If we weren’t here this past year:

• • 1,000 families would have had their utilities turned off. That means that families with small children, a single mom, or maybe even someone’s grandparents would be cold, with no electricity for lights, heat, their refrigerator, stove or even their hot water tank. Lack of electricity also means silence; no TV or radio—no way to be warned of storms, floods or natural disasters.

 

• • 500 families would have been evicted from their home. These are people who would have been forced to live on a friends couch, or worse, in their car or on the street because there are too few shelter options for families. These are our neighbors in need.

 

• • 9,000 families would have been hungry if they did not have access to the Food Rescue Program that Family Service operates. When you live on minimum wage and have children, you just can’t afford rent, utilities, insurance and food. When we help people with food that means they have more money to keep paying their rent so they don’t become homeless.

  Click Here for a Cost of Living chart

 

• • 1,200 school age children would have started school without any school supplies or a backpack to carry their books. Studies show that kids who arrive on the first day of school unprepared often have trouble engaging their education because of feeling left out and out of place compared to other kids. We try very hard to make sure every child has a chance to succeed.