Ellen Engel
Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank is located in Chandler. Here are some statistics on hunger in Maricopa County. More than 623,300 (16.5%) people live in poverty. Twenty-six percent of those living in poverty are children! Nearly 1,138,000 (29%) are the “working poor.”
We are in the holiday season. Matthew’s Crossing volunteers are getting ready to distribute holiday meals, including a turkey dinner to many of those who cannot provide holiday meals for their families.
We are coming to the end of 2018 in less than two months, and our Reach Out Sun Lakes group of volunteers has collected nearly two tons of food and $4,289.00 in cash for Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank. Congratulations to our dedicated group of volunteers: Howard Lungren, Kathy Downey, Jim Meagher and Paul McNeese.
Our drop-off points in Sun Lakes include SLCC clubhouse whenever the clubhouse is open (box is near the desk for food). The Bridge Club pickup takes place at Risen Savior Lutheran Church on Alma School on the first Monday of the month from 12:30 p.m. to 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.
For the month of November, we have light numbers because we have only three pickups this month before publication deadline. We collected 119.5 pounds of food and $262.00 cash. We have several other collections for the month of November, but they will miss the deadline for publication. For the month of October, we had 741 pounds of food and $332.00 cash.
Reach Out Sun Lakes has been collecting food for Matthew’s Crossing for 10 years. In that time, Sun Lakers have been so generous. For further information about Reach Out Sun Lakes, please call Ellen Engel at 480-802-0425.