Friendship House News.

Good things are happening here.

Vol. 2 Issue 10

Year - End Programs Abound

There’s lots happening at Friendship House towards the end of the year. In November, Friendship House provided Thanksgiving meal boxes and fixings to nearly 150 families. Following right on the heels of Thanksgiving came the popular “Santa Sunday” event where kids get to do their Christmas shopping and meet up with Santa.

The Christmas Program registration was opened in early November and over 130 families signed on for assistance for meals and children’s gifts.

In addition to the end-of-year programs, the Food Pantry continues to see a steady stream of new families in need of our help. As food prices have risen and heating costs this time of year have increased, there is a continued and even greater need for food assistance. It’s important to remember that anyone having trouble making ends meet and finding it hard to put food on their table can visit the Food Pantry.

Thanksgiving Meals Provided

It was a chilly Saturday but the volunteers were all out and organized. The Meal boxes were stacked high, turkeys were ready and the lists were double checked. The Food Pantry was able to provide all the fixings for a Thanksgiving Dinner -right down to the napkins - to nearly 150 families.

We extend our thanks to the Gorham Rotary and West Herr Automotive Group for their donation of turkeys!

Important Dates

December is an especially busy month for our team. There are several events and closure dates to keep in mind.

12/10: Last day Thrift Shop open until January

12/21: Christmas Program Pick Up (Food Pantry is Closed)

1/4: Food Pantry re-opens

1/11: Thrift Shop re-opens

Bread Shed will be stocked and open when Pantry is closed.

Santa Sunday was Great!

What’s between Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Well, it’s Santa Sunday of course! Dozens of kids took part this year and had all sorts of fun. The Thrift Shop was turned into a bazaar where kids browsed and shopped for gifts for their families. Elves were on hand as personal shoppers and gift wrappers. After the gifts were chosen and wrapped, everyone stopped by to see Santa. The volunteers just might have had as much fun as the kids! We’re so happy to have had so many kids stop by.

Want to see more? All the pictures are posted on our website.

Volunteers Always Welcome

Did you know that the Thrift Shop and Food Pantry are staffed nearly 100% by volunteers? We are so fortunate to have a great, hard-working team…and we could always use more hands.

From the day-to-day operations to our special programs, there’s always a place for people who share our aim of helping those in need.

Would you like to know more? Visit our website, send us a message, or request a tour. We’d be happy to meet you!

View Pictures

Contact Us

Coat Drive Update

Our friends at Sloth Electric, Inc. in Stanley have once again outdone themselves. They sponsored a Coat Drive for Friendship House and placed donation boxes in the schools, town offices and the Gorham Library. And, the public have responded! Wow. As of now, there have been over 12 bags of coats donated. The coats will be available to those needing them when the Thrift Shop re-opens in January. In addition to managing the Coat Drive, the Sloth Electric team have been a wonderful supporter of Friendship House enabling us to include sweatshirts for kids in our Christmas Gift Bags. A warm thank you goes out to Maureen Sloth and her crew as well as all those who have donated a coat, snow pants or a pair of boots. Your generosity makes a big difference to those in need.
Giving Trees

Every year Friendship House asks local businesses to help in the holiday season by sponsoring a Giving Tree. People who stop by the business can take a tag that describes what is needed and bring back that item and place it under the tree. The donations were collected on December 16th so that they could be included in the gift bags to fulfill Christmas wishes for the families signed up for the Christmas Program. This year the local businesses were absolutely fantastic in promoting the program.
The businesses that participated this year:
Middlesex and Hall Post Offices
Rushville Community Bank
Unique Toy Store
St. Georges Store/Pizza Sangiorgi
Please join us in heartily thanking them and their patrons for their support.
Heating Help

The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) can help eligible New Yorkers heat and cool their homes.
If you are eligible, you may receive one regular HEAP benefit per program year and could also be eligible for emergency HEAP benefits if you are in danger of running out of fuel or having your utility service shut off.
Questions regarding the HEAP program should be directed to your HEAP Local District Contact. You can find the contact information in the December Newsletter email.

Improvements Continue

Improvements and construction continues in and around our building. Anyone having visited Friendship House may have seen the progress. We started by installing gutters along the roofline of the building. A trench has been dug and pipe installed to drain gutters away from the parking area.

A preliminary clean out of the culvert area which caused parking and driveway area flooding last year has been done. More work is planned. The surveyor has been out to stake and map the area. Easement agreements are in the works for the drainage swale.

The parking lot is to be graded, the drainage swale is to be dug and then truckloads of crusher run (gravel) will be brought in once grading is complete.

Many thanks to Dick Savage and Dave Adam for their assistance with the drain pipe installation.

We know the parking lot has been difficult while work is being done and we appreciate your patience. We hope to have grading complete and new stone in by the end of year. Please use caution and care near the construction areas.

Improvements help us to better serve families who rely on Friendship House.

Shown here: Jim Loomis and Dick Savage

It’s a Friendship House Christmas

Final preparations are in the works for the Friendship House Christmas Program and families will pick up their meals and gifts on Wednesday, December 21st.

We have over 130 families signed up to participate. Some folks have requested just a meal and other families have children that are looking forward to Christmas presents. This year there are over 200 children on our list for gifts!

The Food Pantry team has been working diligently to get all the needed food items for the meal boxes and to make sure a great Christmas meal can be enjoyed by all the families. The boxes will be assembled, sorted, and ready for the drive through pick up.

“The community has been amazingly generous with donations” says Cathy Guattery, Thrift Shop Manager. The donations of new toys through the Giving Tree program, donations of goodies, sweatshirts, quilts, and so much more are the key to a great Christmas for so many.

With all the donations and stock items, the volunteers have the task of making it all come together. It’s important to get all the great donations to the families that need them. Based on the child’s wishes and sizes, the volunteers choose the toys and clothing that are the best match. Then, they spend days stuffing stockings, sorting toys and packing everything together so it’s ready for each family.

To those who have supported the Christmas Program through donations big and small, we extend our heartfelt thanks.