Locations: Cornerstone Foundation Soup kitchen, South Park Inn, Saint Elizabeth House & Friendship Center, Community Garden (576 Zion St)

This weekend we were able to get help with our very first shelter run volunteer! We are very pleased to say that we have Deanna who will be helping us with the weekly shelter run pick-up from the Panera in Manchester. We are really grateful that she has volunteered. Coming soon we will be looking into more locations willing to donate. If you know if any please let us know.

Friday Afternoon 08/27/21:

This Friday was a bit different than usual. We had to prepare for two events this weekend. 1) Our weekly shelter run and 2) the Hartford Really Really Free Market. We split into two teams. Deanna, as our volunteer, would actually go and pick up the donations from Panera and help us distribute the items. Due to a covid case near the Soup Kitchen, we were unable to share the goods received from Panera with them, but we made other arrangements. This week the donations were to be split among the two shelters Hartford.

We took this opportunity, as we were getting ready for the event on Sunday, to share the pallet of dry goods we received from the Peace Center. We were able to take the pallet and distribute those goods to 3 places. The transportation vehicle was decided that it would be Ashlei’s Car.

As soon as 5:30 pm came around it was time to load up the car and met at the Peace Center. We ended up loading the car with the dry goods portions that belonged to the Cornerstone Soup Kitchen and Saint Elizabeth’s House and Friendship Center. All was finished by 7 pm and we were ready for the next day. Deanna was also ready and was able to pick up 2 bags of bread and 6 smaller boxes of pastries that were to be split evenly between the shelters.

Saturday 08/28/21:

Deanna was great and by 11 am had dropped off the donations to both locations. We were really thankful for her help as this weekend was a packed one for us.

As for the dry goods, Abby and Ashlei met at the Cornerstone Soup Kitchen to make sure the drop-off was finished. It was also a nice surprise to have help from Abby’s son Jon and her granddaughter Alex. Although the soup kitchen was closed to the public we had made arrangements to only drop off the donated goods at 10 am on Saturday Morning. We were able to deliver 24 boxes of dry goods, which were 556 items. We are glad we are able to help even in a small way. As we were chatting they let us know of a couple of other needed items that not many think about, and we will keep a lookout for them as well.

Now the second drop-off: the Saint Elizabeth’s House and Friendship Center. This drop-off was a lot faster as the car was on the lighter side and we were able to borrow a cart to go from the car to inside. They were very surprised and thankful for the donation. We were able to take 26 boxes of dry goods, which were 604 items. We will continue to help them gather items as they have a goal of opening a pantry for the public. Once more information becomes available we will share it as well.

Both drop-offs were done by 11 am as well and we were ready to reconvene at 2 pm to pick up the items for Sunday.

Once 2 pm came around, we met at the Peace Center to gather the other donation pile into Ashlei’s car. Once we were done with this pile we said goodbye in order to meet the next day.

Sunday 08/29/21:

For this event, we had Lili who volunteered to help us. Ashlei picked her up at 9:30 am and was ready to start at the set-up time which was 10 am. Abby was also able to make it for 2 hours as she had been called into work and was unable to stay longer. This was actually really fun and it was great to be able to have dry goods to share with any who needed them. There were many people who came by not only to take items but to give items. We met many people and were able to share some great stories as well. Through this event, we were able to share 15 boxes of dry goods, which were 308 items. Some were placed in the pantry that they have for locals to take if needed once the event was over.

For this event, we also gathered other items donated to us. They ranged from shampoo, toothpaste, body wash, eye drops, and even detergent. For the next event, if we can, we would love to donate and share more items. When another event like this happens we will make sure to share it with you all.

Now we still have about 15 boxes of dry goods, but we decided to share them with the local food pantries we had received the locations of. We shall arrange this and let you know how it comes together in the next blog.

Until then,

Stay Safe! Stay H.O.P.E.F.U.L!

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