Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. This time of the year brings me back to my childhood in Puerto Rico. The Macy's parade was playing on the TV while my mom and my grandma were cooking a delicious meal in the kitchen involving rice and beans, pernil, and lots of adobo seasoning. The mouth-watering aroma of the food cooking since early in the morning was delicious torture all day. To keep myself busy I would play around with my siblings and cousins, driving the adults a little mad (oh well, we were just kids).
Now, as an adult, I get to host my own Thanksgiving dinner at home and cook with my mother while my daughter plays around with her aunts and uncles, and we are listening in the background to the Macy's parade on TV. History repeats itself. But not for everyone...
This Thanksgiving, there will be children in our community that will not have a warm family Thanksgiving dinner at the table. Food costs continue to rise, and wages are flat or just enough to make ends meet.
I ask for your generosity in helping bring Thanksgiving dinner to them. Please consider a $25, $50, or even a $100 donation today to help families and children at Christina's House and the Gray House in Springfield. If you are unable to donate money, or if you wish to go above and beyond, consider donating food. There is a list I have included in our November bulletin of items that can be donated to the Gray House.
Together we can make this Thanksgiving memorable for families in our community. Thank you in advance for your donation.
families, women, and children at Christina's House and the Gray House
Any donation will help! A $50 donation for example, will help purchase a full Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 4 at Christina's House. You can make your donation online via PayPal OR bring a check to our next Rotary meeting. Our President, Samalid Hogan, has volunteered to purchase Gift cards and personally deliver them to Christina's House. About Christina's House: Many women and their children in the Springfield area go without housing daily. They have no place to call home and no place to feel safe. The lives of these mothers and their little ones are forever changed by their circumstances; their nutrition suffers putting them at risk for health concerns, and their psychological health is often damaged. The voices of these families called out to us for help.
We are also doing a FOOD DRIVE for the Gray House and collecting Thanksgiving food items such as: Frozen turkeys, Gravy, Cranberry sauce, Stuffing or rice, Pink, red, or black beans, Cake mix & frosting, Pie crust & pie filling, and Grocery gift cards. Our Rotary President, Maurice Powe, has volunteered to bring your donations to the Gray House after the Rotary meetings.
*** BRING YOUR FOOD DONATIONS TO A ROTARY MEETING ***
About the Gray House: The Gray House helps its neighbors meet their immediate needs and addresses the root causes of poverty by operating a food assistance program, adult education programs and after school and summer youth programming. Over 7,000 unique individuals are helped by these programs each year.
We would love to have you visit our club and learn more about Rotary and what we do in our community and around the world. Rotary is where neighbors, friends, and problem-solvers share ideas, join leaders, and take action to create lasting change.
***
Nos encantaría que visitaras nuestro club y obtuvieras más información sobre Rotary y lo que hacemos en nuestra comunidad y en todo el mundo. Rotary es el lugar donde vecinos, amigos y solucionadores de problemas comparten ideas, se unen a líderes y toman medidas para crear un cambio duradero.
.png)
