Dear Lanterman Community,
Every year during the holidays we raise money for the Help Fund, which we then use throughout the coming year to assist clients and families with basic needs that cannot be met through other resources.
As you can imagine, the last several weeks have seen an unprecedented request for help from many of our families who have experienced layoffs and furloughs with the most basic of needs – groceries.
Only several weeks into this crisis, we have accessed much of the funds available in the Help Fund, way more than we expected, and we only anticipate it will become greater as the shutdown continues.
We are sharing food pantry information, and other community food resources with families, but are finding that most of these resources are beyond their capacity and not able to meet the greatly increased demand. As our service coordinators are checking in with families, this is the one need that our most vulnerable families ask for help with – food. Whenever possible, families are being provided with a local grocery store gift card, however, in cases where the family is not able to leave their home, staff from the Koch-Young Resource Center have facilitated home delivery of food.
All of us have been affected in numerous ways by the pandemic, albeit some even more than others, but we’re humbly asking for those among the Lanterman community that are able to, to contribute whatever amount they can to the Help Fund. So when families ask for help, we will have the funds to say YES.
The Lanterman community has always come together to take care of its own and my hope is that once again we will be able to collectively weather this storm.
I hope that you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe and remembering that brighter days are ahead.
With much appreciation and gratitude,
Melinda Sullivan
Executive Director
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