Thursday, April 4, 2013

A Big Boost for the Full-Day Meal Packet Program

Notes from Margaret ... IHS Coordinator

Children writing personal notes for meal packets
Friends of the charity will be pleased to know that our appeal over the last month brought forth an excellent response from several groups for a terrific March delivery. The following groups are annual contributors. Their dependability assures that we reach our annual goal. Readers of our e-mails and blog postings realize that IHS provides about 250 full-day meals monthly to the UVA Medical Center Social Work Office for underfunded caregivers of patients. The meals are made for IHS and then IHS volunteers deliver every two weeks so that all social workers have access. Social Workers know of outpatients or caregivers in need of something to eat, and they respond quickly. Please take notice of the wonderful kids and parents who make this program a success. If you need to know more about this program for your kid's group, just click on the following link for the Food Program and Guide.

Thanks to the following groups for your recent generosity
 
Charlottesville Religious Education program took time during two Sundays in March to assemble 386 meal packets. Children from the first through sixth grade loaded plastic meal bags, designed greeting cards, boxed the packets and checked for quality control of their work.    
Church family assembling meals
They had a lot of help from parents and other adults in the church. However, so many of the children have made meal packets in the past that they can now work with limited supervision. They are now the ones who teach the children and adults who are unfamiliar with the IHS meal packet project about who it serves and how to assemble the meal packets. This church community is gratified to see the intellectual and emotional connection that the children, youth and adults feel toward the meal packet recipients. It is a practical expression of their desire to express their faith by helping those who need assistance.

The funds for purchasing meal packet supplies came from generous donations by members and friends of TJMC in August 2012, during the church's monthly "Social Action Collection." The TJMC Food Pantry Program also helped the shoppers obtain many items used in the meal packets.


Cub Scout Pack 79 of Crozet, Virginia met just before the snow storm on Sunday March 24 to assemble 40 full-day meal packets. Cub Scout Master Dave Vance tells us that the scouts worked so quickly that no one had time to take a photograph of them at work. He said, "I was really impressed with the vigor the Cubs attacked the packets."

Pack 79 is chartered to the Crozet United Methodist Church. The leaders who helped out included Lisa and Jeff Saucerman, Chris Scott, Jaime Brady and Ryan Miracle. About 20 scouts from Tigers (first grade) to Webelos I (fourth grade) assembled the contribution.

met on March 26 for an assembly session. They made 84 full-day meals. Kathleen Church, the coordinator for the scout program which dedicates two events annually in March and October to support this IHS program, arrived at the IHS Lake Monticello Office in Palmyra, Virginia with a car load the very next day.

Molly Michie Pre-School, 717 Rugby Road in Charlottesville, Virginia
is not forgotten. Lori Linville's class of 5-year olds was visited on February 6 by T. Wade and Elisheva Clegg. The Cleggs were invited by parent Rachel Thielman to speak to a very enthusiastic group who produced 12 full-day meal packets and wrote lovely notes for placement inside each plastic Ziplock bag. The class's packets were added to the March totals.
FINAL COMMENTS

March was a very productive month! The total packets delivered: 522. Thanks to all the participants for devoting your time and funds for the underfunded outpatients and their caregivers who will have a full-day meal while in the UVA Medical Center.

Sincerely ... Margaret Gorman,
 IHS Meal Packet Coordinator