The Catholic Herald has a great story about Circle of Friends, which brings together local residents to help support families in need with food, gifts and other items every month.
Check out the story here. From it:
With the goal of keeping the program anonymous and simple, Loper, the Circle of Friends coordinator, set up clusters of 10-14 individuals. Currently, more than 70 members comprise seven clusters. Each month, members donate between $10-$20, or whatever they can manage, as well as some non-perishable items. Of those funds, $150 is used to purchase gift cards for grocery stores and the remainder is in cash.
Although a spreadsheet is passed out to each member giving them a non-perishable item to purchase for the month, members are generous and often provide far more than asked. Some months, Loper finds bags of fresh fruit, vegetables and cheese at her door in addition to the requested items. Once the donations are collected at the cluster leader’s home, the items are either picked up or delivered to the family.
My wife, Sarah, and I are happy to be a part of one Circle of Friends. We joined a group more than a year ago at the suggestion of South Milwaukee Alderwoman Lisa Pieper, and we’re happy to do our part to help others in need through this effort.
I’d ask that you consider joining a Circle as well. Contact information is in the article.
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