds and allow ourselves to see a different perspective for just a half a minute, sometimes we can understand another point of view or relate to another person’s struggles in ways we could not predict.<br />
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Everyone is affected by the increased cost of doing business and the increased cost of living. Increased expenses lessen our ability or willingness to give to others. I truly understand that. But this is something I want everyone to think about: it’s what I call the thirty second exercise. Think about a time when you’ve been forced to skip a meal. You’re running late for work so you don’t take time for breakfast. But you know it’s not devastating because you can make it up at lunch. Or you have a busier than normal day at work and just work right through lunch. You know you’ll make it up at supper. We’ve all been there from time to time, right?<br />
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Now take thirty seconds to think about someone who skips a meal not because they choose to or because it might be convenient but because the food is not there and they do not know where the next meal will even come from. Try to put yourself in that mindset for just thirty seconds, and then realize that’s the reality many people in South Carolina face every minute of every day.<br />
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It’s hard for us to imagine hunger and food insecurity for even thirty seconds, but the reality for so many who struggle in our community is they live with constant hunger and doubt all the time. We can close our eyes and TRY to imagine what their fear must be like, but they in turn cannot just close their eyes and wish it away. They fear there will be no food on the table at each meal and wishing will not change that.<br />
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School is out across South Carolina, and financially strapped parents face the challenge of providing an additional two meals a day for their school-age children. Many are now forced to turn to us for a little additional help in providing food for their families. This creates a paradigm of need wherein struggling families find it more difficult to put food on the table and have to come to us, but the same economic forces that created their dire situation in turn increases our expenses and impacts our ability to meet their needs. <br />
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Even before school let out we began to see an increase in the number of families coming to us. In May at our Emergency Food Pantries (EFP) on Shop Road and 12th Street in Cayce we served 5,739 families throughout the month, or 287 families a day. This was a 26% increase over the number of families we served in May last year. Over 12% of those coming in to the EFP’s reported they needed our assistance for the first time, and 52% reported that unemployment was the reason they were forced to come to us. If we project a similar increase throughout the summer once schools let out, then a 26% increase over last year will bring over 7,000 families per month to our doors. And that’s just in Columbia. We also provide for the struggling families in the Pee Dee and the Greenville/Laurens communities, plus more than 400 member agencies in our 20 county area-they are also experiencing increases in demand.<br />
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So how can Harvest Hope, caught up as we are in the cycle of the “paradigm of need”, hope to find the resources to meet the needs of so many families across South Carolina? We cannot hope to do it without the support of so many in the community. <br />
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Two generous families, the Mungos and the Cassels, have already helped by posting matching campaigns that kicked in $300,000 when private donors did their part. We have seen that people are more than willing to give when they know their contributions will be matched. We would love to find at least two more partners in the business community to follow the examples set by the Mungos and the Cassels and declare their own matching campaigns. <br />
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The spirit of philanthropy is infectious and inspires people to acts of generosity when they see their neighbors are moved to action. Help us create a new “paradigm of charitable acts,” and inspire the communities of South Carolina to recognize the suffering of hungry families and move to ensure they have food to put on their tables this summer.<br />
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With Blessings and Hope,<br />
Denise Holland<br />
<br />
<br />
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” ~ Mother Theresa<br />
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I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~ Edward Everett HaleDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-27396756087513772772011-05-11T12:38:00.000-07:002011-05-11T12:38:39.650-07:00With the school year just about over our thoughts naturally turn to the upcoming summer months. We like to think of the summer as an idyllic time of year full of rest, relaxation and vacations, and as a time of relaxed schedules when instead of getting the kids out of bed for school we get them out of the house for fun things to do. <br />
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What summer means for many parents and families in our community is another thing altogether, and not that kind of idyllic time away from school. It is certainly not the care-free and lazy summer days of decades past. Not for many.<br />
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As the school year closes and we think about final report cards, make-up days, saying goodbye to teachers and the growing anticipation of the weeks to come, we need to take stock of several things to count as blessings. We should count as blessings the kind and considerate teachers, principals, guidance counselors and other administrative and support school staff who have guided our children through the preceding months of learning and helped the families of children beyond the call of duty. <br />
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When Harvest Hope repeats that one out of every four children under the age of five in South Carolina goes to bed hungry every night, it is not just an alarming statistic for teachers but a real nightmare they witness every school day. Educators know not just metaphorically but in real quantifiable terms that when a child is hungry they cannot learn. Hunger affects their ability to focus or pay attention and dampens or destroys their child-like curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. Hunger affects their ability to work and their desire to attend class. Hunger has a real and measurable effect on learning and on a child’s health. Teachers in our state see this every day.<br />
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At Harvest Hope, because we are so involved with children’s feeding programs administered through and in coordination with schools, we hear of teachers who see the effects of hunger in their classrooms and reach into their pockets to make sure they have bags of apples or oranges or have other types of nutritious snacks to provide for children. Most teachers can easily spot the children in their classes who are hungry. They know the real harm of hunger and see the effects on those sitting at desks in front of them. That is why there are teachers who use their own money to try and bolster the nutrition of at-risk children in their classes.<br />
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Just as there are many cafeteria workers who do what they can to give extra food items out of their own pocket to children so they will not have to go home and face the despair of nothing to eat until they return the next day. There are guidance counselors who keep on hand snacks or nutritious items to provide to some children who come to them with issues and behavior problems, because they know those problems can be hunger related.<br />
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The summer months for Harvest Hope are the hardest months. During the ten or so weeks that children are out of school, their parents must find a way to replace the meals provided through in-school free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs. For many families suffering economic hardship, they have no choice but to turn to Harvest Hope or one of our partnering agencies to replace the meals they will not see again until late August or September.<br />
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We would like to offer two suggestions how everyone can support our mission to feed the hungry children during the summer. A $30 donation to support our Back Pack program provides nutrition for children to last through the weekends. That $30 is equal to seven meals per weekend each month.<br />
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The other suggestion is to honor those teachers who have been so kind and instructive to your children by donating an Honorarium gift in their name to Harvest Hope. We have designed a special new Honorarium specifically to honor teachers. When you donate one of these Honorariums a card will be sent to the teacher letting them know that their kindness and enlightenment will result in the gift of food for a child in need. Honorariums through Harvest Hope are easy: if you send us a donation just enclose a note with the specifics of who you wish to honor and where you want the card sent, or provide the same information if you donate on-line through <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/">www.harvesthope.org</a>.<br />
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Thank you so much for the many ways you help us to feed hungry children and show kindness to someone who helps children.<br />
<br />
God Bless You,<br />
<br />
Denise HollandDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-71637569905809854742011-04-20T07:18:00.001-07:002011-04-20T07:18:29.311-07:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">On a recent morning my devotion started with these wonderful words...</span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">"This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it." <em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Psalm 118; verse 24</span></em></span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I do rejoice in this day! For Harvest Hope Food Bank and the many people who depend on us everyday, I rejoice for the heartfelt generosity of two local business leaders who have family-owned companies and who truly know the joy and blessing that can only come from providing for others who are, at this current time, in need of a little assistance. The Mungo and the Cassels families and their collective group of employees, clients, and supporters have shown their compassion and humanitarian spirits by pledging large donations with the consideration that others open their hearts to give as well. It is through their work that the Lord blesses the food bank so we can help those who need us so desperately. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Just as the Mungo family through Mungo Homes did in March, Southeastern Freight Lines will be matching a gift of $150,000 if others in the community donate a total of $300,000 to Harvest Hope. This is a huge blessing! <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You</span></strong> are a part of this and your participation is as critical as the very nature of hunger. </span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">We are taught in God's word that we are to be thankful for facing difficult times. Times when in our human frailty we have the tendency to feel like no one cares, no one will help and no one will rescue us or others in need. This is just the same as a family will feel when going to their kitchen cabinets to find very little or nothing there. We are assured through God's teachings that when we open ourselves to be thankful in all things He will use that situation to show His blessings. We are reminded to not fear, but to have faith and trust in Him. He knows what our needs are and will meet our needs according to His will. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">This is a strong message that must be shared.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> Harvest Hope Food Bank came to <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you </span></strong>one month ago with a plea to help us raise $2 million dollars to assure a continuation of service to those in need. With the success of the Mungo match, completed in just over three weeks, we rejoice that we have achieved 25% of our goal. Now with the new Southeastern Freight Lines offer, if we can raise another $300,000, their gift of $150,000 will be a reality and we will then have achieved 50% of our overarching goal. I am thankful for the difficulties we have faced stemming from the need for service delivery and for the critical situation it has caused for us. Because it is through these difficult circumstances we see the wonderful involvement of sharing not only the stories of hunger, but the courage of those who help meet the demand. That courage includes <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you!</span></strong></span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I have so much respect for the grace and spirit of these two outstanding SC companies for their recognition and support of the work Harvest Hope does everyday in 20 counties to meet hunger needs. I also thank <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong>, our loyal donors for the same earnest conviction that proves <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> <b>too</b> support our daily work to help assure that no child, no family, no senior citizen should worry and not go without the vital nourishment our food provides. </span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I ask <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong>, beg <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong>, and prevail upon <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> with all of my heart, to again help us reach this match. School will be out for summer very soon. Many families facing difficult economic circumstances benefit from the free or reduced-price breakfast and lunches their children receive at school. It continues to be a worrisome truth that every day school is out families are forced to come to one of our member agencies or a mobile food pantry, or to one of our own Emergency Food Pantries. Lines outside any of these locations continue to be long and their frustration is palatable when stomachs grumble. As summer grows closer each day, rather than the relaxation many dream of, the hunger worry grows stronger and becomes a nightmare. We must continue our push to get ready to feed them. </span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">There are many ways to participate in the Southeastern Freight Line match. Certainly a donation to help us get closer to our goal is essential. But even more important is to ask your conviction to tell others of why <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> support Harvest Hope as your personal passion. Your courage to speak up for hunger is definitely the reason someone else will follow your shining example. Just as we have great leaders like the Mungos and the Cassels from Southeastern Freightlines, <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> too are a leader. <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You</span></strong> are a leader that provides the real example that <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you </span></strong>are not going to stand as long as there is one hungry person in our midst. You are a leader because <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> feel strongly that by working together we can meet the dire critical emergency need of hunger. Someone watching <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> right now is looking for a reason to get involved to help others and will feel compelled by your example to do the same.</span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">At </span><a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">www.harvesthope.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">, there are details on how to give online or how to have a virtual food drive. We recommend setting up a competition between offices, departments, neighborhoods, other organized teams or civic clubs to see who can organize the food drive with the biggest results. As you stop at a Corner Pantry in Calhoun, Orangeburg, Lexington, Richland, Clarendon, Kershaw or Florence counties or if you are in Blythewood at a Blythewood Oil station, buy an "I HOPE" card for $1. Write on the card anything <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> hope for, and while doing so <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> are <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Helping Our People Eat</span></strong> for Harvest Hope Food Bank.</span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">We so very badly need your help. With a financial donation and your word to pass the need along to others or most definitely your praises for the great people who have the courage to step forward as we press toward our 2 million goal. Please know I also personally ask for your prayers as we strive forward.</span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Lastly, please do not think that <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">you</span></strong> are not needed. <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You</span></strong> are always needed. With every gift, whether a financial donation, time to volunteer, or other idea to share we come closer to our goal to feed the hungry people are depending on all of us. <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You</span></strong> are the best ambassadors for Harvest Hope!</span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">From all of us, we so very thankful! <strong><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You</span></strong> are counted among the blessings just as Mungo Homes and Southeastern Freightlines. Let's rejoice this day and press forward to the goal!</span><span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-80904788688162216872011-03-30T07:26:00.000-07:002011-03-30T07:26:56.485-07:00At the beginning of March Harvest Hope took the unprecedented step of announcing we were facing a fiscal crisis and were launching a funding drive to help raise cash to pay off recent debt and shore up finances to prepare for the coming need. We announced through the media we needed to raise $2 million between now and the end of June, and as much of it as possible as soon as possible.<br />
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For more than four years now, the increase in need for our mission work of providing food to the hungry has not abated. From 2008 to 2010 we saw a 91% increase in our service to hungry families. <br />
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In the last six months, the number of families we have fed has increased by 42 percent over the same period a year earlier. <br />
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Our resources are stretched thin across the 20 counties we serve. Just operating our fleet of vehicles that deliver food throughout our region costs us $3,100 a day. Harvest Hope depends on its fleet of trucks to pick up and deliver food throughout our 20 county service area, and so this is an expense we have to afford, no matter how much gas increases. <br />
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Yet we are suffering from a steady decline in donations, especially the corporate and large gift donations that do so much to help with our operating costs. Now due to the steady increase in demand, the rise in operational costs and the decline in large donations we find ourselves in an economic crisis.<br />
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The $2 million goal is not an arbitrary figure pulled out of thin air, but a number arising from a combination of factors to include the accelerating increase in need, the rise in unavoidable expenses, the continuing decline in cash contributions and projections based on what we know will be an increase in need to feed hungry children during the summer of 2011. <br />
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These factors caused us to take a hard look at the reality of our operation and situation and to make the difficult decision to let the community know what we are facing. It was not an easy decision to make. And while we are still far from achieving the $2 million goal we set to help lift us out of our current economic crisis and prepare for the immediate future, I am happy to report that the initial reaction has been supportive and I have tentative hopes the community will continue to open their hearts and give to help us reach our goal.<br />
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We were helped by a generous matching campaign made by the Mungo Company, a long-time contributor and friend to Harvest Hope. They agreed to provide $150,000 if the community donates to a level that doubles that amount. I am pleased to announce we are close to achieving that amount. I want to thank everyone who responded to our cries for donations to help us make it this far. But there is a long way to go. <br />
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For the communities we serve, Harvest Hope is the institution that is too big to fail. We are the food safety net for almost half the state. Our 476 member agencies that feed the hungry in their communities – churches, private charities, others – depend on Harvest Hope too much. For 30 years we have worked with these organizations around the state to identify pockets of poverty and directly provide food to individuals and families in need. We cannot fail and we will not fail. Too many in our state depend on us. <br />
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We are NOT failing. We are not going away. We are getting the job done, despite the challenges before us. But for the first time, we have gone into a financial hole doing so, and we need your help to get out of it, and continue the mission.<br />
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The easiest way to help is to visit our website at www.harvesthope.org and click on the Donation button. You’ll go right to a convenient donation screen.<br />
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We have never asked for help of this nature before. Honestly, I never thought we would have to. But over the last few months we have accepted the inevitability of this. We need your help to reach our $2 million goal. It is not an impossible goal. Many are already responding. Help us make sure we can continue providing the safety net that so many need.<br />
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God Bless You for Your Compassion,<br />
<br />
Denise Holland<br />
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One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. - <strong>Proverbs 11:24-25</strong> <br />
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A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. - <strong>Proverbs 22:9</strong>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-48909718124915812812011-02-08T08:05:00.000-08:002011-02-08T08:49:03.105-08:00I want you to think for a minute about the senior citizens that you know or have known in your life and especially those who have made an impact on your life. Most of us have known at least one senior during the course of our lives who we think of with great fondness. Think about a favorite grandparent, aunt or uncle, friend of the family, church member or even co-worker who we have come to regard with admiration and affection. <br />
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Now think about that person going hungry. Think about that person consumed with worry about how to make ends meet on a fixed income and wondering where they will find the money to buy the groceries they need after paying all their other bills. Think of their desperation as they are forced to choose between paying for the medicine they need or buying food for their table, both of which they need to survive. And let’s not get started on the rent or mortgage.<br />
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According to the US Census Bureau, South Carolina is second in the nation for senior citizens who suffer from food insecurity, with 10% of its elderly population living in a constant state of anxiety over how to put food on their tables. These are individuals who do not have access to healthy and nutritious food sources due to limited income, and/or inadequate transportation. Since subsisting without consistent nourishing food increases many health risks such as malnutrition, diabetes or hypertension they become locked in a vicious cycle where their health concerns are perpetuated and their health costs continue to spiral, which impacts their ability to buy the food they need to stay healthy. <br />
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The issue of seniors living in poverty and hunger is one we rarely see or hear much about in our country, but a recent episode of the new NBC show Harry’s Law choose to dramatically illustrate their plight with the story of an 87-year-old woman forced to commit armed robbery because she did not have the money to buy food. During the trial both the prosecuting attorney and the title character, lawyer Harriet “Harry” Korn who defended the accused senior, used current hunger and poverty statistics such as 25 million Americans are hungry everyday and 45 million live in poverty. In her summary defense, Harry talks about the shame of hunger and the desperation that seniors must feel after working their whole lives only to discover they cannot pay for their housing, medicine and food. She states in anger: “We live in the richest nation in the world yet one in seven Americans live in poverty.” I am grateful to the producers and writers of this show for dedicating an episode to an issue usually avoided in mainstream media.<br />
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We see the faces and hear the stories from hungry seniors when we provide senior boxes on the second Thursday of every month at our Emergency Food Pantry through our Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which is grant funded through the SC Department of Social Services. Pre-qualified seniors receive a box of food each month to help meet their nutritional needs. Last year, Harvest Hope provided 28,758 food boxes to qualified senior citizens in Fairfield, Greenville, Kershaw, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland and Sumter counties.<br />
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Totes of Love is a new feeding program designed to meet the needs of low-income Senior citizens in the Pee Dee area. It is a grant funded program working to improve the health of 25 low-income seniors by supplementing their diets with nutritious foods and providing nutrition education. Harvest Hope Food Bank supplies the participating Chesterfield County site with food and tote bags each month. The on-site coordinator sends home a food-filled tote bi-weekly to qualifying applicants who are at least 60 years of age and older who live in Chesterfield County, and whose income is at 130% of the poverty levels for the state. There is no cost to the participants, but the tote must be returned prior to the delivery day in order to be refilled. <br />
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Please take a moment to reflect on the suffering of our elderly neighbors who are caught in the cycle of economic hardship, hunger and anxiety. Think about the seniors that are closest to you and have contributed so much to your well being. It is difficult to imagine our own grandparents or even parents suffering and worrying about the money for their next meal. Remember that this is the reality for 10% of senior citizens in our state. Please help us continue our efforts to lessen the pain of hunger for the elderly in our community and designate a gift for our senior feeding programs. We can provide 250 meals for a senior citizen for less than $40, or 1,000 meals for a senior for less than $150. Give us a call at (803) 254-4432 or visit <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/">www.harvesthope.org</a> to easily make a donation.<br />
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I know it is in your hearts to help those who have made a lifetime of providing love and encouragement to others. Thank you for your compassion.<br />
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With Warmest Regards and Thanks,<br />
<br />
Denise Holland<br />
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“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. -Leviticus 19:32<br />
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“The silver-haired head is a crown of glory.” - Proverbs 16:31Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-69941901543847569902011-01-04T11:48:00.000-08:002011-01-04T11:48:55.201-08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">With the winter months upon us, this tends to be a season where all household bills seem higher than at other times of the year. In our 2010 Hunger Study, we can easily see how a number of problems this time of year impact people who are already meeting tough times. Fifty-five percent of people interviewed report they have to make difficult decisions about paying rent or utilities or paying for food. Forty percent have to make difficult decisions about paying for medical expenses or paying for food.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Both of these choices add a higher impact on those who live on the edge financially, particularly during this time of the year. And while there are many organizations that help people with these particular problems, these issues directly impact the population we seek to provide food for with a heavy burden. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Food Research and Action Center released a study less than one month ago that shows South Carolina is second in the nation for families living in food hardship, which is defined as not having enough money to buy the food they need for themselves. Over the last year 24% of South Carolinian's reported they could not afford adequate food for their families. According to the US Census Report, South Carolina has a population of 4,625,384, which means that 1,110,092 people in our state cannot adequately or dependably provide food for themselves or feed their families. That’s right, over one million people live in a constant state of hunger and uncertainty. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We hear the stories everyday of people who either exist in a continued state of economic crisis, or discover how fragile their circumstances are when they are suddenly confronted with an unexpected financial burden. In December a woman in her forties came to us in distress due to a series of sudden unforeseen economic hardships. This mother of three, who works full-time as a flooring contractor, usually manages to provide for her family, pay her bills and maintain the upkeep on her small home in Gaston. Prior to December, she had come to us for food just twice over the last year, with each visit months apart. She had all of her monthly expenses covered and had even put a way a little extra money to afford a modest Christmas for her children. And then in the space of less than three weeks both of the family vehicles, one of which she depends on to haul materials as part of her contracting job, broke down and she found herself facing over $2,000 in repair bills. She could scrape together enough to repair the vehicles, but the cold weather had caused her utility bill to rise and she need over $400 to prevent her power being turned off. We helped her with food to last through the end of the month, and through an act of providence a generous donor heard about her circumstances and stepped up to pay her utility bill. The beginning of the year has brought an increase in contractor jobs and she is getting back on her feet again to earn the level of self-sufficiency that she works so hard to achieve.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As inspiring as her story is, there are many who are not so fortunate and whose stories are more tragic. With South Carolina’s unemployment at the seventh highest level in the nation, there are many who continue to look but cannot find work. They come to us for food. There are many who are willing to take any job that comes along, even if the hard work does not adequately maintain any semblance of a standard of living. They come to us for food. There are many seniors who face high medical expenses in addition to all the other expenses of this time of year and find they have to cut corners and sacrifice buying groceries. They come to us for food. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I would like to ask for everyone who finds themselves in the fortunate circumstance to consider donating to think about the generosity of the individual who helped the Gaston woman with her power bill. This man, who is already a regular contributor to Harvest Hope, discovered and benefited from the joy and warmth of giving, and knowing his gift meant a family did not have to go without power in the cold. If you find you have the means, open your heart do what you can to help us provide for those who find themselves on the wrong side of unfortunate and unforeseen financial hardships. Visit our online gift catalog at </span><a href="https://harvesthope.feeding-hope.org/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">https://harvesthope.feeding-hope.org/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> or our donation page at </span><a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/donatenow.aspx"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">http://www.harvesthope.org/donatenow.aspx</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> and see how easy and rewarding it is to help out your struggling neighbors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Best Wishes and Deepest Appreciation,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Denise Holland</span></div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-39190083910079518932010-12-22T09:51:00.000-08:002010-12-22T09:51:39.223-08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Friends of Harvest Hope Food Bank, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the spirit of the season, I certainly wanted to say a heartfelt thank you for the many blessings you have shared with Harvest Hope Food Bank to assure that we have much needed resources to distribute food to those who are worried where their next meal will come from. After our last email to you, we have had many responses to our requests for honorariums and memorials to let loved ones know they are thought of fondly and a gift has been made to help fight hunger-what I passionately feel is a critical need. We thank you so very much!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Harvest Hope Food Bank relies greatly on the generosity and donations of so many to continue our mission of caring for hungry families across 20 counties of our state. Especially as we close out 2010, resources collected now must help us continue into 2011. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In this continued worried state of the economy, increases in service delivery are very high-more than 111% more families are coming to us than in 2009. With this increased service delivery, naturally it costs more in operation funds to move food to those who need it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sadly, since Thanksgiving we have seen a 13% reduction in the usual flow of donations we come to count on at this busy time of year. I must share that the reduction is significant and impacts our service delivery to make sure we are getting enough food to those in need. True to the economic conditions, the average gift per donor is about half of what it was last year. This is certainly frightening and at the same time I know we have to walk by faith not what we see. We always must trust in the Lord that He will provide.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For many, the holiday season is almost over, but also for many, the hunger need will not go away. Families who face such critical needs will still need our compassion and help long after the holidays and certainly into the dead of winter. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">New unemployment numbers came out just last week and they tell us why we are seeing such a strong need for our service. South Carolina is tied with Nevada as the state with the seventh highest percentage of unemployed. The unemployment rate across Harvest Hope’s 20 counties is 12.6%, which is a full two points higher than the state average and three points higher than the national average. Sixteen per cent of South Carolina’s population live below the poverty level, and that’s almost half a million people. Hunger is a new and unfamiliar factor for so many in South Carolina. Harvest Hope lives with purpose to bring food to all hungry people and certainly this is not an individual effort but a collective one that includes YOU. Your gifts, your time, your prayer and your support tell others what we do. You are significant to this fight and to the dream to make sure that no one goes hungry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Being a collective ambassador in this fight is crucial. Yes, financial gifts will and are always needed, volunteers are needed, as well as in kind gifts that might be not needed by everyone but could be possibly be used by someone else. Telling others about what Harvest Hope does and scheduling a powerful mission-telling HOPE tour really helps to get people’s attention about this work. You our donor, our volunteer, our supporter are the best message deliverer to invite others who respect what you support to take a tour. Please take a moment to look at our website and see there are multiple ways to help through our <a href="https://harvesthope.feeding-hope.org/">gift catalog</a>, honorariums, memorials, year end gifts, <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/getinvolved/hostafooddrive.aspx">food drives</a> and <a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/getinvolved/volunteer.aspx">volunteering</a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As always, we are very grateful for your support and interest in the ongoing mission of Harvest Hope Food Bank. We know this is a tough economic time and many difficulties are brought on as the past three years have shown. However, as written in <b>2nd Corinthians 9:9</b>: “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” And to share the joy and peace of the season, we can know that through our collective work, we have “filled the hungry with good things.” <b>Luke 1:53</b>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Best Wishes and Warmest Blessings of the Season to you and to your families,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Denise Holland <br />
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To make a online donation <a href="https://dnbweb1.blackbaud.com/OPXDONATE/AddDonor.asp?cguid=F57392C7-B1FD-4666-B7BE-D85304E9E604&sTarget=https%3A%2F%2Fdnbweb1.blackbaud.com%2FOPXDONATE%2FDonate.asp%3Fcguid%3DF57392C7%252DB1FD%252D4666%252DB7BE%252DD85304E9E604&sid=0287E820-045B-4863-9E4D-D24C710F12C2">click here</a>.</span></div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-22791698112700722932010-10-11T11:42:00.000-07:002011-03-10T06:33:34.903-08:00<m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In late September the US Census Bureau released information on American poverty levels prepared from the data collected for the 2010 census, including the latest findings on poverty in America. The data shows that South Carolina’s population has 11.20% living below the poverty level, compared to a national average of 9.6%. Richland County’s poverty rate is exactly the same as the national average, but some counties like Darlington (22.3%) and Marion (23%) are over twice the national level.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For me the most startling numbers tell us how many children in South Carolina are living below the poverty level. Almost 30% of children ages five or younger in our state live below the poverty level. Almost 22% of children ages five through seventeen in our state live below the poverty level. Every night in South Carolina, one out of every four children under the age of five goes to bed hungry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For too many children in our state, the meals they are served during the school day are the most dependable and most nutritious they receive. They count on the breakfasts and lunches they sit down to eat in their school cafeterias. They look forward to going to school because they know they will get the food their parents are often find difficulty in providing. And equally, they worry what they will have to eat when they go home, and if they will go hungry over the weekend. To help meet their needs and ease their fears, Harvest Hope provides supplementary nutrition and meals to hungry children with three different programs: Kids Cafe, Backpack and Snack Sack programs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">These are after-school charitable meal programs for children ages six to eighteen who have been identified as being at risk of hunger. These programs provide meals to low-income children through a variety of community locations where children can safely congregate—such as Boys and Girls Clubs, churches, community centers and public schools. At our Kids Cafe locations, Harvest Hope delivers food to community partners who prepare hot meals and serve the children. The kids get more than just meals at these sites. It’s a nurturing and structured environment where they can participate in safe educational, recreational and social activities such as homework assistance, tutoring, and arts and crafts projects.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kid’s Cafe sites operate after-school and so are closed over the weekend. To make sure that kids get a nutritional boost between Friday afternoon and the next Monday morning, Harvest Hope is fortunate to have many valuable partners across our 20 county service area. These community partners, many of whom are churches, coordinate with schools and assist in our 28 Backpack and fifteen Snack Sack sites to provide easy-to-prepare, kid-friendly meals that children take home on Fridays to supplement their nutritional needs through the weekend. In the past, Harvest Hope provided just schools in our service area with kid-friendly food and empty backpacks or snacksacks which the schools would then fill. Guidance counselors and teachers identify at-risk kids and discretely ensure they get their designated food to take home, and then collect the Backpacks when they return on Monday. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Just recently, Harvest Hope has been fortunate to find partnerships with a number of committed churches who are dedicated to helping us in our mission to feed hungry school children. Our pantry trucks deliver food on a monthly basis to these churches, who then use members of their congregations to fill Backpacks with the food and then deliver them on Thursdays or Fridays to our partnering schools, picking up the empty backpacks on the following Monday. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We are grateful for these local churches, some in rural, hard-to-reach areas, who have come to us and showed their commitment to helping get food to children in need. We want to expand these partnerships, and find more church partners who will include Harvest Hope’s Backpack program as part of their congregation’s mission work. If you think your congregation would like to find out more about working with us to reduce the number of children going to bed hungry every night, then call Erica Cheeks at (803) 254-4432 extension 1102 and let her tell you how we can work together.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If you would like to help us feed hungry children in South Carolina and ensure brighter tomorrows for so many of our young, would you consider making a donation right now through our website to help Harvest Hope continue providing these critical services? Just click here to visit our convenient Donations page: </span><a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/donatenow.aspx"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">http://www.harvesthope.org/donatenow.aspx</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Together we can continue to make a difference in the lives of children and help them grow to become the future stewards of grace, kindness and compassion. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Thank you,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Denise Holland</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">CEO, Harvest Hope Food Bank</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Children are one third of our population and all of our future. ~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. ~Frederick Douglass</span></i></b><b><i></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-11646877642532795582010-07-23T09:57:00.001-07:002010-07-23T10:06:14.836-07:00<div style="text-align: justify;">Hunger is a reality that many of us do not realize exists in our daily or normal travels. Often, just outside of the neighborhoods and streets where we are accustomed to traveling there are large numbers of people who exist in a continuing state of crisis. Their personal crises are brought on by long-term unemployment, unmanageable housing and utility costs, fixed incomes that do not come close to covering all their expenses, health costs and other overwhelming factors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If we take ourselves just a little off of our regular daily paths we can find those around us who live in that constant state of need and hunger. Maybe in your own neighborhood there are homes with “for sale” signs that have sat empty for many months, and there are some neighborhoods where it seems there are more empty homes than ones with families. If we go a little further out of our way to drive through rural areas in our state then we can see even greater signs of crises and need. There are many more houses empty and for sale and many more people who are not making it. Life presents additional challenges for those suffering from financial difficulties in South Carolina’s rural areas. Transportation is an enormous challenge and many do not have the means to take themselves or family members to the places where they can get help.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Convenient transportation is something most of us take for granted. We may complain about high gas prices and find ways to cut back on travel, but in the end if we feel the need or desire to go somewhere then we get in our cars and go. But many in our rural areas face a different reality. For them travelling just five or so miles can be a problem. For the few who own reliable cars high gas prices become a pivotal point in determining their access to meals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To meet the needs of those in rural areas Harvest Hope works with over 400 agency partners throughout our 20 county service area. Many of these agencies take the food they pick up from us out to these impacted rural communities and provide soup kitchens or boxed meal sites at churches and other community centers. The majority of Harvest Hope’s food is actually distributed to the needy by our agency partners at these sites. Most of these agency partners are operated by faith-based organizations committed to helping their hungry neighbors.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are direct and indirect benefits from our association with agency partners. The obvious direct effect is providing food to those who need it where they need it. The agencies operate in areas where poverty can easily be identified. Poverty is not hidden or out of the way like it is for many of us. It is present and all around them, and their compassion and devotion compels them to help where help is needed. These agencies provide food at feeding sites often run by volunteers and dedicated staffers who are in touch with the community and see the faces of hunger on a regular basis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The indirect benefits for these faith-based organizations come from the opportunities to build relationships throughout the community and establish bonds of faith and trust with those in deepest need. These agencies help their suffering neighbors overcome some of the difficulties they face and put much-needed food on their tables.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">But our agencies cannot be everywhere where there is need. Harvest Hope operates Mobile Food Pantries (MFP) to area not serviced by agencies or other feeding programs. The mission of our MFPs is to reach out to those with severe transportation limitations and take emergency food to them. Like the agency sites, our MFP delivery truck delivers food at designated churches or community centers and distributes the food with the help of area volunteers. Also, at this time of year our MFPs deliver quality, locally-grown fruits and vegetables through produce drops. Harvest Hope coordinates drops of locally-grown fresh produce based on the amount of produce on hand in our warehouse. During the summer the abundance of fresh donated produce allows us to deliver produce to our agencies on a rotating basis based on their individual need and service area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sometime this week give yourself enough time to drive off your regular route and allow yourself to see what others are facing everyday. Take some time over the weekend to get out to the rural areas and see the conditions that are a reality for so many. There is a very different world just a little removed from ours, and we may find that it is not so removed from ours.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thank you and God Bless….</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Denise Holland</div><div style="text-align: justify;">CEO, Harvest Hope Food Bank</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. <br />
~St. Augustine</b></i><br />
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Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. ~Mark Twain<br />
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<a href="https://dnbweb1.blackbaud.com/OPXDONATE/AddDonor.asp?cguid=F57392C7-B1FD-4666-B7BE-D85304E9E604&sTarget=https%3A%2F%2Fdnbweb1.blackbaud.com%2FOPXDONATE%2FDonate.asp%3Fcguid%3DF57392C7%252DB1FD%252D4666%252DB7BE%252DD85304E9E604&sid=7E9F6D31-1154-4768-94D0-B6A1FF0C7E4B">Donate Now</a>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-19358084759698186932010-07-01T12:16:00.000-07:002010-07-02T06:22:42.031-07:00Food for the FourthThe summer months are a challenging time for the Harvest Hope Food Bank. We are seeing more families in our 20 county service area facing the extremely difficult question of how to feed their children now that school is out. During the school year at-risk children are served reduced-price or free breakfast and lunches, giving their family’s breathing room of two meals a day per child. But summer is here and those school children are home. With July 4th coming up we’re not even half-way through summer, and that means there are plenty of hungry days ahead for many South Carolina children.<br />
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If you are wondering how many children we need to feed in our state, then consider some newly released information from Feeding America. A report released Thursday, July 1 shows ranks South Carolina as #9 in our nation for children at risk of hunger. In total, there are more than 257,000 children in our state who will most likely miss a meal today. And everyday. <br />
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In order to meet the incredible need to feed our children we have committed additional resources to feeding families and have depleted our supplies. We continue sending our Mobile Food Pantries into the most rural areas to give access to our neediest neighbor’s - right in their backyard. We continue delivering fresh produce every day to our partner agencies and we have been working to muster additional resources through our staff and volunteers who face this crisis every day as people come to us in critical need.<br />
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I am writing this blog today as we begin a long holiday weekend because I want everyone to think of the need. If you can spare a minute out of your busy day before you head into this weekend of celebration, please visit our website at www.harvesthope.org. We could use help gift right now to support a critical need. Your special gift of $5, $10, $20 or more would be a blessing to us as we try to meet the additional summer demand. The need right now is immediate and your immediate response will be valuable to so many. If everyone reading this will give up just the price of a lunch, between $7 to $10, and donate that to Harvest Hope, we can go a long way toward feeding the hungry children in our 20 county service area this Fourth of July and the following week. <br />
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By clicking on the “<a href="http://www.harvesthope.org/donatenow.aspx">Donate Now</a>” button on our homepage, you will be directed to our website’s convenient donation page. When entering your gift information, place a note in comment section indicating you read this special message and we will know to direct your gift to feeding our children this summer.<br />
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As you enjoy your 4th of July festivities…know that there more children will eat because you cared and answered our call…<br />
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Thank you and God Bless….<br />
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Denise Holland<br />
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CEO, Harvest Hope Food Bank<br />
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<div style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Where liberty dwells, there is my country. ~Benjamin Franklin</b></i></span></div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt</b></i></span></div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better. ~Albert Camus</b></i></span></div><br />
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</script><noscript>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;div class="statcounter"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a title="blogger visitor" class="statcounter" href="http://www.statcounter.com/blogger/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;img class="statcounter" src="http://c.statcounter.com/6014803/0/38b43c89/0/" alt="blogger visitor" /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</noscript></b></i>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-56987541845946998612010-06-23T13:27:00.000-07:002010-06-23T13:27:00.196-07:00<div style="text-align: justify;">For most, the summer months become a time of relaxation and retreat, and a time of family. With children out of school and daylight hours stretching late into the evening families can spend more time together on vacations, weekend getaways, late afternoon excursions and other leisure activities. For many, the summer is a time of relaxation and togetherness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
For many families across South Carolina, however, the summer means an increased challenge in putting food on the table. For many low-income and at-risk children, their staple meals are the reduced-price or free breakfasts and lunches they are served at school. With schools closed for three months, financially hard-pressed parents must now provide two additional meals per child per day. No one wants to see their children go hungry. Imagine going to the kitchen to look for food for your hungry child, but already knowing you are going to find the cupboard and refrigerator empty. Try to imagine the despair you would feel wondering where you will turn to find food for your family, not just for a meal or snack right now, but for the days to come.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Over the last year, one in four children under the age of five in South Carolina went to bed hungry. Now that school is out we know from experience that number is going to increase. At this time of year we see families coming to us to alleviate the despair and hunger they feel when there is no food in their own kitchen. Many of them have not come to us for some time, but their need is urgent now and they know they can count on us. But the summer is often a difficult time for Harvest Hope as well.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The summer is traditionally a slow period for donations to Harvest Hope. With everything going on at this time of year it is easy for people to forget about anything not related to the logistics of vacations, summer camps and other family activities. But summer is one of the peak demand periods of the year for us. And with a downturn in donations, it becomes more difficult for us to meet the needs of the hungry families who make the difficult decision to turn to us. The need increases, yet the donations diminish. We are fortunate that so many people reveal their generosity and give during the holidays. But we cannot ignore the need at this time, or turn away the hungry families coming to us right now. They need us to help them. Just as we need our donors to continue their support and contributions during this difficult period.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Please take the time to go online at www.harvesthope.org and donate what you can. Harvest Hope can dedicate 98¢ out of every dollar donated to feeding the hungry. We can turn $1 into 7 pounds of food for the needy. We can feed a family for a week with $9. With your contributions, we can make sure those who come to us during the summer months will leave with the food they need to provide for everyone, especially the children, who comes to their tables. Donating through our website, especially our Gift Catalog is easy and convenient. Give what you can and we will make it go far.<br />
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Last week a radio talk show host discussed the topic of hungry children home for the summer. For some reason, perhaps because in our line of work we associate with so many compassionate and caring people, I anticipated he would urge listeners to open their hearts and donate to help feed their hungry neighbors. But that was not his intention at all. This man suggested that children who need to feed themselves during the summer should go the alleys behind restaurants and eat discarded food found in their trash bins. After hearing this, it took several minutes for the reality of his statements to sink in. I did not want to believe what I had just heard. My mind and heart could not accept the fact that there are really people who could think such a thing, and advocate it over the public airways. Are we really to believe there are people who wish for our children to crawl through garbage and fight rats and insects for their food ? Is this the kind of society we want to live in? </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">It is difficult to contain my anger and despair at the thought that some people would actually wish for children to hunt for scraps of nourishment among the refuse. I can only pray that this point of view is not common and only held by a marginalized number of people disassociated with the realities of the communities they live in. I can only hope the radio host’s comments were said for shock effect, and intended to elicit response and outrage for the mere sake of response and outrage. I wonder if he even believes the things he says, and hope that the majority of his listeners do not hold with such abhorrent notions of society and humanity. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">We are fortunate at Harvest Hope. We see the best of humanity daily. We see and hear from the people who believe it is our responsibility to look after others less fortunate and know it is also the best way to look after ourselves. Our spirits benefit and grow from the love we show toward strangers and the compassion we bestow on people in need. I am fortunate to know there are so many donors who understand and support our outreach to end hunger in South Carolina. Your thoughts and blessings give us all hope to continue to believe in the true loving nature of the human spirit.</div><br />
With Warmest Thanks,<br />
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Denise Holland<br />
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A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. ~Proverbs 29:11<br />
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Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me. ~Proverbs 30:8<br />
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A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune's inequality exhibits under this sun. ~Thomas CarlyleDenise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-31606681477752343982010-05-24T12:50:00.000-07:002010-05-24T12:50:20.434-07:00One of the results of the ongoing economic downturn is there are new faces of hunger in America and here in South Carolina. What do those new faces look like? What brought them to our door? What drives people to make the difficult decision to put down their pride and feelings of self dependence and come to us for help?<br />
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At Harvest Hope, every day we have conversations with people who cannot understand the new reality they find themselves in. The cannot understand how they lost control of their lives and why they need help with something as simple and basic as putting food on the table. Feeding our families is something we all take for granted. It is a basic need we all assume that we can fulfill on our own. It is so basic that others often cannot understand what would force someone else to ask for help for food. But is something we understand at Harvest Hope.<br />
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Recently, I had a conversation with a young man in his early 20’s, who could not understand why he had just been laid off. It is depressing for him because he really loved what he did and looked forward to work every day. He was certain he had a clear career path and would continue to do what he loved. But his certainty was shattered and he was left to wonder: why did this happen to me? His life was changed and changed quickly.<br />
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This is what has happened to so many in South Carolina. We are sixth in the nation for unemployment and our poverty rates are higher than the national average. The new faces of hunger belong to people who thought hunger would not happen to them.<br />
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These new faces appear every day at our Emergency Food Pantries and at the church pantries, soup kitchens, and overcrowded shelters run by our 400 member agencies. I personally have seen the faces at tent cities housing families with children who two years ago lived normal lives with working parents, living in homes of their own choosing and buying the groceries they wanted. The new faces of hunger are frequently people who once came to volunteer but now come to us for food. People who once donated food or money and now need our help to eat. On average we see them at Harvest Hope only three times. But we are seeing them during the worst period of their lives under the worst conditions they have ever experienced. Because of embarrassment and shame and a determination to do everything possible to care for themselves, they have stretched everything they could. But they have to eat. They have to feed their families.<br />
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I still see the long lines of people every morning waiting patiently for our Emergency Food Pantries to open. I still hear the agency representatives stopping at my door saying “Denise, what we are dealing with everyday is overwhelming”. I force a smile on my face, my hand goes up to pat them on the back or to give them a hug, but inwardly as they shake their heads in bewilderment, I must say: “I too am overwhelmed.” All of this touches home for me; probably for you too.<br />
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I’ve been at Harvest Hope for thirteen years and I’ve never seen this many people looking for work. Like the mom with a six year old who told me just last week: “Denise—the economy has destroyed my marriage. Even though I have a college degree, I am working two part-time jobs to make ends meet. I have learned to do with less, but we can’t do without food.” This mother does need us. Does she want to stand in line for food? Would you? Would you want to trade places with her – just for one day, one bitter and frustrating afternoon? Just to learn, just to feel the anxiety and uncertainty. Just to come to the same realization she did: there is no other choice right now.<br />
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Do I need any more proof that they need us? Absolutely not. It angers me sometimes, and perhaps I shouldn’t be so honest about it. But it angers me that anyone can question the harsh reality that forces good working families to our door. I see the despair on their faces, hear the tremor in their voices and know the uncertainty of their futures.<br />
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Whatever their reasons, whatever their story, whatever forces compel them to come to us for help: THEY NEED HELP AND WE ARE HERE TO HELP THEM!<br />
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Thank you.<br />
Denise Holland<br />
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The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">~ Ecclesiastes 9:11</div><br />
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Faith is courage; it is creative while despair is always destructive.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">~David S. Muzzey</div>Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784806557877750321.post-39463462706274649032010-04-27T12:07:00.000-07:002010-04-27T12:07:07.266-07:00It is with great sadness I that just learned of the passing of long-time Harvest Hope volunteer and supporter Edward Young Roper, Sr. Mr. Roper passed away at the age of 85 peacefully in his home on April 20. He is survived by his wife of 62 years Mary Lee Flowers Roper in addition to two daughters and a son, several grandchildren and step grandchildren.<br />
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Ed Roper and Mary Lee were staunch supporters of Harvest Hope for many years. Ed established the Daily Bread Memorial Fund years ago through the Central Carolina Community Foundation as a principal investment to provide continued income for Harvest Hope.<br />
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Ed’s dedication to battling hunger stems from his personal experience as a prisoner of war in a concentration camp during WWII. When just twenty years old he was captured on the battlefield shortly after the Battle of the Bulge by the Germans, and held from December of 1944 until April of ’45. Each day Ed and the other American prisoners were given just one loaf of bread to divide among six or eight men. Even though they existed in a continued state of near-starvation, the soldiers were made to perform backbreaking work.<br />
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The memory of terrible hunger and nutritional privation instilled in Ed Roper the desire to see that no one in his community suffered the effects of hunger. After receiving reparations from the Germans for his cruel treatment at the concentration camp, he established the Daily Bread Memorial Fund to benefit Harvest Hope. A designated fund such as Ed’s Daily Bread Memorial Fund supports a specified charitable institution named when the donor establishes the fund. Income from the fund is paid to the designated organization to be used to support the operations and programs. To ensure that Ed’s lifetime commitment to feeding the hungry is honored, his family has asked that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to either Harvest Hope or the Daily Bread Memorial Fund.<br />
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I will never forget the times I spent with Ed and Mary Lee as he talked about his experience being captured by the Germans, suffering from hunger and watching others around him die from starvation. He was very passionate to make sure that he took every opportunity to help hungry people and to educate others about the serious effects of hunger. He was a volunteer for many years with the Golden K's Kiwanis club helping Harvest Hope Food Bank by picking up bread each morning from area grocery stores, then bringing it back to the food bank to give out to clients and agencies. He, along with his friend Porter Anderson, made sure that his Sunday School Class at Trenholm Road United Methodist Church was involved with helping others and at least annually wanted a speaker from Harvest Hope to come in and help tell the story of hunger and facts of what hungry people experience in South Carolina.<br />
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All of us at Harvest Hope Food Bank share in the grief being felt by Mary Lee and her family. They have shared in a lifetime of joy and giving from Ed Roper who was a very strong supporter that through a personal quest he did not want to see anyone suffer from hunger. Our hearts reach out to the Roper family with love and peace.Denise Holland, Harvest Hope Food Bankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570500952234639071noreply@blogger.com0