February 2023 Newsletter
A Willingness To Serve
Make an impact by volunteering, a volunteer spotlight: John and Sara have been volunteering with Hearts for the Homeless® since September. They recently retired and were looking for opportunities to be able to spend their retirement giving back to the community. They found out about Hearts by researching organizations online. After reading our website and signing up online, they started volunteering in our commercial kitchen. Since then, John and Sara have been coming three days per week, volunteering in the kitchen, the Hearts Harvest Food Pantry and the Mobile Soup Kitchen. Praise God for their heart to serve the poor and homeless through Hearts.
John and Sara owned a restaurant in their hometown of Rochester, where they spent a lot of their lives serving and feeding people. After selling their restaurant and retiring, volunteering for Hearts became a natural transition for the two of them to continue feeding and nurturing the community. They often stop at the store on their way to the Hearts Campus and purchase all of the ingredients for the meals being planned that day as another contribution towards Hearts’ ministry.
Whenever asked to help with something or to step in when we are short on volunteers Sara’s response is often, “I just want to be helpful”. Hearts has several programs and different volunteer roles for people to find comfort in what they do. John and Sara do so much and are always willing to work both behind the scenes and on the front line when serving the homeless and those in need. They dedicate a lot of their time as they drive all the way from Rochester to be here three days a week.
If you love cooking, you can volunteer in Hearts’ commercial kitchen. If you enjoy retail, you can volunteer in the Hearts Thrift Store. If you see yourself as a people-person, you can volunteer at one of our food pantries or on the street with our Mobile Soup Kitchen. These are just a few of the volunteer opportunities we have open at Hearts. Within every volunteer role you can find the opportunity to take part in relationship ministry and many times the lives of our volunteers are changed when they least expect it. “My first day volunteering at Hearts Harvest Food Pantry I spoke with a single mother who is raising eight children while also dealing with cancer treatment. Hearing her story moved me to tears and made me realize how important it is to have this service available to them.”, said Sara.
A willingness to serve of any amount is what we are looking for most in our volunteers. Our volunteer opportunities are broken down into two hour increments. Two hours of your time can make a big impact on those we serve. If you haven’t volunteered or it has been sometime since you last did, 2023 can be your year to make an impact! To everyone who has volunteered or is currently serving, thank you.
From Hearts Kitchen
“Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter.” ~Isaiah 58:7
January 2023
Total Clients Served at Library: 685
Male: 504
Female: 174
Seniors: 0
Children: 7
Hot Meals Made for Homeless Shelters: 3,000
Meal Bags Made for Buffalo Dream Center Outreach: 400
Hearts Harvest Food Pantry
Hearts recently received a large donation of produce from Wegmans. The community we serve was very excited for all the options including rare items such as coconuts and dragon fruit.
In January, Hearts Harvest Food Pantry Served 11,160 Meals
Households | Infants | Toddlers | Children | Adults | Seniors | Individuals |
473 | 11 | 67 | 332 | 648 | 182 | 1,240 |
Hearts Harvest Food Pantry offers more than non-perishable, traditional items you may find at a local food pantry. We make fresh foods available by reaching out to local farms, community gardens, as well as seek out food in bulk from local companies in order to bring these fresh items to the food pantry.
Hearts Mobile Food Pantry
We held our first Mobile Food Pantry of 2023 and what a great success it was. In addition to non-perishable foods and toiletries, we also had fresh blueberries, bagels and bread to start the new year with good nutrition.
In January, Hearts Mobile Food Pantry Served 84 Individuals
Households | Infants | Toddlers | Children | Adults | Seniors | Individuals |
50 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 51 | 14 | 84 |
Hearts Mobile Food Pantry is held the fourth Wednesday of the month at the Hearts Campus from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM. There are no zip code restrictions and everyone is welcome.