August Pantry

A Small Hand - Plains District

Open August 16, 2012 5-7 PM

Rader Lutheran Church

Those in need of assistance should bring their WIC and/or SNAP documents along with photo identification. You must also bring your infant.

Our pantry assists families with infants thru toddlers age 2 with age appropriate formula, baby food, diapers and wipes.

We also have gently used clothing available sizes newborn thru 2 T.

For additional information, contact Bev London 540-578-0779 (evenings please) or Meg Clem 540-896-1408.

July Pantry

A Small Hand - Plains District

Open July 19, 2012  5-7 PM

Rader Lutheran Church

Those in need of assistance should bring their WIC and/or SNAP documents along with photo identification.  You must also bring your infant.

Our pantry assists families with infants thru toddlers age 2 with age appropriate formula, baby food, diapers and wipes.

We also have gently used clothing available sizes newborn thru 2 T.

For additional information, contact Bev London 540-578-0779 (evenings please) or Meg Clem 540-896-1408.

My, how times flies . . .

Can you believe seven months have passed since our Pantry opened its doors? (I apologize for not keeping you more up to date these past few months, it just seems time flies by before I know it.  And we have been so busy!)

We have watched the babies we serve grow and it has been wonderful.   We have learned a lot and have lots of other odds and ends to tell you: 

• Our families do not come to us every month.   Some months are better for them than others.  This allows us to stretch our finances just that much farther.  Of the 15 children we served the first night our pantry was open only five came to see us this month.  However, we now have 40 children on our roles.  Six of them came to see us for the first time just this month. 
• Those that come only take what they truly need.  So if anyone was concerned about the Pantry being taken advantage of. . . I think it's safe to say that's not happening.  If they only need diapers and wipes one month, that's all they take.  Diapers and wipes.  Since formula is our single largest expenditure, we breathe a little sigh of relief.  :o )
• We have been able to supply our families with a limited amount of gently used baby clothes, which they, in turn, bring back to us when their baby has outgrown them!  We are in need of clothes for little boys, though.  For some reason we have had very few pieces of clothing for little boys to distribute.  We have a good supply of Newborn - 9 months of clothing for little girls, sizes 12 months and up are a bit sparse for both boys and girls, but especially for boys!  Think of A Small Hand when you're out at the Yard Sales Saturday mornings.   
• We are a community of very caring people.  You have dropped off goodies for us at J & B's Country Store in Broadway, you have held showers for us at your church or organization, you have sent us random checks in the mail with notes of encouragement.  Each one of these gestures does not go unappreciated! 
• A Small Hand (@ Edinburg Christian Church) has allowed us to partner with them to make bulk purchases of diapers, which has saved us huge amounts of money!
• Unfortunately, baby food has jumped more than 13% in a month.  What we bought for 44 cents in November, we're now buying for 50 cents.  It doesn't sound like a lot of money until you start doing the math. 
• Our volunteers!  Where would we be without our volunteers?  We have a dependable force of "regular" volunteers.  This month we had three lovely women join us from BB &T, they were a delight to have with us and dug right in.  (Given this is the time of year some of our regulars need to sneak in a little time away for one reason or another. . .they were a welcome sight.)  Just this past Pantry we had two Moms express a desire to volunteer to help out on a Pantry night or when we're packing diapers.  We are very blessed.   
• Through BB&T's "Lighthouse Project" we were recently gifted a $1000 of infant formula and this week they're hosting a "shower" for us.  We are so pleased they selected us to be one of their projects!   They have volunteers that will be joining us to package diapers next month, too.  When you go into BB&T, feel free to thank them for their support of our community. 
• We are planning another Fund Raising BINGO this fall, so be on the look out for that upcoming announcement.  Not sure where or when, but we know Debbie Miller is hard at work conjuring up a night of fun and fellowship for a good cause for all of us! 

We realize in the grand scheme of things our little community mission is very small.  But when we see those babies every month, we realize our efforts (and yours) are appreciated and helpful.  We thank you for your continued generosity and for coming along with us on our journey, we knew we couldn't do it alone.  (But then again, we never really are alone, are we?)

Bev

PS  I'll promise to try to do better at keeping in touch in the coming weeks and months. 

Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' "

Pantry Open Thursday, June 21st, 2012

A Small Hand - Plains District will be open, Thursday evening, June 21st

Hours 5 - 7 PM

If you did not bring your child, your WIC or SNAP documentation and photo ID in May you must bring them to the next pantry you attend in order to continue to receive assistance.

The pantry serves infants in need in the Plains District of Rockingham County -  

 Broadway area school district

Lacey Spring, John C. Myers, Fulks Run, Plains and Linville-Edom Elementary Schools. We regret, we are unable to help families outside of our service area. 

Diapers and wipes are available for toddlers to age 2!

We are located at Rader Lutheran Church, 17072 Raders Church Road, Timberville

Please call Bev London for directions and/or additional information 578-3658

A Small Hand-Plains District

A Small Hand - Plains District will be open, Thursday evening, February 16th

Hours 5 - 7 PM

Please bring your WIC or SNAP documentation and photo id. 

The pantry serves infants in need in the Plains District of Rockingham County -  

 Broadway area school district

Lacey Spring, John C. Myers, Fulks Run, Plains and Linville-Edom Elementary Schools

Also, we now have diapers and wipes available for toddlers to age 2!

We are located at Rader Lutheran Church, 17072 Raders Church Road, Timberville

Please call Bev London for directions and/or additional information 578-3658

Reflections on "Opening Night"

If ever the uneasiness of an "Opening Night" was felt - we felt it.  Would anyone come to our Pantry?  Had we succeeded in getting the word out?  Would we have what they needed?

The evening of the 17th was a whirlwind.  Clearly a quick two hours.  We served 15 babies and their families that night.  We are thankful that we were able to help these folks out and look forward to doing so again on the 15th of December.   Many of them shared with us how they found themselves in need of our help.  A baby that came a little too early - Mom couldn't go back to work as quickly as the family had anticipated; Dad recently lost his job, Mom's hours at her job were cut; Grandma trying to juggle a few extra mouths to feed. . .clearly circumstances beyond their control.

Regardless of how they found their way to us, we are glad that they did.  We hope that they left us feeling a little less alone and a little more certain they would be able to take care of their little one with a little less stress on their limited family resources.

Several of our babies are on more costly formulas, designed especially to help smaller, pre-mature babies "catch up" to their full-term counterparts.  We are working to find an economical source for these formulas.  Please contact us if you aware of such a source.

We left the church Thursday evening a bit more humbled than when we arrived.  We are so blessed.  We appreciate everything you have done to help us get up and running.  We will appreciate any help you can offer us that will help us maintain this much-needed program for the infants in need in the Plains District of Rockingham County.

At the close of the evening we decided we would do our best to offer these families gently used clothing for their infants.  Several of the Moms had asked if we could use the clothes their little one had already out grown.  It only took a little reflection and one volunteer to head up the clothing exchange to make it a "go".  .  .we really are blessed with some great volunteers!

If you know of a family in need residing in the Plains District of Rockingham County (Broadway Area School District) please ask them to contact us prior to the 15th of December to ensure that we have the correct formula in stock for their baby.  This is not a requirement to receive our services, it just makes it a little easier for us to be prepared.   Bev London can be reached at 578-3658 or via email: ashpd.bev@gmail.com.

Opening THIS EVENING!

Our infant pantry will be open this evening from 5 - 7 PM.
Rader Lutheran Church  17072 Raders Church Road, Timberville, VA

We would like to thank everyone that has helped get us to this point, we could not have gotten here without YOU.  We are tweaking some of our paperwork for this evening (the paperwork just seems to keep coming) and hope that our families will have patience with us as we get our feet under us.

Our shelves are pretty well stocked.  Well, that is at least until we see how many families come to see us.  We made a sizeable purchase of formula and baby food this week.  We have in excess of 500 jars of baby food stocked on our shelves!  Between that and formula our check book has taken a hit amounting to $841.08 - we do not have an abundance of formula on hand, and won't until we know what our babies need. 

We have Similac, Enfamil & Parents Choice formulas on hand, with some Isomil (soy) and Similac Sensitive formulas, too.  Neo-sure for a special little girl that decided to arrive a bit early.  We are excited to meet our babies and their families.  Tonight, we will learn their names and see their chubby little cheeks for the first time.  We are excited!

We sincerely thank Edinburg Christian Church for gifting us our first pallet of diapers--those 5011 diapers will help us serve 100+ babies.   Also, would be remiss if we didn't also thank Tracey Veney for her donation of baby wipes and Mt. Grove Church for their generous donation of $500, what a pleasant surprise.  We will use the money wisely to serve our community's babies. 

We ask for your continued good thoughts as we forge ahead with our mission to help serve the little ones in need in our community. 

In the coming weeks we will provide even more information on this site - we've just been busy getting our seemingly endless "to do" list taken care of, thank you for your patience. 

Bev London
Chairman-A Small Hand-Plains District