NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS STAMP OUT HUNGER FOOD DRIVE
The NALC National Food Drive (Stamp Out Hunger) is Saturday, May 10! Stamp Out Hunger is a nationwide, single-day food and fund drive that provides local residents with opportunities to help their neighbors facing hunger.
Watch your mail for more information on how your community is celebrating Stamp Out Hunger and how you can help share food locally on May 10!
If you're in Columbia and want to take part in this event, you can donate non-perishable food items or volunteer to help collect or sort through food donations on the day of!
Mobile Food Pantry
In cooperation with the Food Bank for Central Missouri, Outside the Walls volunteers staff a monthly mobile food pantry to provide groceries to approximately 200 families each month. Mobile pantries are specially equipped trucks that distribute non-perishable goods, fresh produce, and frozen meat to locations without brick-and-mortar pantries. The mobile pantry takes place on the third Tuesday of each month from 3:30–5:30. Volunteers are needed beginning at 2:45 to direct traffic, register participants, count and package food items, and load food into vehicles. This is a great opportunity to bring along a friend to serve with you and build relationships with other volunteers.
Join us Tuesday, May 20, from 2:45 to 5:30 p.m. to serve at the mobile food pantry at the Elks Lodge, 4747 E Elks Drive, Columbia, MO. This is a great opportunity to serve our neighbors outside the walls of the church. Would you consider joining us and put it on your calendar?
Please contact Sherry Neff if you have questions.
LOAVES AND FISHES SOUP KITCHEN
Woodcrest serves dinner at Loaves and Fishes on the fifth Saturday of the month at the Ashley Street Center. Woodcrest volunteers prepare and serve a meal from 3:00-6:00 PM, which is open for anyone in the community. Some advance prep work is done in the Woodcrest kitchen the Friday before the event.
We plan to serve next on May 31, 2025.
Please contact Sherry Neff for more information.
CITY OF REFUGE
City of Refuge is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to help refugees and immigrants recover and regain control of their lives. They provide Basic Need Programs, Counseling Services, and Professional Development Opportunities for those in our community. Their goal is to equip those arriving in our community with the materials they need, as well as deeper friendships they can count on as they navigate a new life in the United States.
Woodcrest is exploring volunteer opportunities, which may include sorting and displaying donated items, assisting with childcare during English classes, teaching a craft, acting as a receptionist for a few hours, or serving as an English buddy for a family. You can also drop off clean, gently used clothing and household items at the former bank drive-through area at 10 N. Garth Ave. and provide support by shopping at City Boutique, which is a thrift store for extra donated items and carries items made by refugee women to financially support their families.
Learn more here: https://cityofrefugecolumbia.org/get-involved/volunteer/