May 11, 2019 – A stormy day, and an awesome event that educated and assisted a lot of people. Thank you to all who participated.
In late March, Feed the Children staff called one of our staff to ask if ACHR could help with an event in Auburn on May 11. That was Mothers’ Day weekend and not much time, but we said yes. With FTC’s agreement, we combined that event with our Family Resources Day. Policy Council helped with food costs beyond what was donated.
ACHR was approached for this event because we hosted a Feed the Children (FTC) event on the lawn at King Center in Auburn on October 18, 2018. However, staff of Boys/Girls Club of Lee County did the bulk of the planning and ACHR only provided the location.
Family Engagement Staff reached out to ACHR families and to other agencies. FTC agreed we could cross county lines with offers of food vouchers. They encouraged us to focus on families who had not come in October, so in addition to focusing on families impacted by the March 3 tornado in Lee County; through our Head Start and Community Action contacts, we invited families from Macon and Chambers County. If folks had a voucher but were not ACHR clients wanted to participate in the Head Start Family Resources Day, they could.
Pharmavite again sponsored two semis full of food and sundries – enough for more than 800 families to take home two boxes each (one of food; one of sundries like paper towels). Pharmavite also provided children’s vitamins, books (hardback Disney books!), a table with paper, markers, things to glue on etc., to make cards for Mother’s Day and a carnation for each child to give his/her mother – and more than 100 volunteers from their staff. Their volunteers unloaded and stacked boxes and then loaded them into cars, directed traffic, both outside and inside, gave nutrition education along with the vitamins, helped with children, and smiled, no matter what.
Early the morning of May 11, the event was indoors due to potential bad weather. Our staff saw that the cotton candy machine, the clown and a bouncy house (from our HS Family Resources event) was set up in the corner of the auditorium near the Pharmavite Mother’s Day table.
Several community partners who had planned to be present to hand out information emailed that morning saying they were not coming due to bad weather.
However, persons who had vouchers for food came anyway, despite heavy traffic and some having to stand in the rain to get in. Even so, most were in a good mood, and all seemed appreciative. Every single box was claimed.
THANK YOU to the Feed the Children staff, to Pharmavite and to their staff who volunteered, to the Head Start Policy Council, to the community partners who came in spite of the weather and shared information with families, and to the members of our ACHR family (both staff and parents) who helped with this event. It would not have happened without ALL of you.
Together you made this event, in spite of time limitations and the weather, fun for children, a learning event for parents, as well as a source of food, vitamins and sundries, and you touched many lives in three counties.
THANK YOU again.