Thank you for supporting SHARE

Friday, January 20, 2012

To the Editor:

The holidays are a time to reconnect with old friends, spend time with family and enjoy some needed down time. For those of us who work at SHARE, the last six weeks have been a time to restock and recharge – courtesy of so many wonderful community members. The holidays are especially busy as we continue SHARE’s core mission of providing much needed food, clothing and assistance for necessities such as housing, heat, medicine and transportation; in addition to ensuring happy holidays for our clients who spend much of the year in need. This holiday season, SHARE assisted 400 families. The staff could never do this alone.

We are grateful for the local families, individuals, schools, book groups, civic organizations, churches and businesses who adopted SHARE families, generously providing gifts for children and their parents. We are grateful for the businesses that sponsored SHARE trees, and to their loyal patrons, who took stars, bought the requested gifts and returned them to SHARE, which distributed them to client families. We are grateful to the countless donors who provided financial donation to SHARE’s holiday program, including cash and gift cards. These contributions support our food baskets and gifts for teens and seniors.

We are grateful for the many food drives that have stocked our pantry and will sustain us for the next few months. From local grocery stores to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to churches to holiday parties to businesses who act as collection sites to individuals who buy, gather, and deliver food to us – thank you.

We are grateful to the schools and parents of children who are teaching them about caring for neighbors in need. Getting students to participate in drives for food, hats, mittens, jackets and more are simple ways to show them how to be part of a community that takes care of those who have less.

We are grateful to community members, churches, civic groups, businesses and local foundations that support us throughout the year with gifts of food, clothing and cash. Without continuous donations, we cannot provide for the many in need. To those who come to SHARE weekly with bags of groceries, thank you. To those who drop groceries and more into barrels at local stores, thank you. To those who drop change in one of the donation jars at local stores, thank you. To churches, businesses and schools that provide a way for people to help, thank you.

We are grateful for our wonderful volunteers who give so generously of their time all year, but are asked for so much more during the holidays. During a time of year when everyone is busy with their own families, these folks give as much time as is needed to make sure SHARE is prepped for its work. They, and SHARE’s staff, take seriously, the task entrusted to us by our community. We know that we are simply the conduit for some of the many good works of the Souhegan Valley.

CHRISTINE JANSON

Executive Director, SHARE Outreach