The Rotary Club of Kenmore Helps Hearts Continue Mission
Since 1924, The Rotary Club of Kenmore has been serving the community with great pride as their motto is Service Above Self. They seek to improve the communities we live in. The club, along with their Kenmore Rotary Foundation, has generously supported organizations throughout the community year after year.
In December of 2022, Hearts for the Homeless® was selected to receive a grant from the Kenmore Rotary Charities and Kenmore Rotary Foundation. This grant will help us continue our mission in helping the local community by feeding the poor and homeless. Grant funds will allow for the purchase of a meat slicer for our Commercial Kitchen and freezers for our new Food Pantry Express program.
With the rising costs of food, Hearts has been wanting to slice meats and cheese rather than continue to purchase pre-sliced products as a way to reduce cost and provide opportunities to serve more meals. As we continue to steward the donations we receive, having a meat slicer for our Commercial Kitchen will help our dollars go further to serve more meals to more people in need. Our meals are served to thousands of individuals through our Mobile Soup Kitchen serving Downtown Buffalo five nights a week, 52 weeks per year and through our partnerships with local homeless shelters across the region seven days a week. The impact of a simple meat slicer will last for years to come.
As of right now, our efforts to feed the homeless and those in need are within the borders of Buffalo. Hearts will soon be launching a new program, Food Pantry Express. This bus will bring a mobile food pantry to neighborhoods outside of the city of Buffalo. Grant funds will assist Hearts in purchasing one cooler and one freezer for the bus, allowing Hearts to distribute a variety of foods. This donation will benefit men, women and children who are chronically poor, homeless and facing food insecurity. One of the site locations is located at First Church of the Nazarene on Kenmore Ave. This neighborhood is currently facing a gap in service because either food pantries do not exist or those in need can not reach them due to lack of transportation. A second location will be held in the Cleveland-Hill area, at the Christ United Methodist Church.
To share in a philosophy of service, there is a great deal of hope for the future. Together, Hearts for the Homeless® and The Rotary Club of Kenmore are seeking to improve our communities one meal at a time.
To serve is to care for more than just ourselves. –Philippians 2 ESV
