Above image: Long and Foster serves at the Mobile Food Pantry
Summer is full swing and that means that our doors are open and things are getting busy!
Healthy Families:
Our summer services are a tremendous source of support for families. Food budgets are stretched thin due to children needing additional meals (in place of breakfast and lunch at school). Air conditioning becomes a health and safety necessity for all ages as the temperature climbs, which means utility bills climb as well.
Morgan Stanley serves at the Mobile Food Pantry
Our June Mobile Food Pantry served a 2018 record 621 individuals—at our downtown office location alone! We are thankful to have had two corporate groups serving (Morgan Stanley and Long and Foster each brought crews from the Williamsburg offices), plus our Veritas Preparatory School students. Our volunteers unloaded fresh produce, meats, and dry goods, set up the “market,” and assisted shoppers.
Mercy Housing and Harbor Day Shelter for the Homeless:
Last month our Harbor Day Shelter for the Homeless served 41 guests, including four new people, for a total of 202 visits in May. This brings our total number served by the Harbor to 334 unique guests. If you have been following our numbers, you may have noticed that this was a slight decrease. That’s because last month we moved six homeless individuals into stable housing! Thanks to your generosity, Mercy Housing is able to counsel, financially assist, and journey with people as they make commitments to a strong and healthy future.
Join our mission!
- Please serve our families by donating a children’s book (board books and easy readers are most requested) for our summer reading collection! As we see more families this summer, we love to send the children home with a book to keep!
- We have 3 clients (a working mother of 5 and two couples) who need your donated vehicle to get to work. Their new housing locations are either outside of the public transportation routes, or the buses do not run after hours.
- Please consider adding a few Food Pantry or toiletry items to your grocery list (especially canned meats, pastas, mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly and anything family-friendly and shelf-stable).
- Your second collection donation on July 8th is the main source of funding for our services!
