OASIS in November/December
Jana Nulik
future of OASIS's relocation and the upcoming opportunities to
volunteer and help serve the mission OASIS aims to achieve in St
Charles County.
First, let me thank all of you who have come and worked with us during
openings, Girl Scout drives and other OASIS events. Your participation
makes it possible for us to imagine moving forward in expanding our
mission, knowing that we have the faithful support of so many people.
Our relocation, originally set for November 1, met with a bit of a
hiccup in the final dealings with the seller, but it still looks very
promising. Please pray for those making the final decisions about
lease terms and legal matters as they go back and forth with counter
offers this week. We have moved our relocate completion date back 1
month and now plan to be serving clients full time in our new home by
January 1.
While the move is a huge upcoming need, we do have more immediate
needs that we are looking for volunteers to fill. (It is a lot of
information! Bear with me . . .)
These include:
Christmas shopping helpers -
Each year our client families are given a voucher along with their
groceries to do some Christmas shopping in the thrift store for
absolutely no cost. Each family member is eligible to receive 5 items
completely free. Given that we serve close to 400 families each month
- you can imagine the magnitude of this project! SENTralized and
Discovery Church are responsible for staffing 2 openings in the thrift
store in December.
Saturday December 8 from 12-2 and again Tuesday December 11 from
7-9pm. Duties will include counting and bagging items, helping clients
shop/holding their bags while they browse and assisting the thrift
store coordinator that evening with any restocking/rearranging that
becomes necessary. We need 8 volunteers for each shift.
Boy Scout Food Drive helpers -
Each year we receive a huge donation from the local Boy Scouts Food
Drive. This is an important drive for us, providing thousands of items
to the pantry. But it is also a lot of work to get everything unloaded
from the trucks, counted and stocked accordingly. We will need
volunteers November 17 starting at 11:30am to help out for a few hours
or as long as you are available.
Drivers and Stockers-
We have a number of volunteers who pick up food from local grocery
stores throughout the week. These pick-ups provide the pantry with
fresh dairy, produce and bread. Our drivers are currently being
overworked as they handle the sorting, loading, unloading and stocking
of all the food by themselves. It is too much for one or two people to
be doing alone, especially as a number of our volunteers are retired
and facing health issues. We are so grateful for all the work our
drivers have been doing, which allows us to receive food at no cost
but fear they will burn out before long if they continue to do as much
as they are.
In addition to some additional drivers/helpers who could ride along
and help with sorting and loading, we need "stockers" to be on
location at the pantry when the drivers arrive with the truck full of
items. The stockers will help to unload and then stock the items on
shelves and into the freezers and refrigerators we have on site.
We have deliveries Monday- Friday, with our greatest need on Fridays
from 11:30-2pm. Do you know anyone who might be able to fill this
need? Please contact me for details.
November Opening-
Our shift this month is Thursday, November 15 from 6:45-9pm. Please
let me know if you will be able to join us!
Thank you so very much for all that you do.
Jana