Last fall, the Downtown Ironton Churches Food Pantry began serving people in the Harvest for the Hungry Food Pantry at Fifth and Railroad streets.

At that time we were serving around 450 people a month. Thanks to the generosity of many people, businesses and organizations we were confident that we could continue to provide assistance for many months as a result of our fund raising efforts in the community.

One of the goals of our building the new building was to be able to serve more people. To that end we recently initiated a new system by which people could register for assistance without having to be referred from other agencies.

This made it easier and quicker to receive assistance. We also added some items, which had not been available previously. We employed a full-time director who has been making our operation more efficient and more user friendly.

The Tribune helped out by publishing articles reporting our progress. The result of all these developments is that we have more than succeeded in being able to help more people.

The numbers from the pantry emphasize just how great the increase in clients has been. In January 2013 we served a total of 468 people. The average served per month in the first eight months has been 835.

In July, however, we served 1,656 people and in August, 1,709. September has been equally busy.

In short, our numbers have more than doubled over the average and more than tripled over January. As we can readily imagine this means a major increase in our costs even though we are operating more efficiently than ever before.

We need your help more than ever. Three years ago when we first began these “Harvest for the Hungry” campaigns, I asked if we really cared about the sounding, “Yes, we do care.”

Now I am asking you once again. Please, send your gifts to: Harvest for the Hungry, 101 N. Fifth St., Ironton, OH, 45638.

Remember, almost half of all Lawrence County residents qualify for food assistance. Please, give this request your most sincere and prayerful consideration.

In the name of One who fed multitudes,

 

Rev. Wayne Young