It's Thursday, 16 November. TOMORROW we start the real work of this drive. Saturday is a big assembly day, and Monday is the big delivery day.
The big news, though, is that people who want to make donations online can now do so. At long last, I am set up on VENMO, Venmo is owned by PayPal. People routinely use it to move money around.
And if you don't know what the heck I am talking about, don't worry. All the other traditional channels of donation are still available. Donations to me via Venmo are deposited into a special account at my bank.
Thanks for all your help --
P
It's Monday, 6 November. A scant TWO WEEKS FROM NOW we will be bring holiday joy to over 1100 families. It has become an Alvernia tradition to embrace this drive. It seems like time to give you the updates list of all the ways you can help. If you are moved to support this effort, please comment below or send an email reply to this post by highlighting the way or ways you choose to help. Boldface it, or type your name in front of what you want to do, or highlight it in yellow. If you want to print it off and reply on paper, just find a way to get it to me. Don't forget to put your name on it!
| YOUR NAME and cell# |
Pick ALL the choices that work for you - we need all of these! We can't do it all, but if everybody does a little, it all gets done.
I. If you want to GIVE us stuff, we need
____ 15-pound frozen turkey(s). You can bring it anytime and take it right to Aladdin. They will store it for us.
____ cans of veggies or boxed foods. Bring them to my office (BUSCOM 6) or take them to the warehouse at 951 Morgantown Road
____ Money! Hoo boy, do we need money! Cash works; checks need to be made out to Alvernia University (Memo Turkey Drive). We even take credit cards! (Talk to me)
____ Grocery Gift Cards in any amount. Way more useful than you might think!
II. if you want to WORK to help, how about these?
____ Help make hand-made Christmas cards for the veterans for the Red Cross (we need 300 of them, but not till early December)
____ Help fill 500 candy bags Friday afternoon, 17 November at 3:00 in the lobby of Bernardine Hall
____ Meet us at the Kenhorst Aldi at 8:30 AM Saturday, 18 Nov, to load the canned goods into the truck
____ Join us at the warehouse at 951 Morgantown Road at 9:30 AM to help unload the truck, then fill 225 food boxes.
____ Join us at 6:00 AM (yes, 6:00 AM) Monday, 20 November at the Exeter WalMart to help load 700-plus turkeys into the truck
____ Join us at the warehouse at 8:00 AM Monday, 20 November to unload about 100 turkeys from the truck and finish packing the boxes
____ Join us at the warehouse at 10:30 AM Monday, 20 November to unload the fresh items from the farm truck and fill the 225 food boxes.
____ Join us at Kennedy House at 9:30 AM Monday, 20 November to unload 500 turkeys and help bag them ***There's a shuttle!""
____ Join us at Kennedy House at 11:00 AM Monday, 20 November to help hand out the turkeys to the patrons (till about 12:30) ***There's a shuttle!***
____ NEW THIS YEAR! Join us at Saint Margaret's School from 1:00 to 3:00 PM Monday, 20 November to help give out turkeys and food boxes to families and finish unloading the truck
Feel free to select -- and do -- more than one. And lavish thank in advance --
xox, P
Polly E. Mathys
Who would have thought, back in 1988, that we would now be giving turkeys to over a thousand families! Last year, in 2016, we touched 1023 households. Time to rest on our laurels?
Absolutely not! There never seems to be less need. The school which last year received 100 turkeys and food boxes needs 185 this year. We need to take 500 turkeys to Kennedy House, 60 to the Bethel AME Church, 30 to Christ Church's SPARKS program, 25 to Olivet Boys and Girls Club, and about 300 to the Red Cross, We also give turkeys to the YMCA, Safe Berks, and the USO, plus a few individuals. You see the size of the problem.
And Thanksgiving is almost the earliest it can possibly happen, so time is short! Here is what we need:
- Turkeys. Frozen, maybe 15 pounds (although we do have need of some really big ones too). You can being them to Aladdin Food Service any time. They graciously allow us to store them in their freezer.
- Non-perishables. We fill about 250 food boxes. We don't need them until Saturday, 18 November, but we can store them if you need us to do so.
- Money! Last year's drive cost almost $18,000. Cash is always welcome, checks should be made out to Alvernia University (Put "Turkey Drive" in the memo line). Credit cards also work. Contact me about that.
- Grocery gift cards. We love them, and we know who needs them. WalMart cards work well too.
- Sweat, labor, any kind of help.
- Want to meet the truck at Aldi's about 9 am on Saturday, 18 Nov? We will be packing about $4000 worth of groceries in our truck.
- Then, about 10 am on that Saturday, we will be unpacking that truck at the Alvernia warehouse and packing food boxes.Want to meet us at the warehouse
- Monday, 20 Nov: 8 am, we will be finishing packing the non-perishables. We will also be back at Aldi picking up the perishables: butter, eggs, bread, that kind of stuff.
- Same day - about 9:30 at the warehouse, topping off the food boxes with the perishables.
- Shifting to Kennedy House in Reading, about 9:30 am, we will be unloading 500 turkeys.
- Kennedy House - at 11:00, we start handing the turkeys and candy bags out to the recipients. It takes about 90 minutes.
- About 11:00 at the warehouse, load up the truck with 185 food boxes and turkeys. After that, deliver them to Saint Margaret's school. The school staff will give them out to the families.
So ... what's a helper to do? Does any of that sound like something you would like to be a part of?
Here's my contact information:
Polly Mathys
Alvernia University
400 St. Bernardine Street
Reading, PA 19607
484-366-3246 voice or text
polly.mathys@alvernia.edu
Money donations (cash or checks) can also go directly to
Gwynne Kolodziejski, Director of Student Accounts
400 Saint Bernardine Street
Reading, PA 19607
610-796-8325
gwynne.kolodziejski@alvernia.edu
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Peace and all good,
Polly Mathys
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