What Can Be Done
“Life's most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” –Martin Luther King, Jr.
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By Jeremy Swiger
The faces of hunger are ever changing. No longer is it just the homeless person living under the overpass that is visiting our distribution centers. More and more frequently we are seeing families, couples, or people who are working hard just to keep their head above water. Often these people are working full time or multiple jobs just trying to make ends meet. No one needs a reminder that times are still stressful in this economy. Even with some increases in job availability and wages, some in our community are still sitting below the poverty line. So the question is "what can we do?" On a day that we celebrate a man who taught us the true meaning of sacrificing for the good of others, this question comes to mind. What can we do? The answer is simple, whatever it takes.
If you are able to donate food or a monetary gift, they are always appreciated. We are a can in/can out food bank. What comes in is immediately sorted, and picked up by our agencies to be distributed quickly to those who need it. Monetary donations are used to purchase more food to be sent out to the agencies. Because of the way that the York County Food Bank purchases food, we are able to make each dollar stretch further then someone stopping at the grocery store.
Times are tight, and not everyone feels able to donate. There are plenty of ways to get involved. Volunteerism is always an option, and is vital for us to complete our mission of feeding York County. We accept volunteers from 9 AM to 3 PM, Monday through Friday. As an article in the York Dispatch this morning noted, we will be open today for anyone wanting to volunteer. We will also be open this coming Saturday, January 22nd, from 9 AM to 1 PM. This Saturday we will be making Senior boxes to be sent out to local senior centers and distribution agencies. Starting at 9 AM we will be working to get all 676 boxes done, and we always appreciate help.
If you are unable to personally donate or volunteer, there are still plenty of other ways to help. Food drives can be held at any point through out the year. You can hold one at your work, church, or social group. Some people even host annual parties, asking for a food donation instead of gifts. For more information on how to hold a food drive, click on the "Host a Food Drive" link at the top of the page.
We've even created opportunities for you to get involved while doing every day activities. If you do a lot of web searching or online shopping visit www.GoodSearch.com. Every time you do a search half of the profit the website receives from that search gets sent to us. They also give certain deals and discounts for many popular online venders, and note how much of your order will be donated to the York County Food Bank from anything you purchase. Not a fan of online shopping? You can help just by purchasing your weekly groceries. By purchasing Giant Grocery Store gift cards from the York County Food Bank at face value, you automatically donate 5% of the purchase price to the food bank. Those gift cards can be used to buy groceries, gas, or other gift cards for stores that you visit regularly.
It's easy to forget just how lucky we are to be blessed with what we have. Let us have one more blessing. Let us be able to go to sleep tonight knowing that we did whatever we could to make our community better for one more day. By bettering our community we better ourselves, and offer the gift of a positive future for our children. Now isn't that a New Year's Resolution we can keep?
For more information on how to get involved call 717-846-6435 ext 104, or visit us at 254 West Princess Street
To read the article from the York Dispatch click here
