Dear Friends,
At our Annual Meeting, we discussed the challenges we face with rising numbers of clients and costs, as well as the fact that our building is for sale. New clients are signing up all the time, and some clients who haven’t visited in a long time are coming back.
One way we are cutting costs is that, as of February 1st, we will no longer pay for cleaning services. Kitty Daly will be organizing and training a team of volunteers to do the cleaning. Many hands will make this task not too difficult. If you are interested in volunteering this way, email Kitty at kathryngdaly@gmail.com
We are also looking at our food budget and making small changes to what we purchase, to save money and best use the money that is donated to us. The board will also be researching more ways to raise funds, including fundraising events. Food drives are also helpful! If you can do a neighborhood food drive or if you are a business owner, please consider doing a food drive for Aunt Dot’s Place, at your place of business.
At the Annual Meeting, I mentioned my appreciation for Amy Boudreaux, our sole employee, and the tremendous job she is doing on so many fronts. She has brought in more money from grants than her salary. She trains all volunteers, attends board meetings, and contributes valuable information to the board. She organized the turkey give aways and the volunteer appreciation night and has done a lot of important work updating our procedures. In fact, today, we received our first Venmo donation because of her hard work.
In other news, we are now working with a social worker and the nurses at Essex High School, providing emergency food for people in great need, and then getting them registered as clients. So far, we have provided four backpacks with emergency food. Also, I just learned that we received a $2000.00 dollar check for our Community Garden project. This project will help us reduce food costs for produce!
Members voted for Len Bates, Anna Cadmus, Richard Hoskings, Jennifer Lovell and Sue Miyamoto to remain on the Board.
Finally, Amy and I gave an emergency food bag to someone on Wednesday afternoon, a client who hadn’t come in a while. She was uncomfortable coming for help, she was anxious and worried about many aspects of her life. When we carried food to her car, she handed us an unopened box of candy that someone had given her. She wanted to give and bless someone. I was so impressed and hoped that giving that candy to us for our clients, lifted her spirits. Giving is powerful for the giver and the recipient.
Purchased Food – $9399.00
Purchased Food – 6912 pounds
Donations in Pounds – 749 pounds
- Bimbo’s Bread – 38 pounds
- Essex Alliance – 1131 pounds
- Essex Community Health – 32 pounds
- Grace United Methodist Church – 50 pounds
- Milton Family Center – 117 pounds
- Pepperidge Farm – 210 pounds
- Pinecrest Senior Center – 453 pounds
- Poorhouse Pies – 165 pounds
- Price Chopper Bin – 692 pounds
Grocery Store Donations
- Costco – 2110 pounds
- Hannaford – 2046 pounds
- Trader Joe’s – 1163
Thank you again to all the volunteers that went to these stores, purchased food, packed it in their cars, weighed it, labeled it and stocked the shelves with it. Week after week, month after month, year after year, we get the job done. Then there are the volunteers who work directly with clients as greeters, shoppers, shift leaders. It’s amazing what caring can do!
Sincerely, Sue Miyamoto
Board President
Aunt Dot’s Place