We made it through February!

Helping Hands had another great month!  We made it through the last full week in February with enough donations to send all 26 kids home with full bags for the weekends!   As we were preparing bags for this weekend, we were blessed to find that we had just enough to take care of all of the kids.  While it sometimes makes us a little nervous when we begin to run out, we have seen this community pull through for these kids time and time again, and we know we can continue to serve them through Helping Hands.  We are really starting to see the benefit of this program through these childrens' grades and behavior.  Your donations are helping to make it possible for them to reach their full potential!

 March is right around the corner, and there are alot of needs for Friday, March 2.  Following is a list of items we are completely out of or only have a few of:

Pop Tarts
Mac and Cheese (packet or box)
pudding cups
Ravioli
Beefaroni
Soup/Stew
Chili
Tuna
Individual cereal boxes
Granola Bars
Sleeves of crackers

We also need 19 more full size plastic jelly jars to send home for March.

The list is long, and we have alot of needs.  We only ask for what we need, and you come through for us every time.  If we all pull together and give just a little, as we have for the past few months, we can continue to ensure that the children in this program will receive the nutrition they need to get them through the weekend.  Thanks so much for all you've done, and all you continue to do!  Please take donations to the office at Crystal City Elementary School. Thank you!

Donation needs for February 24

Hello!  Thanks for checking in with us! Following is a list of items we need in order to send bags home on Friday, February 24:

Crackers
Ravioli
Soup
Pop Tarts
Individual boxes of cereal

Please drop off donations at Crystal City Elementary by Thursday, February 23.  Thanks so much for contributing! 

Update for week ending Feb 17

We have had an abundance of donations over the last couple of weeks-thank you!  As a result, we have everything we need to send all 26 kids home with full bags on Friday, February 17.  Thanks so much for all of the contributions! 

Ongoing needs are:  Full size peanut butter and squeezable jelly, which are sent home monthly. 

We update this blog every week to communicate the status of donation needs for the upcoming weekend, so please visit this site frequently if you would like to help!

Update of needs for Feb 10

Thanks so  much for all of the support that came in last week! We had a great week for donations and had enough for all 26 kids in the program. The following is a list of items that we are still running low on, and need more of in order to fill the bags for Friday, February 10:

Soup
Cereal
Ravioli
Pop Tarts

Ongoing needs:
Peanut Butter
Jelly
Plastic Bags

We have had several inquiries into monetary donations for Helping Hands. We would be more than happy to do the shopping if you would rather donate money! Checks can be made payable to Crystal City School.  Be sure to put helping Hands in the memo of the check so the funds can be properly allocated.  Cash, checks, and of course food can be dropped off in the office at Crystal City Elementary.
Thanks and have a great week!

Lots of needs for next week!

Hello!

For those of you logging on to Helping Hands for the first time, welcome!  Thanks to a wonderful article in the Leader, alot of people are hearing about this program and asking how they can help-and just in time!  We now have 26 children enrolled in the program.  January was an amazing month for donations and we were able to serve every child in the program every weekend.  That brings us to next week-and our cupboards are nearly bare!  Following is a list of items that we are either completely out of or almost out of, and the list is long:

Pop tarts-
Individual cereal boxes
Breakfast bars
Granola Bars
Macaroni and Cheese
Ravioli/Beefaroni/Spaghetti O's
Soup/Chili/Stew
Crackers (sleeves of ritz crackers)
Tuna
Fruit cups/apple sauce
We have enough peanut butter to send home for February, but we could use about 9 more plastic bottles of Jelly to send home.

Helping Hands accepts monetary donations in the form of cash and checks.  Please make checks payable to Crystal City School and be sure to put Helping Hands in the memo of the check.

If you haven't donated in the past, or this is your first time hearing of the program, here are a few details: We really strive to send the kids home with 3 easy to prepare meals and 2 snacks for each day that they'll be away from school (Saturday/Sunday).  We also try to send home a full size peanut butter and jelly at the beginning of the month, along with a sleeve of crackers. Since the program was launched, we have been able to send a bag home with all of these items for all of the kids in the program.  The only way this has been possible is through donations from people in the community-thank you! 

Whether you donate weekly or every once in a while, it is greatly appreciated!  This blog is updated weekly to ensure that we are able to communicate the needs of the program with you, so please check back!

Donations can be dropped off at Crystal City Elementary any time the school is open. Bags are packed on Thursday afternoons and sent home on Friday.
Thank you and have a blessed week!

Week of 1/23

Hello!


Thanks so much for answering to the call of last week's needs!  At the beginning of the week, we only had one jar of peanut butter.  Thanks to  your donations, we were able to send every kid home with a jar of peanut better and have 10 jars left over for next month!  


Following are a list of foods that we are low on or out of and are needed to complete next week's menu:

Soup 
Pop Tarts
Ravioli/Beefaroni
Tuna

Ongoing needs:
Peanut Butter-we will need at least 12 more full size jars for next month
Disposable plastic shopping bags (we no longer need the reusables, bring in your extra plastic ones!)


Please have your donations to CC Elementary by Thursday so bags can be ready to go by Friday.
Thank you!

Needs for week of 1/17

Hello!

We currently have 22 children enrolled in Helping Hands.  Through donations we have received over the last several weeks, we have enough of several of the items on the menu to send home next weekend.  There are a few items that are running low, and we could really use your help to ensure we have enough!

 Here are the items needed for the week ending 1/20:

Peanut Butter

Jelly

Crackers

Macaroni and Cheese (individual servings or boxes)

Soup

Please drop off donations at Crystal City Elementary by Thursday, January 19.  

Thank you for your donations!  Have a great day!