Tuesday, February 27, 2007
How to Have a Heart #3
Written by: Emily Huck, Volunteer Coordinator
There are a number of ways to get involved with Have a Heart for Hunger. Of course, as the Volunteer Coordinator, I am biased and would say “COME and SERVE!” I have the joy of placing volunteers in our hunger programs. Everyday I am struck by the number of people who we are able to serve, and the fact that we could not do it without the hundreds of willing people who give of their time and energy to those in need.
Whether you have one, two or five hours – can come once a year, once a month, or once a week – we have a place for you. Without a doubt, your efforts will make a difference in the lives of the vulnerable population of the East End.
Each day we use volunteers for Meals on Wheels, the Soup Kitchen, and Food Pantry; not to mention the groups that provide and serve dinner at our Men’s Emergency Shelter every night of the year. Within each of these programs we could use your help – check out the volunteer opportunities on the EECM webpage.
Do you have a heart for hunger? Contact Emily (412.361.5549 ext. 403 or emilyh@eecm.org) or click here to volunteer!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Have a Heart Showcase Part 2
East End Cooperative Ministry has a new partner in our campaign to Have a Heart for Hunger – Starbucks East Side!
Between now and March 31st, Starbucks East Side (5932 Penn Circle South) will be collecting non-perishable food items for the EECM Food Pantry. As an incentive to encourage participation by their patrons, they will provide a free tall hot beverage (tea or coffee) to everyone who brings in donations!
Stop into Starbucks East Side today and support EECM while you’re at it!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Freedom House Part 2
Written by Mr. Aims Coney, EECM Meals on Wheels volunteer
In the late 1960’s, two current EECM volunteers, Phil Hallen and Aims Coney, were among the half dozen founders of the Freedom House Ambulance Service, which introduced caring and professional emergency medical transportation to the Hill District. Freedom House recruited and trained approximately 50 unemployed and marginally employed Hill District residents, mostly young, in advanced emergency techniques new to the United States. It was an extraordinary partnership between the Chief of Anesthesiology at Presbyterian Hospital and inner-city activists concerned about the socially and economically deprived—the kind of endeavor with EECM initiates in its neighborhoods.
It was Phil, then Director of the Falk Medical Fund, who conceived the combination and convinced the leaders of Freedom House and pioneering anesthesiologist Peter Safar to launch the program. Aims, then a young lawyer, developed the funding, consisting largely of foundation and government grants, and arranged the governance and operational plans. Numerous others took part as volunteer.
In the early 1970’s, the territory served by the Freedom House technicians expanded into downtown, Oakland and Shadyside. But the program ended abruptly in 1975, when the City created its own city-wide emergency transportation system, choosing not to work with Freedom House or with Dr. Safar.
In the late 1960’s, two current EECM volunteers, Phil Hallen and Aims Coney, were among the half dozen founders of the Freedom House Ambulance Service, which introduced caring and professional emergency medical transportation to the Hill District. Freedom House recruited and trained approximately 50 unemployed and marginally employed Hill District residents, mostly young, in advanced emergency techniques new to the United States. It was an extraordinary partnership between the Chief of Anesthesiology at Presbyterian Hospital and inner-city activists concerned about the socially and economically deprived—the kind of endeavor with EECM initiates in its neighborhoods.
It was Phil, then Director of the Falk Medical Fund, who conceived the combination and convinced the leaders of Freedom House and pioneering anesthesiologist Peter Safar to launch the program. Aims, then a young lawyer, developed the funding, consisting largely of foundation and government grants, and arranged the governance and operational plans. Numerous others took part as volunteer.
In the early 1970’s, the territory served by the Freedom House technicians expanded into downtown, Oakland and Shadyside. But the program ended abruptly in 1975, when the City created its own city-wide emergency transportation system, choosing not to work with Freedom House or with Dr. Safar.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Freedom House
Written by: Phil Hallen, Vice-President, EECM Board of Directors
TWO EECM REGULARS HONORED FOR PIONEERING WORK IN EMERGENCY CARE
Phil Hallen, an EECM Board member and Aims Coney, a regular Meals on Wheels volunteer were honored at a University of Pittsburgh premier screening of a documentary about Freedom House Ambulance Service, a history-making medical program in Pittsburgh's Hill District and the national model for EMS systems nationwide.
In 1965 Phil, President Emeritus of The Falk Foundation, who had worked his way through college as an ambulance attendant, conceived the idea of an ambulance service to meet the needs of Hill District residents suffering from massive discrimination and neglect in their health care. He enlisted Freedom House Enterprises, a Hill District job training program, and Dr. Peter Safar, Chief of Anesthesiology at Pitt (known internationally as the "father of CPR"), to create a program which provided career training for 40 Hill District residents in emergency medical care. These men and women became the national model as the most extensively trained, hospital-based, paramedics in the nation and set standards still in place today.
Aims Coney, a respected Kirkpatrick and Lockhart attorney with a long history of involvement in social justice issues, became a founding board member and remained a steadfast worker, and advocate throughout the history of Freedom House Ambulance. His contribution was one of expertise, commitment, and longevity.
In 1975, the City of Pittsburgh began its own EMS system, eliminating Freedom House. But its legacy, is not only Pittsburgh's present system--one of the nation's finest--but international recognition as the seed bed of training, design and management for every EMS service in the country. And its place in the history of Black Pittsburgh is now fully on view through this new documentary film.
TWO EECM REGULARS HONORED FOR PIONEERING WORK IN EMERGENCY CARE
Phil Hallen, an EECM Board member and Aims Coney, a regular Meals on Wheels volunteer were honored at a University of Pittsburgh premier screening of a documentary about Freedom House Ambulance Service, a history-making medical program in Pittsburgh's Hill District and the national model for EMS systems nationwide.
In 1965 Phil, President Emeritus of The Falk Foundation, who had worked his way through college as an ambulance attendant, conceived the idea of an ambulance service to meet the needs of Hill District residents suffering from massive discrimination and neglect in their health care. He enlisted Freedom House Enterprises, a Hill District job training program, and Dr. Peter Safar, Chief of Anesthesiology at Pitt (known internationally as the "father of CPR"), to create a program which provided career training for 40 Hill District residents in emergency medical care. These men and women became the national model as the most extensively trained, hospital-based, paramedics in the nation and set standards still in place today.
Aims Coney, a respected Kirkpatrick and Lockhart attorney with a long history of involvement in social justice issues, became a founding board member and remained a steadfast worker, and advocate throughout the history of Freedom House Ambulance. His contribution was one of expertise, commitment, and longevity.
In 1975, the City of Pittsburgh began its own EMS system, eliminating Freedom House. But its legacy, is not only Pittsburgh's present system--one of the nation's finest--but international recognition as the seed bed of training, design and management for every EMS service in the country. And its place in the history of Black Pittsburgh is now fully on view through this new documentary film.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Reflections on Hunger
Written by: Suzan Krauland, Community Relations Director
Wednesday - the first day of the Have a Heart for Hunger campaign, you'll recall, was extremely cold and snowy. I went to pick up the Whole Foods daily contribution because my all-wheel drive Element can hold a lot and go just about anywhere. We weren’t sure the vans could get through.
We got back to the Food Pantry with bread, pastries, apples, eggs, oranges, berries, milk, canned goods, and much more and began unloading the groceries onto a cart. Just as some of the Soup Kitchen diners were leaving the building, a bag of unwrapped sandwiches toppled off the cart, spilling its contents onto the snow-covered sidewalk. Two gentle men came by and each picked up a sandwich, asked if it was okay to take it, and continued down the sidewalk, eating their second lunch.
My friends, that's hunger in the East End.
Wednesday - the first day of the Have a Heart for Hunger campaign, you'll recall, was extremely cold and snowy. I went to pick up the Whole Foods daily contribution because my all-wheel drive Element can hold a lot and go just about anywhere. We weren’t sure the vans could get through.
We got back to the Food Pantry with bread, pastries, apples, eggs, oranges, berries, milk, canned goods, and much more and began unloading the groceries onto a cart. Just as some of the Soup Kitchen diners were leaving the building, a bag of unwrapped sandwiches toppled off the cart, spilling its contents onto the snow-covered sidewalk. Two gentle men came by and each picked up a sandwich, asked if it was okay to take it, and continued down the sidewalk, eating their second lunch.
My friends, that's hunger in the East End.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
How To Have a Heart #2
How to Have a Heart for Hunger
#2 Make a Donation to EECM
This one is pretty obvious, but it bears repeating. Making a contribution is the most immediate and effective way for you to show your concern about the devastating problem of hunger and to show your support for East End Cooperative Ministry.
This year, during the Have a Heart for Hunger campaign, an anonymous donor will match all gifts up to $30,000, enabling your contribution to go twice as far! EECM relies heavily on the generosity of individuals to fund our vital Hunger Programs. Please consider making a donation today.
How do you make a contribution? It’s easy!
1 – Send a check made payable to East End Cooperative Ministry to:
250 N. Highland Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Be sure to write “Have a Heart for Hunger” in the memo line!
2 – Donate online via our Charity Badge. Follow the link or locate our charity badge at the top right of the main page of the blog. Your donation will be made through Network for Good, a secure and respected non-profit giving portal.
3 – Donate by phone. If you’re not comfortable making a donation online, feel free to call us (412-361-5549 ext. 415) with your credit card information.
Thank you in advance for your support!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Have a Heart Showcase Part 1
Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant
This is the first of several postings showcasing how EECM friends and supporters are Having a Heart for Hunger.
If you happened to be traveling through Shadyside/East
Liberty on Sunday afternoon, you would have seen an unusual sight – more than 1,000 individuals trekking along Highland Avenue, brightly bundled against the cold, chatting amicably, and toting plastic grocery bags. No, there wasn’t an unbeatable sale on frozen pizzas at Giant Eagle. It was the 17th annual Love Walk for the Poor in action.
The Love Walk is an annual event of the Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Catholic Dioceses of Pittsburgh. Each year, youth groups and young adult programs from Catho
lic parishes around Pittsburgh join together to celebrate mass and participate in the charity walk. Mass is held at Sacred Heart Parish on Shady Ave. and then the participants hike one mile through the heart of Shadyside to the East End Cooperative Ministry Food Pantry (located in East Liberty Presbyterian Church.) And they don’t walk empty-handed – these kids go further. They carry bags of nonperishable food items to donate to the pantry; the act of carrying their donation in the dead of winter allows them to experience in a small way what it would be like to be homeless and to carry all your belongings with you, no matter the weather.
The Love Walk is the single largest food drive that benefits EECM – we received nearly 1,000 pounds of food this year.
Thank you, Love Walk participants, for Having a Heart for Hunger!
This is the first of several postings showcasing how EECM friends and supporters are Having a Heart for Hunger.
If you happened to be traveling through Shadyside/East
Liberty on Sunday afternoon, you would have seen an unusual sight – more than 1,000 individuals trekking along Highland Avenue, brightly bundled against the cold, chatting amicably, and toting plastic grocery bags. No, there wasn’t an unbeatable sale on frozen pizzas at Giant Eagle. It was the 17th annual Love Walk for the Poor in action.The Love Walk is an annual event of the Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Catholic Dioceses of Pittsburgh. Each year, youth groups and young adult programs from Catho
lic parishes around Pittsburgh join together to celebrate mass and participate in the charity walk. Mass is held at Sacred Heart Parish on Shady Ave. and then the participants hike one mile through the heart of Shadyside to the East End Cooperative Ministry Food Pantry (located in East Liberty Presbyterian Church.) And they don’t walk empty-handed – these kids go further. They carry bags of nonperishable food items to donate to the pantry; the act of carrying their donation in the dead of winter allows them to experience in a small way what it would be like to be homeless and to carry all your belongings with you, no matter the weather.The Love Walk is the single largest food drive that benefits EECM – we received nearly 1,000 pounds of food this year.
Thank you, Love Walk participants, for Having a Heart for Hunger!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
How to Have a Heart #1
Don’t know--or don’t like--your neighbors? This is a fantastic opportunity to get to know the strangers living next door or to reassess your opinion of that weird family with the irritating dog across the street. After all, if they’re willing to donate food to the less fortunate, how bad can they be?
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Have a Heart
Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant
February 14th is just around the corner and while I personally
confess to being rather fond of the arrow-wielding cherub and all his entourage, that date has a different significance here at EECM. The 14th of February is the kickoff to our annual Have a Heart for Hunger Campaign.
What’s that, you say? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Each year, between February 14th and March 30th, we invite our fellow Pittsburghers to take an active role in the fight against hunger. During that month and a half, our member congregations take up special offerings, community and religious groups hold food drives or participate in charity walks, and everyone works to raise awareness about the devastating effects of hunger on the most vulnerable and underserved members of our community.
The need is great. Between the men in our homeless shelter, the individuals who come through for soup at lunch time, and our elderly Meals on Wheels clients, we provide meals to more than 200 people each day. Our Food Pantry has the unfortunate distinction of being the busiest in Allegheny County, providing emergency groceries to more than 450 families each month. These are all individuals for whom the phrase “I’m starving” isn’t just a hackneyed cliché, unthinkingly repeated into insignificance, but a very frightening and very real possibility.
Over the next weeks, we’ll be featuring blog articles highlighting how you can get involved in the Have a Heart for Hunger Campaign and showcasing the efforts of our friends and supporters as they fight with us to ensure that all the residents of the East End have food on their tables and hope in their lives.
February 14th is just around the corner and while I personally
confess to being rather fond of the arrow-wielding cherub and all his entourage, that date has a different significance here at EECM. The 14th of February is the kickoff to our annual Have a Heart for Hunger Campaign.What’s that, you say? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Each year, between February 14th and March 30th, we invite our fellow Pittsburghers to take an active role in the fight against hunger. During that month and a half, our member congregations take up special offerings, community and religious groups hold food drives or participate in charity walks, and everyone works to raise awareness about the devastating effects of hunger on the most vulnerable and underserved members of our community.
The need is great. Between the men in our homeless shelter, the individuals who come through for soup at lunch time, and our elderly Meals on Wheels clients, we provide meals to more than 200 people each day. Our Food Pantry has the unfortunate distinction of being the busiest in Allegheny County, providing emergency groceries to more than 450 families each month. These are all individuals for whom the phrase “I’m starving” isn’t just a hackneyed cliché, unthinkingly repeated into insignificance, but a very frightening and very real possibility.
Over the next weeks, we’ll be featuring blog articles highlighting how you can get involved in the Have a Heart for Hunger Campaign and showcasing the efforts of our friends and supporters as they fight with us to ensure that all the residents of the East End have food on their tables and hope in their lives.
Friday, February 2, 2007
A Whole Lotta Food
Each week-day morning, a van arrives at the EECM Food Pantry full of groceries. There are bags of loaf bread, muffins and bagels, boxes of vegetables and fruit, and cases of canned goods and non-perishables.The origin of the van is Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods is one of EECM’s most loyal supporters, providing hundreds of pounds of food to our Pantry every week. How much is a Whole Lotta Food? Well, to give you a sense of the numbers, in the month of December, Whole Foods donated the following:
25 boxes* of apples
31 bags* of bagels
23 bags of bakery items
37 boxes of bananas
1 box of bulk foods
3 boxes of canned goods
1 case of cereal
2 boxes of cucumbers
18 boxes of overstock items
1 box of lemons
208 bags of loaf bread
1 box of melons
97 boxes of mixed fruit and vegetables
61 bags of muffins
3 boxes of oranges
1 box of peaches
4 boxes of peppers
23 boxes of potatoes
57 boxes of prepared foods
45 boxes of salads
22 boxes of sandwiches
8 boxes of snacks
3 boxes of soups
1 case of bottled water
That’s 352 boxes and 323 bags of groceries. Purchasing that quantity of food would cost the Pantry over $20,000. And that’s just for December.
The icing on the cake is that the food we get from Whole Foods is Good Food. Interesting food. Organic food. Healthy food. We can offer our clients organic bananas and whole-grain bread. Fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement the canned goods we receive from other sources. It’s wonderful and we are grateful every day to have Whole Food Market as a committed partner in our ministry.
* Note: whenever you see the word “box” or “bag” you should in your mind preface it with extravagant adjectives like “huge” or “really really big” or “impressively large”. We’re not talking shoe-boxes and sandwich bags, here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
