PURCHASE MEMORIAL TO STEVE, GIVE TO CHARITY

12/12/07 On Monday of this week my wife and I took a small donation for the local food banks here in Southeastern Ohio to the headquarters of the Hocking, Athens, Perry Community Action organization located in Glouster, OH. Because our interest was specifically in the food pantries of the area the receptionist suggested that we visit the distribution center which is in Logan, Ohio about 1/2 hour away. That is just what we decided to do. We were greeted warmly and given a very informative tour by two of the people working there, Richard Stevens and Marilyn Sloan. They took time from their very busy days to explain what we saw going on in front of us. 

Our first impression was the scope of the operation taking place. The second realization was that this revealed a level of need that was far greater than I had fully comprehended previously. When Marilyn explained that donations of all kind were down by 65% this year, I could see the look of sadness and desperation in her eyes. We had heard on the news that donations to food banks all over the country are down this season but this put a perspective on that otherwise impersonal bit of news. It brought the crisis home. 

We had learned earlier that a $25 donation would enable the food banks to distribute 150 pounds of food. It was our thought that this food was likely to be high sugar/high carbohydrate in nature. We were pleased to see pallets of fresh vegetables being brought in from a semi at the loading dock. As we looked at the boxes in the warehouse we were pleased to see that efforts were being made to make sure that the food was healthful and nutritious. Jan and I had both spent 32 years teaching in Perry County nearby, one of the eleven counties that are served by this distribution center. We saw on a daily basis the effects that poor nutrition and a shortage of basic food needs have on the ability of our students to learn and even to simply function.

The ten counties serviced by Hocking, Athens, Perry Community Action are located in Appalachian Ohio. We share much more in the nature of our economic climate with the areas of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia than with the metropolitan areas of Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. The area was once the home of a thriving coal industry but the coal is gone. Yet many of the people remain. It is their home. There are few industries here but the number is far from sufficient to provide meaningful employment for the residents. Unemployment in Perry County during the recent decades has frequently exceeded the levels reached nationally during the height of the Depression. The unemployment rate in nearby Monroe County is reported at 11.3% for 2006, the most recent yearly data I could find.

Despite having resided and taught here these past 40 years it took a visit to the food distribution center to truly bring home the stark reality of need. It is not the fact that there is need. It is the astounding level of need.

A 65% shortfall in commodity and monetary donation has put the food bank in a crisis situation. To do a small part in alleviating a bit of the lack of funds we have determined to do the following:

We ask that the payment for purchase of MEMORIAL TO STEVE be made out to S. E. O. Food Bank. Send the checks/money orders to us and we will forward them to the food bank in Logan. If you do not wish for your money to go to this use, you may still make out the check to us but we hope that you do not.

If you have decided to purchase the collection this year, it may necessitate two checks, one to us and another to the food bank. The total for the collection at catalog price is $600. Reduced by 25% it is priced at $450. If you are purchasing the collection the portion going to MEMORIAL TO STEVE is reduced by $25. The amount of the check to the food bank would be $150. If you felt like sending them the full amount that would be great too.

Many have already reserved MTS and have put a down payment on it. The check would need to be $200 minus the amount of your previous down payment.  e. g. You put $25 down earlier. Your check would need to be for $175. If you are purchasing the collection the additional payment would be $125. Just a reminder; We hope that you will decide that any check which is going toward purchase of MEMORIAL TO STEVE be made out to S. E. O. Food Bank. The choice is yours.

We would like to direct you to the website of the Community Action agency. http://www.hapcap.org/index.htm If you were to feel a need to confirm that your check reached its proper destination either of the two individuals above would be cooperative in your effort.

Hocking, Athens, Perry Community Action is a private non-profit organization so that means that any check you write to them for MTS will be tax deductible. They are also pledged to not share your name with any other charities.