Clubs & Classes, March 2017

Food donations for Matthew’s Crossing already exceed a half ton in 2017

Ellen Engel

We are off to a great start in our 10th year of collecting food and funds for the Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank in Chandler. Food donations to Reach Out Sun Lakes (ROSL) from generous Sun Lakes residents have already exceeded a half-ton, and the February collections are still coming in as we reach the newspaper deadline for this edition.

ROSL volunteers collected 489.5 pounds in January and 439.5 pound during the first round of early February pickups, for a total of 929 pounds. In addition, cash donations delivered another $631 of purchasing power to the local food bank that serves over 600 needy Chandler-area families.

Any Sun Lakes resident may contribute at established pickup points sponsored by the Sun Lakes Duplicate Bridge Club and the Sun Lakes Democratic Club. Membership in these clubs is not a criterion. In fact, many individual donors show up at these club-sponsored pickups from all over Sun Lakes.

The Bridge Club pickup takes place at the Risen Savior Lutheran Church on Alma School Road on the first Monday of each month, 12:30—1:20 p.m.; and the Sun Lakes Democratic Club accepts contributions on the second Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Sun Lakes Country Club (SLCC).

For those who cannot make it to the formal pickup locations at specific times, a collection point is also open during normal business hours at the SLCC clubhouse. Several Sun Lakes religious organizations also contribute regularly. Among them are the Sun Lakes Jewish Community and Unity of Sun Lakes.

We invite you to join us; we are still actively seeking additional volunteers to spend several hours a month helping to handle the collections at our donation locations and assisting with other tasks related to deliveries to the food bank, program bookkeeping, etc.

The food bank itself, located at 1368 Arizona Avenue in Chandler, also needs volunteers on a regular basis. If interested, please call 480-857-2296 and join the many Sun Lakers who already donate time and effort to this worthy cause.

For information, to arrange for your organization’s support of this worthwhile program or to volunteer as a collector, please contact Ellen Engel at 480-802-0425 or send an email to  [email protected].