Mt. Union Cares!

Written by: Heidi Bartholomew, Mt. Union Alum, loyal EECM friend, and member of the EECM Young Professionals

Mount Union College National Day of Service -- April 25, 2009

As a graduate of Mount Union College and a member of its Alumni Council, I was thrilled to coordinate the Mount Union College National Day of Service for Mount Union alumni living in the Pittsburgh area. My husband, Tim Brown, has been an active volunteer for East End Cooperative Ministry over the last two years and I hoped to leverage the energy and talent of our local Mount Union alumni for the benefit of EECM.

Our service project was a top-to-bottom cleaning of the EECM soup kitchen and dining area. We assembled a group of 12 dedicated Mount Union alumni who arrived at the soup kitchen bright and early on Saturday morning to begin the deep cleaning. I passed out the official "MUC - Mount Union Cares" t-shirts and we split up the job duties.

The volunteer project included a thorough cleaning of the commercial refrigerators, cooking area, food serving area and dining area. The group used an impressive amount of Mr. Clean, buckets, rags and brillo pads and when the project was finished, the soup kitchen was sparkling clean!

Tim gave an eye-opening overview of the important hunger services delivered by EECM from the kitchen in the basement of East Liberty Presbyterian. Behind the scenes work, like cleaning the soup kitchen and dining area, supports EECM's mission to deliver the highest quality service to the needy in the East End. Volunteering as a group was a great way to connect alumni and we enjoyed discussing ideas for next year's service project. I will be sure to talk to Tracy Hudson, EECM Volunteer Coordinator, about service projects for the 2010 Mount Union College National Day of Service!

Easter Lilies Help the Hungry

Written by: Kate Snyder, Development and Donor Communications Coordinator

The great fundraising ideas just keep coming! Today our thanks and appreciation goes to the members of East Liberty Presbyterian Church.

Lilies are a ubiquitous visual representation of the Easter holiday in most churches -- on Easter morning, sanctuaries overflow with beautiful flowers and the scent is enough to give you a head rush. But this year, ELPC decided to give their members an option: purchase a lily for the Easter worship service or donate a comparable amount to East End Cooperative Ministry's Food Pantry.

The response was terrific! Altogether, the Easter Lily fundraiser raised $2,244.00 for the Pantry. That's enough to provide groceries to 56 hungry families. Wow! Thanks to all the members of ELPC who participated in this terrific project.

A Lenten Fundraiser

Written by: Kate Snyder, Development and Donor Communications Coordinator

The stories from the 2009 Have a Heart for Hunger campaign are still rolling in! Here's a great one from the students of St. Bede School.

This year, the student council at St. Bede decided to host a Lenten fundraiser for East End Cooperative Ministry's Have a Heart for Hunger campaign. The organizers staked out the school cafeteria at lunch-time and encouraged students to donate the money they would have spent on snacks or lunch add-ons to EECM instead!

It was a very appropriate fundraiser for the pre-Easter season, as Lent is supposed to be a time of sacrifice and reflection. Having the students help the hungry instead of buying snacks was the perfect manifestation of that!

The Lenten fundraiser was a big success. The students raised $281.22 (mostly in change!) for EECM's important Hunger Programs.

Hoop It Up 2009

Written by: Kate Snyder, Development and Donor Communications Coordinator

The annual madness of March is slowly ebbing nationwide. Here at EECM we've also wrapped up our annual Hoop It Up basketball tournament and it was, as always, a great success!

Each year, our Children & Youth staff organize and host a youth basketball tournament in March. EECM-coached teams comprised of participants in our after-school youth programs are joined by community teams from a variety of local organizations and schools. This year, there were 20 different teams with students in elementary school through high school.

In addition to promoting exercise and healthy competition, the Hoop It Up program has a "healthy living" component that includes anti-smoking information. At the tournament, there were posters and fliers promoting healthy lifestyles and educating participants on the dangers of smoking.

Thanks to all participants and volunteers!

Super Soap!

Written by: Kate Snyder, Development and Donor Communications Coordinator


Did you know that food stamps don't cover soap? When Ilana -- a thirteen year old attendee of Rodef Shalom Congregation -- learned this fact on a tour of East End Cooperative Ministry, she decided to take action.


Community service is frequently a component to Jewish Bat Mitzvah festivities, and Ilana used her coming of age celebration as an opportunity to help the clients of EECM. She set a goal of collecting 250 bars of soap and advertised her collection at Temple and in her Bat Mitzvah announcements.


The project snowballed wonderfully and Ilana ended up with almost 1,200 bars of soap. She donated 600 to EECM and the other half to the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry. Thanks, Ilana!

Canstruction

Written by: Kate Snyder, Development and Donor Communications Coordinator

The students at Chatham University really know how to make a food drive fun!

As part of their annual Res Life House Olympics, students participated in a "Canstruction" food collection challenge. Students organized a food drive for non-perishable groceries and then used the items collected to build architectural structures (including a model of the Eiffel Tower) as part of a fun competition to raise awareness about the problem of hunger.