The Government Shuttered, but LINK is Kicking into Overdrive!

Lisa Lombardozzi
LINK President
www.linkagainsthunger.org

The Federal Government may still be shut down, but the Kingdom of God continues to be at work.

The Federal Government may still be shut down, but the Kingdom of God continues to be at work in our lives and He encourages us not be wasteful. It is written in John 6:12 (NIV) - When they had all had enough to eat, Jesus said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."  Take this time to share what you have with those who are struggling – it may be time, talents or treasure.  LINK has many ways that you can share with others.

In September, we would like to recognize these individuals/groups/businesses that helped LINK –

LINK had a Woman’s Group who prepared cooked food such as casseroles and rich dishes for families.

Christ the Redeemer Youth Group spent time helping organize food in the basement of one of our churches where LINK stores its food.

Circadian Realty Group, Generosity Feeds, and hundreds of volunteers gathered at a school to package soup mixes for thousands of families. LINK received more than 7,500 packets of soup.

Iron Bow Technologies of Chantilly VA collected food that was leftover from lunches provided by outside vendors and donated it to LINK.

Sterling Middle School collected food for LINK just prior to the opening of school.

Peanut Butter Run, Chantilly LDS Ward, Chantilly Youth Soccer and St. Veronica’s Catholic Church collected peanut butter and food for LINK during the Day to Serve event. Thousands of pounds of food and peanut butter were collected, in addition to almost $1,000. This came at an important time for LINK, as the shelves were quite empty.

Sterling Park Ward of the LDS Church chose to replace rotten trim on the LINK pantry and paint during the Day to Serve. They also had groups building signs for the LINK Holiday Program.

Christ the Redeemer Couples for Christ helped move food from the storage basement to the pantry to replenish holes on the shelves. The youngest volunteer was just 2 years old!

Cross Current Ministries did a food drive and diaper drive for LINK and collected two car loads of items.

Did you know there are just 40 days until the LINK Thanksgiving Holiday Program? On November 16th, LINK will distribute food, gently used winter coats/clothing and grocery gift cards to more than 800 families. We cannot do this without hundreds of volunteers and hundreds of thousands of pounds of food.

Saturday, November 9th area Boy Scouts will collect food in neighborhoods through the Scouting for Food program.  This is the source of 65% of LINK’s food for Thanksgiving. The other 35% is received from individuals, schools, groups and businesses.

Planning a food/coat drive is simple and an effective way to get everyone involved in giving back to the community in which we all live and work. Contact us today to find out how you can help!! You can sign up to work through these links – November 16 or December 14.

LINK’s Top Ten Needs - Jelly, soup, canned tuna, canned meat, boxed rice/pasta side dishes, canned fruit, tomato products including pasta sauce, packaged potato products, bagged dry beans, and toiletries. 

Mobile Food Pantry – We continue to distribute food donated by the Capital Area Food Bank and LINK to families on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 2:30 pm – 5 pm in the rear parking lot of Christ the Redeemer Church. Since we started, we have delivered approximately 93,000 pounds of food to more than 2,400 families or 11,800 individuals.