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More than just a food pantry
Busy volunteers can "vacation" with MOM
Middleton Times Tribune - May 31, 2007
by Dietrich Gruen, Middleton Outreach Ministry
With summer almost here, many area families - clients, volunteers and donors - come to MOM to make the summer memorable. While many of our faithful volunteers and donors transition elsewhere to "make memories," all our regular programs continue unabated. The food pantry, clothing closet, POP rides and home chores for the elderly - that all continues full tilt during the summer vacation months, despite our being short-handed. And so we make our appeal known to you.
You can become a "Make it Happen!" Volunteer. This opportunity is perfect for volunteers who want to involve their whole family in making a difference, but want to make it happen on their own schedule! You can do so with one of our suggested food and clothing drives (see our web site at www.mompop.org), or you can be creative and find your own special ways to help neighbors to "vacation" with MOM.
This is the time to plant a garden and designate several rows of produce to the MOM Food Pantry. Some will organize a spare change contest or a "noisy can collection" with another business or group of friends. You could start a "rent-a-kid club" - that is, friends and neighbors "rent a kid" for household chores (weed-pulling, lawn mowing, car-washing, window-washing). Whatever tips are collected for the service are then donated to MOM. I, for one, will gladly rent some "kid" to care for my lawn, and tip well so that others can have food, clothing, or other Good Samaritan Aid this summer.
For MOM's Clothing Closet, specific items especially in demand are swimsuits (both in adult and children's sizes), beach towels, Lil' Swimmer's diapers, sunscreen, and insect repellant.
Yet what good are swimsuits without an opportunity to swim!? Summers are hot and pools are cool, but not all children can take advantage of the fine swimming pool here in Middleton - especially not the children of families who struggle to make ends meet. Middleton Outreach Ministry would like to help those children and their parents find some relief from this summer's heat.
To do that, we are asking you to help purchase pool tickets. Pool tickets usually cost $2.75 to $4.25, so a low income family of four - who perhaps cannot afford gas to get to work - cannot afford pool tickets, either! And so their kids go without the privileges that you and I enjoy. Next time you are at the pool, why not buy one set of tickets for your family, then buy an extra set for a less-privileged family!?
We at MOM know many needy families. Leave your pool tickets with us. One area landlord has generously already donated funds to cover the first 150 pool tickets. Will you join him?
But MOM is more than a food pantry, as you know. Though presently well-stocked with food - thanks to the recent Letter Carriers' all-city food drive - our pantry is running short on personal care items, such as toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant. Families always look for those items when they come, so would you please consider donating some to our pantry?
What's summer without garage-saling!? If and when you have a garage sale this summer, please remember your MOM. At our pantry site, we could redistribute your donations of good quality, in-season clothing of all sizes, dish sets, plus pots and pans and other cookware. Year-round, we need linens of all sizes (clearly marked by size, of course) and bath towels.
Unfortunately, due to limited storage space and safety risks, we cannot accommodate toys, electrical items, and furniture. Hence we appreciate you donating those items to other agencies, such as Goodwill Industries or St. Vincent DePaul stores.
Additionally, please keep in mind that due to limited space and volunteers, we can only store and display clothing that is in-season. So if you donate out-of-season clothing, we may pass it along to another agency for their use. For a complete list of what we can and cannot take, see www.mompop.org. Call the MOM office, at 836-7338, if you have further questions.
To get even more involved, please call for the current volunteer opportunities. We love to see new faces around here, and summer is a great time to volunteer as a family and introduce your children to the wonderful privilege of serving others.
Thank you, Good Neighbors, for your continued support this summer, and every summer. We cannot do what we do best - "connect neighbors for good" - without you!
Ellen Carlson, Kim Grafenauer, and Craig Waggoner (all MOM staff) also contributed to this story.
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