-
Can you imagine being a single parent and being used to making and paying for supper and snacks Monday through Friday, and 3 meals a day plus snacks on Saturday and Sunday for your 4 children, and then summer comes and you have an extra 10 meals to make? They go from providing 11 meals x 4 children - 44 meals, to providing 21 meals x 4 children - 84 meals! That is 40 extra meals!
We are dedicated to working with several other agencies to provide a nutritious box of food per week to families in need of help in feeding their children over the summer months. We have 3 weeks of menus planned by registered dietician Jennifer McFarland from the Carmel School System. The Merciful HELP Center's team Jayne Slaton, Steven and Janet Wichmanowski, and Susan McRoberts along with Carmel Youth Assistance, Orchard Park Presbyterian, St. Christopher Episcopealan, and Carmel Rotary Club have all agreed upon these menus and to hold a high standard of nutrition all summer for the sake of the children who we are helping!
Join us in helping us provide for the children! We will collect food at Kroger on Saturday, (Date coming soon) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Rangeline Road and the 106th and Michigan Rd. Krogers for all 3 Carmel food box building sites, of which the Merciful HELP Center is one!
Carmel Rotary Club members come and deliver the boxes of food from the Merciful HELP Center to the families that have no transportation.
Carmel Youth Assistance, a program that provides mentors to children in need of guidance in life, takes in the donations to assist us in paying for this program. We donate $5,000 to this summer mission and Carmel Youth Assistance reimburses us the rest, which is approximately $20,000 beyond the in-kind donations we work to obtain. THANK YOU, CARMEL YOUTH ASSISTANCE, and Maggie Figgie!
The Carmel Clay Public Library does food collections for us throughout the summer months and this is the ONLY way we make it through the summer, if it wasn't for Carmel Clay Public Library's, (Liz Hamilton) ongoing food donations, the donation from Pack the Cruiser at Kroger and school collections from Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Pre-School, the program would cost us DOUBLE what is stated above! $40,000, so YOUR DONATIONS MATTER!
The Schedule is as follows throughout the summer months: (Chairperson to assist is next to event)
Thursday Fresh Goods Ordering - Jayne Slaton
Tuesday Fresh Goods Pick Up - Jayne Slaton/Julie Washlock/Justin Beariult
Next Wednesday Packing - Steven and Janet Wichmanowski and Susan McRoberts
Fresh Goods Packing for the week - Steven and Janet Wichmanowski and Susan McRoberts
Delivery of boxes - Peter Primason and Sue Westermeier