Got the end-of-summer doldrums? Need a change of pace, maybe stepping up to a little challenge for some feelgood points? We might have just the ticket for you! Announcement by Miriam Wilch of Serve Spot Lakewood.
Volunteer in Lakewood!On September 23, Serve Spot Lakewood is hosting the first Love Lakewood Day, a city-wide day volunteer day. Serve Spot partnered with the city, schools, and other organizations to engage the community in service. This year, there are project sites at schools, nonprofits, parks, and a church.
Volunteers will be packing food, picking up litter, painting, delivering food, and more from 9am to noon! Go to servespotlakewood.com for more information or sign up here.
Serve Spot Lakewood is a nonprofit organization created to strengthen collaboration and leverage resources between three coalitions started by the mayor: the Lakewood Faith Coalition, the Lakewood Service Club Coalition, and the Coalition to End Hunger in Lakewood.
Thursday, September 21, 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM — Chili Cook-off and Car Show at Carmody Middle School. The PTSA sponsors this annual event to create connections and build community. Money raised at this event supports students and staff throughout the year with school supplies, after school activities, and more. Have fun with food, games and giveaways! Game and raffle prizes include Airpods, Hoverboard, Squishmallow, PRIME Drinks, Takis, and gift cards to our favorite neighborhood hangout, Magill’s World of Ice Cream!
The Chili Cook-Off: Got a killer recipe that you want to show off? Four categories: Best Red, White, Green, and People’s Choice. It can be meat, vegetarian, or vegan. Entry fee $10. To enter the Cook-Off as a chili chef, Click here. To sample all the fabulous chili recipes at Carmody as a chili lover, Go there!
The Car Show: Come show off all the things that make your beloved car special and unique: the interior modifications, paint and body work, or engine bay that sets your vehicle apart from the rest. Entry $15. For the entry form to put your classic car, cool car, race car, truck, or motorcycle in the show, Click here.
Here’s all the information for attending the event. Admission is free, but as a school supporter of course you can make a donation. You can buy a wristband to play games for big prizes, sample all the chilis for free, and There’s something for everybody! You don’t have to be a chili chef but it helps if you’re a chili lover, and we’re sure you’ll love being a supporter of our Carmody Middle School! Even if you’re not up to sampling ALL those chili recipes, there will be food trucks there too.
PTSA needs your help! Lots of ways to get involved: Supply Shoppers, Donation Seekers, Day-of-Event Helpers, etc. Sign up to help with planning and coordination, and/or sign up to help at the event. Email [email protected].
Too many people have to answer that question and it’s a tough one. Today’s guest writer is calling out for help. Joy’s Kitchen is located in our Southern Gables neighborhood, at Wadsworth & Woodard. The mission of Joy’s is to feed 6,000 families per month with rescued, nutritious food, while building a strong sense of community and inspiring change towards a sustainable future. That’s a lot to do, and it just got harder.
A personal appeal by Kathy Stanley, Founder and Director of Joy’s Kitchen
From My Heart to Yours,
We are in a critical need for funding. Every day we gather, we set intentions, we recover food that would be slated for waste and we distribute that food to those in need.
As many of you know, when the government decreased SNAP benefits, we immediately had an overwhelming increase in guest needs. Joy’s has risen once again to the challenges of feeding the people with an increased food recovery schedule. This has meant we needed to almost double our working hours, volunteerism and staff as of March 2023. We also have seen a decrease in giving as our need has increased, making it challenging to maintain our existing structures.
We have supported the hardest hit populations through these increasing needs by being funded 100% through community for community now for over 11 years. To maintain this project in that integrity, we need IMMEDIATE support.
Right now we have less than 4 weeks left of secured operational support. We need to secure funding through this calendar year to get back into focus of outreach rather than fundraising to do what we do best, FEED THE PEOPLE TOGETHER.
If everyone that sees this donates $5-$20 a month , we can bring JOY together.
You can donate easily through our website and set a recurring payment up there or share this link to all of your social groups and support immediate joy.
Joy’s is recovering upwards of 5000 pounds daily Monday-Saturday and feeding over 5000 a month: groceries for a week or more. That’s about 20,000 folks that are needing joy through what we are able to flow through us. This costs us about $11,000 a month of operational expenses with a bare minimum staff of 2 full time employees, 3 part time employees, equipment, building and operational expenses.
Here is the link to directly donate and set up a recurring payment: joyskitchen.org/donate
We are asking our bringers to become Sharers of Joy and forward this solid ask to 3-5 people you know want to support Joy. You can copy and send them this link: Pay Rent or Buy Food?
Together we are so strong and we can continue to bring hope through caring for this earth and her resources. Together we can and will save the food and love the people.
You are valued, loved and appreciated. We have proven for the last 11 years that we can come together, hand in hand and bring forward a new way to care for this earth and people by creating a system of nutrition that feeds all, not only with food.
