Feed Greater Easthampton Children! Support the Easthampton Community Center.
EASTHAMPTON COMMUNITY CENTER has proudly served the needs of families in the Greater Easthampton area for over 40 years!
The Summer Meals Program
We are asking our community to come together to support the ongoing efforts of the Center, the most pressing being the Summer Meals Program that starts in a few weeks. The Community Center, which operates on an approximate $157,000 budget, feeds 320 low-income children all summer when there is no school and they can't get breakfast and lunch. Last year, the center served over 63,000 meals in 10 weeks.
It is the mission of the Easthampton Community Center, Inc. to provide services and assistance to residents of the Greater Easthampton area. The Center provides a Food Pantry, Community Care Kitchen, a Clothing Closet, along with meeting space for community groups, and holiday or celebratory gatherings. The building is open seven days each week with many classes and meetings on going.
Your dollars stretch further than you think:
- $10 purchases a hot meal for 5 people
- $25 purchases 3 days worth of food for a family
- $30 purchases disposable diapers for a child for 2 weeks.
- $50 feeds 5 children lunch and breakfast for a week
- $100 purchases 500 lbs of food.
- $250 provides a hot meal at the Community Care kitchen to 125 people.
- $500 purchases breakfast and lunch for 10 children all summer long.
- $1000 provides food for 315 families for a week.
With the recent funding cuts we are turning to directly to community support to keep this program afloat. Every dollar you donate makes a huge, significant impact.
"Food drives are important, and well-appreciated," says Bialecki. "But people forget that we have to refrigerate and store that food. You can't pay the electric bill with canned goods." via MassLive article
Please donate now.
MORE ABOUT THE CENTER
When Robin Bialecki started as director in 2008 there were 47 families who needed help. Now that number has swelled to 985 - that means families of one or even a dozen. People can pick up groceries every week and in the summer months, they can also pick up a weekly bag of lunch, breakfast and snacks for their children who would normally get free or reduced fee lunches in school.
The Easthampton Community Center provides a food pantry, community care kitchen, a clothing closet, and a meeting space for groups. The building is open seven days a week and has been in operation for over 40 years.
The Center has a Food Pantry that services over 900 families each week that come for food assistance. The Community Care Kitchen provides weekly hot meals for anyone in need, and our Kid's Bag Program provides food for over 300 children during the summer months when breakfast and lunch are not available from the schools.
The clothing closet has gentle used clothing for the entire family. They provide classes in exercise, healthy eating, and weight loss, as well as five Alcoholic Anonymous groups that meet weekly. ECC provide assistance to any in need of applications for SNAP (food stamps), or MA Health.
On Wednesday mornings a group of women meet to knit and crochet. Using donated yarn or donations to purchase it, they make hats and mittens for school children, afghans for veterans or the infirm in nursing homes. One group has been coming for nearly 40 years. Three Tuesdays a month they have dinners for anyone in the community who wants to come.
The Easthampton Community Center has a huge impact on the lives of local residents throughout Easthampton, Westhampton, Southampton and Northampton. Your donation stretches far and wide and keeps this valuable resource afloat. Please donate and spread the word. Thanks!
The Easthampton Community Center is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation and is a partner agency of the United Way of Hampshire County and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
