IHS Receives Second Grant to Support Food Programs

New Year's 2013 Gift has arrived! We received a second straight dedicated food grant from the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF).  IHS had appealed for continued support, which would allow us to continue to provide and stock food for underfunded guests at the UVA Hospitality House, and for making full-day meal packets for the Office of Social Work in UVA Medical Center for caregivers without funds who are monitoring loved ones, especially parents in Pediatric Clinics who can be stranded for weeks, even months, awaiting progress for their children. This Grant can potentially represent from 33-39% of needed funding for food This New Year's gift received by IHS in late December was a grant for $8,000!   Forty-eight organizations are receiving $336,800 in grant awards to help secure vital needs within their programs.  Twice per year, the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in CACF awards gifts through a competitive grant cycle. To place the IHS Food Program funding in real terms, consider this ... The Full-day Meal Packets dedicated for use by social workers in the Medical Center: The actual number of full-day meal packets provided to recipients in 2012 was almost 2,500. The value of food for making a meal packet can vary with very deliberate shopping, whether bought and assembled by contributor groups, or bought and assembled internally by IHS staff. The range of value per packet has increased from five dollars to about six dollars each.  In other words this past year, the value of full-day meal packets was about $15,000. Funds spent and value of food items donated for the UVA Hospitality House: The average monthly value for the last 12 months was about $430. The total for 2012 was about $5,250.   The values from above indicate that actual food value provided was about $20,250. Projected needs for 2013 is based on increased quantity of meals and cost of food:  Projected need up to 3,000 packets (or about $18,000) annually, and increased UVA Hospitality House expenses of no less than $6,000. Total projection 2013: $24,000. The $8,000 grant for the IHS Food Program represents from 33-39% of total costs: This is a very sizable assist for meeting projected goals. The charity's food program for indigent and underfunded patients and caregivers who travel from considerable distances for treatment at UVA Medical Center could not have met its 2012 objectives without the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in CACF. This new grant assures stability in 2013, as we continue to build a program for community group involvement with making full-day meals, and raising an awareness, especially in the medical community for stable support through the state pay-roll deduction program known as the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC). The Foundation committee understood that we were still short funded during this on-going effort to build a following for contributions. The IHS Food Program is now the most expensive category for the charity The other unmet needs, which we have sought to meet and strengthen the safety net, are lodging, co-pays & prescriptions, travel, and support with infant car seats and infant clothing, etc. for indigent families being served in UVA Pediatric Clinics.  This latest gift from Bama Works of Dave Matthews Band in CACF is solely dedicated for  insuring that nutritional needs are not neglected for the underfunded visitors to UVA Medical Center. IHS is considered the "go to" charity when a UVA social worker calls. Since all requests are screened and approved by social workers, there is no delay in response. The same can be said about the generosity of Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF) and The Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band committee who screened and approved our efforts to feed hungry people a long way from home. They have again reacted with a most timely gift, which is so important to so many. Sincerely ... Thomas Wade Clegg III