News from Tri-Area

Hello Volunteers and Supporters,

I wanted to share with you the sentiments expressed by a recent first-time client.
I came to Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry today for my parents and as luck would have it, Leslie, whom I know from the Stop Hunger Feed Hope events, handled our sign-up. I felt very uneasy about picking up their food, as you know, but the volunteers put me at ease. Rick, who was in the pantry yesterday when we were there making a donation said hello, and wasn’t I just here yesterday with a big smile! Volunteer Bruce, who I also know from my church was the one who placed the food in my car. Again, another friendly face that made me feel welcomed.
The best part is this:  I packed an incredible amount of food into my wheeled cart to bring up to my parents’ apartment. I explained that I had gone to the food pantry. Still not knowing about food pantries since they have never been in this financial situation before, I try to explain it to them. My Mom must have said ten times – “look at all this food for us”! “We have strawberries, donuts, look at all this chicken in this bag”! My Dad kept asking how much it cost and I said it was free, Dad. Community partners, companies, churches, individuals all donate financially or the food itself.  She cooked up the fresh peppers to make peppers and eggs for my Dad for breakfast tomorrow while I was still there.

I am incredibly grateful for the services TAMFP provides and will continue to support your efforts for those who need it in our community. My group is already talking about what more we can do – having a specific fundraiser for TAMFP, a food drive. If nothing else right now since we still can’t meet in person, continuing to collect egg cartons, plastic bags and toiletries.

It’s a busy time.   In the month of May, we fed 797 families, 2,307 people. Of these, 20 percent are first-time clients. This note exemplifies why we do what we do. And we’re grateful to our volunteers for stepping up to help, day in and day out.
Pantry Improvements.  You’ll see that we have added new gravel around the building, now that our drive-through operation has become routine. In the coming weeks we’ll be adding additional awnings outside the building, to keep food dry and out of the sun as we distribute. And shelving will be installed inside the building so that we can maximize our storage and reduce the amount of movement of donations in and out of the storage sheds.
Special Thanks.  In our note last month thanking those that helped during our renovation, we made an error of omission. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Matt Hale, from Hale Architecture. Matt helped guide us through the process of deciding how we would update our building. He navigated us through the civic approval process and ushered us through selecting a contractor. He skillfully adapted our plans as issues arose and helped us to evaluate and monitor progress. Matt donated a substantial portion of his expertise to the pantry.  Thank you for all you’ve done for us. To say that we couldn’t have done it without you is an understatement.
Sponsorship.   As of June 1, TAMFP has signed on as the sponsor of the Summer Food Service Program in Wake Forest. This program is run by Joy Shillingsburg of St. John’ s Episcopal Church, along with a team of volunteers from several community organizations. The program serves dinners to school age children 3 nights per week. Food is distributed, drive-thru style, at Hope House (N. Allen Rd, Wake Forest) each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Meals for this program, which is subsidized by the State of NC, are purchased from Boston Market. If you’d like additional information about this program, click here to contact Joy Shillingsburg. We’re proud to be able to participate.
We are blessed to have the strong support from our community in this time of need.  Donations are always welcome.  We have drop offs for food donations at various locations in the community. We also accept food donations via our Amazon Wishlist. Monetary donations can be made online.

Together, we #StopHungerFeedHope in our community.

On behalf of our Board of Directors, THANK YOU for your continued support. 

Michael Burger

Board Chair