Crooked Creek Food Pantry says Thank You! to St. Luke’s Volunteers
Record demand continues for CCFP’s services. We have supported over 44,000
family visits in the first 7 months of this year, which is up 25% from last
year. We are on track for another record-breaking year.
A few months ago, CCFP celebrated National Volunteer Appreciation Week,
and we want to say another THANK YOU to our friends at St. Luke’s UMC for
sharing their time and talent. You are an impressive and fun group!
YOUR IMPACT IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE. We always knew it, but thanks to our new(ish) volunteer sign-up
system, now we have the receipts! Between July 2025-April 2026:
- 154 = Number of St. Luke’s Volunteers at CCFP
- 526 = Number of Volunteer Hours from St. Luke’s Volunteers: 526
- $16,332 = Value of Volunteer Time from St. Luke’s Volunteers (based
on data from Independent Sector in collaboration with the Do Good Institute)
- Value of St. Luke’s UMC Volunteers to CCFP = Priceless
Volunteers Make a Difference
We do not want families to make difficult decisions deciding whether
they can pay for housing, medicine, fuel for their car, childcare, or other
day-to-day expenses. This is where our St. Luke’s volunteers shine:
helping our neighbors. One volunteer recently shared this story:
I met Linda last week, standing near the food line crying. I asked what
we could do to help. Linda told me that she used to have a “good job,” but she had
gotten sick and had to retire “early.” Her social worker was helping her, but
her disability checks had stopped coming for some unexplained reason. She
didn’t have any refrigeration in her home, and she had no food. She had a truck
left to her by her dad, and it was the only thing she owned. She was afraid
that she didn’t have enough gas to make it home, so she had parked it. As she
sobbed, she told me how embarrassed she was to ask for help. We sat down
and talked awhile about how everyone has tough times sometimes, and that asking
for help was nothing to be embarrassed about. Then I told her about a time
when I couldn’t afford to buy my son a 25-cent ice cream cone at McDonalds, and
how I made sure to run my errands in a circle so I didn’t waste any gas. She
stopped crying. We got her a cart of food, and even though she only took a few
things—canned meat, canned fruits and vegetables, bread and a little fresh
fruit—you would have thought we had given her a million dollars. Before
she left, she asked if she could hug me. Then she said (with a smile), “I hope
I never have to come back!” And I said, “I hope you don’t either! But you know
you are welcome here, and we will be here to welcome you with a smile.” This
is what it is all about: helping our neighbors.
If you want to be involved in making this kind of impact, there are lots
of opportunities available! We have inside and outside roles that include
bagging produce or meat, assembling grocery carts for neighbors, or processing
food donations. Our biggest needs right now are on Thursday and Friday
afternoons. We welcome and invite new volunteers to visit our website and sign up, enjoy each other’s camaraderie, and make a positive impact
within our community.
On behalf of Linda and other neighbors, thank you!
submitted by Kathy Hahn Keiner, Exec. Director and Barb Graves, Board Member