Back to School with LINK – Time to Get Organized

Some people treat January 1st as a time to get organized. I’m one of those people who love to get organized in September. Summer is a time for a slower-paced lifestyle, but September is all about marching bands, football games, big yellow school buses, and organization.

Habakkuk wrote in Habakkuk 2:2 “And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.” Habakkuk’s name means to “embrace” or “wrestle.” He wrestled with a difficult issue - If God is good, then why is there evil in the world? And if there has to be evil, then why do the evil prosper? What is God doing in the world?

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “God doesn’t always change the circumstances, but He can change us to meet the circumstances.” Sometimes we don’t understand why things happen, but we can change the way we do things or the way we respond – whether that is to get organized or to get involved in volunteer activities. LINK is the perfect place to get involved – as an individual, a group or a family!

Here are some highlights from August –

·         Herndon NJROTC donated 3 boxes of food. The cadets went door to door in a "trial neighborhood" and averaged a can per house.

·         2nd Annual Sweeney Lemonade Stand for LINK collected over $300 in their 3 day effort. Two of their neighbors were so supportive that they donated fresh baked goods to pass out with the lemonade.

·         Required Service Hours = Bonus Help for LINK – we are thrilled when people come to LINK with service hour needs. Volunteers this month helped clean the freezers and refrigerators. They also helped sort and shelve food collected by St. Joseph Catholic Church that came into the pantry.

·         Panera donations - an employee at Panera dropped off bakery goods each Friday.

·         Girls Scout Troop 2318 continued to drop off fresh produce from its garden. 

·         Holy Cross Lutheran collected food for LINK this month, as they do alternate months. 

·         Dranesville and Herndon Elementary contributed food from its summer school program.

·         Dr. Ronald and Mrs (Artelia) Fleming donated money and food for LINK.

·         Harris Teeter donated grocery bags to help with the Day to Serve events that will be taking place from September 15 – 29th.

·         Girl Scout Troop 5719 donated cookies to LINK.

·         Aldrin ES Faculty & Staff donated two large boxes decorated and filled with fruit as a part of their efforts to give back to the community during the school year.

Holiday Program Volunteers – We will begin the process of registering clients for our Holiday Programs and need volunteers, especially interpreters (Spanish). Registration will take place on Oct. 4th (5 – 7 pm) and Oct. 5th (10 am – 12 pm) at two locations – Trinity Presbyterian (Herndon) and Christ the Redeemer (Sterling). We will need about 12 volunteers at both locations. You can sign up through this link.  Our holiday program held on November 16 and December 14 and we will need hundreds of volunteers. You can sign up for these through these links – November 16 or December 14.

LINK Donations.  LINK is totally dependent upon donations of food and funds so that volunteers can provide daily emergency food assistance, the November and December holiday food, and some emergency financial assistance in the Herndon, Sterling, and Ashburn communities.  An easy way to support LINK is via the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC).  Federal employees who wish to make pledges or one time gifts through payroll deduction can do that by using 78589, the donor designation code for LINK.  Alternatively contributors can use 9648 for donations through United Way campaigns.  Checks marked for LINK can also be mailed to LINK at P.O. Box 443, Sterling, VA 20167.  Online donations are accepted by Network for Good.

Top Food Needs to Fill Empty Shelves – Here is a list of our top needs for the LINK pantry - 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.  Did you know that LINK loves to receive the small hotel size toiletry items?

LINK Needs Food Drives/Used Winter Clothing Drives/Toy Drives – We are looking for community-minded businesses who would support us by hosting one or more of the following: Non-perishable Food Drive, New Toy Drive, or Gently Used Coat/Winter Clothing Drive. LINK is looking to grow its local business partnerships and needs the help of business professionals to do so.  If you, or someone you know, is willing to be the contact person for your business, please let us know.  Our business liaison will be happy to contact you to discuss how you can help. Contact – Carrie Sawicki at businessliaison@linkagainsthunger.org.

Mobile Food Pantry – We continue to hand out 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 handed out more than 93,000 pounds of food to more than 2400 families or 11,800 individuals. We have photos on our Facebook page – click here.

LINK Volunteer Lists Online – if you would like to see all of the lists where we have ongoing needs, click here.

http://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=c.SignUpSearch&eid=00CACADAF4CF&cs=09C3BAAE8FBC8B147B0B6471