Omilami: Don't Forget The Hungry

Dear Cascade Patch:

I am sending this urgent letter to you and all of Hosea's most important supporters!

Now is the time that Hosea Feed The Hungry is needed more than ever. With rising unemployment and people struggling to meet their monthly needs, we must increase our services to the poor and needy to assist the homeless and to prevent homelesness. This increases our cost and now we include tornadoes and disasters as well as help for people who never thought they would be in our lines.

Please visit www.hoseafeedthehungry.com to give a quick credit card donation or send your check or money order to HFTH, P.O. Box 4672, Atlanta 30310.

Any amount will help, really. Many of us have been blessed to be a blessing. Please don't close your ears to the cry of seniors and children in families, the homeless and the needy.

Wholesale food prices rose 3.9 percent in February,the largest increase on record for one month since 1974.  The cost of meat in particular is running high, according to a wholesale price survey by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. At the retail level, that means that the brisket on the Passover table costs 17 percent more this year than it did last year. HFTH must be here for working people. We are needed now more than ever before. We are asking that you increase this your gift by 25% if possible to help cover Hosea's increased costs of providing services to those in need.

Because of the debt crisis in Washington, many of the grants that we normally receive to provide rental assistance have been held up. To make matters worse, we received 412 calls for rental assistance, clothing, housing assistance and food boxes from in one week.  This is twice the number of calls we received during the same period last year. We must raise additional funds to meet the unexpected reduction in funding and the increase in demand.  We are experiencing 28% higher costs to provide food, toiletries, and rental and utility payment services.

We also have seen a reduction in the amount of food that is usually donated for our food pantry, and we have tapped into our reserves to continue to serve 25 families per day. We serve more than 4,000 families each year, not just during the holidays, but every day, all year long at the HFTH Family Care and Crisis Center.  And 450 of these clients spend three months in one-on-one care with a case manager, which includes home visits.

HFTH recently received letter from Governor Deal thanking Hosea for the relief we provided for the storm and tornado survivors in Georgia and in Alabama in April.  The people we saw in Bartow, Tuscaloosa, Raburn and Manchester were so happy to see us.  Guess what they said?  "God must have spoken to you!"

Again, we are asking that you increase your last gift by 25% to help cover the increased need among those we serve and the decreased support from other sources.

The challenge we face in meeting our operating expenses during the summer months is not insurmountable. We can meet the increased need, but only with your help. We are a year-round agency and we need you to give now, especially during the summer months.

Our goal is to raise $200,000 by September 30, 2011.  Please visit www.hoseafeedthehungry.com to give via credit card or send your check or money order to HFTH, P.O. Box 4672, Atlanta 30310. 

We thank you in advance a million times over. We also welcome your attendance at any of our events on the website's  events calendar.  Be a "Hosea Ambassador" yourself. Please call me any time for any reason at (404) 373-5705, option 1.  

I thank God again and again in my prayers for you and ask Him to bless you abundantly for your gifts to His poor and needy.

—Elisabeth Omilami, Hosea Feed The Hungry President & CEO