Ellen Engel

In a fine finish to its 10th year of collecting food and funds for the Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank in Chandler, and thanks to a late December contribution of 81 pounds of staple foods from the Sun Lakes Jewish Community, in 2017, Reach Out volunteers collected a total of 5,384.5 pounds (well over 2.5 tons!) of staple foods and $5,239 in cash — a very nice response — and somewhat better than 2016’s totals.

So, the goal for our 11th year of service is to exceed what we accomplished in 2017, and last month (January), generous Sun Lakes donors made a great start with 150 pounds of food and $219 in cash donations.

Matthew’s Crossing serves over 600 needy Chandler families, and 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 from 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 for people who cannot make their drop-offs at the regular time(s). Several Sun Lakes religious organizations also contribute regularly.

Reach Out Sun Lakes is 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 Lakes folks who already donate time and effort to this worthy cause.

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