Volunteer Helps MLK Center Secure $5,000 Grant for Food Pantry

One of the vital things the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Newport does for needy families on Aquidenck Island is offer critical food and personal care items through its food pantry, daily breakfast program, family dinners, holiday meal baskets and senior lunches.

In 2014, the food pantry distributed a whopping 179,000 meals.

To accomplish this, the organization relies on donations, grants and support from a group of determined volunteers who realize that progress only occurs when we care for poorest and hungriest among us.

One such volunteer, Portsmouth resident Kathleen Taddei, has been putting in time at the MLK Community Center since 2012. She’s worked for the center’s Food 2 Friends program, helping to get it off the ground during its inaugural year in 2012, and given time at each of the center’s Santa Workshops in 2013 and 2014.

Today, the folks at the MLK Center are singing Taddei’s praises even louder now that she’s helped deliver a $5,000 infusion to support the center’s hunger relief programs.

The money has come in the form of a grant by her employer, Wells Fargo, which claims to have a corporate philosophy of giving back to the community and supporting employee volunteer efforts.

And with the $5,000 grant, it sure looks like the company is putting their money where their mouth is. And it’s a big help with so many mouths to feed.

“As a volunteer with the MLK Community Center, I am thrilled that Wells Fargo is supporting this organization,” Taddei, a vice president in Wells Fargo’s corporate trust division, said. “I am proud to work for a company that helps address our communities’ most critical needs such as providing food and personal care items for homebound elderly residents unable to afford items or visit the center on their own. I am thankful to be able to donate my time as well through Wells Fargo’s volunteer service time program which encourages team members to use up to 16 hours a year of paid time off to support a community nonprofit of their choice.”

Marilyn Warren, the center’s executive director, said in a statement they everyone is proud to be a Wells Fargo grant recipient.

“This funding will really help the MLK help our clients move from hunger to health,” she said.

The MLK Center has served the community and has been evolving with its changing needs since 1922. For more information, visit www.mlkcenter.org or call 401-846-4828.