Donations help your neighbors

Date: 2/28/2014

Jen is one of my favorite patrons at Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry. As a full-time mother of two, it pained her to see her husband’s work hours get cut to part-time. Even with picking up an additional part-time job, they still found themselves forced to choose between paying bills and buying food. Fortunately for Jen, she was able to find us and get the food she needed from our pantry.

A reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits has sent a tremendous number of families like Jen’s to Lorraine’s. With recent budget cuts and a USDA diminished surplus, we have a great need to provide for the countless families that depend on us. Because of our supporters, we have been able to ensure that Jen and the rest of our patrons will never have to explain to their children why there is no food on the table.

Last year, Lorraine’s saw almost 9,000 Chicopee families, distributed more than 404,000 pounds of food, and those numbers are only going to increase. Families are losing up to $40 a month in assistance, and this is placing tremendous strain on our services. We need monetary donations now more than ever.

People often ask me why only donating food isn’t enough. At Lorraine’s, I am able to leverage dollars to purchase food from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. So when you donate money, your dollars go that much further than a canned good because we can buy food to distribute at $.19 a pound, which beats any grocery.

So far, we have been able to raise $26,590. In fact, we only need $8,410 to reach our goal. That’s just 43 $200 donations.

I want to extend my sincerest appreciation to everyone who has made a gift to Lorraine’s. Your support goes a long way toward helping Chicopee friends and neighbors. If you would like to get involved, I urge you to visit www.LorrainesSoupKitchen.com, to make a secure online donation to help us reach our goal, apply to be a volunteer, or read up on news and events that impact the Chicopee community.

Kim Goulette

Executive Director, Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry