Stamp Out Hunger Community Efforts

The National Association of Letter Carriers food drive takes place this Saturday, 5/11. Steps have already been taken in our community to kick-off the food drive.

Memorial Hospital in South Bend is challenging employees to raise 1000 pounds of food to kick off the food drive, St. Anthony de Pauda School is working to raise a goal of a pound per student (or 300+ pounds), and South Bend school students have been reminding parents, families, and neighbors to participate in the food drive this Saturday.

United Way of St. Joseph County appreciates these partners and the community's efforts to help fill local pantries, and is confident these efforts will help in reaching the NALC's goal of 200,000 pounds.

You can help end hunger in our community by participating in the Stamp Out Hunger food drive. For more information, click here.

Notre Dame Senior - Changing Lives for the Better

Notre Dame Senior, Andy Boes, is changing lives for the better, whether he is in South Bend or Peru.

From ND Works, Sept 2011, Gene Stowe

“One of the needs is these non-food necessity items,” Boes says.  “The food pantries are starting to distribute things like that.  I was made aware of this need for non-food items.”

 And a recycling initiative started with the Morris Inn and quickly spread to surrounding hotels. Andy convinced the Morris to donate their personal care item waste.  While interning with United Way of St. Joseph County during the spring of 2011 Andy came up with the idea.  He returned as a volunteer in the fall of 2012 and stayed committed to United Way and the soap recycling throughout his senior year of 2013.  Andy continues to support and promote the personal care item reclamation today. Click here to read about Andy's soap and shampoo recycling program.

 Housekeeping staff salvage gently used items in containers and contact Andy for pick up.  Then Boes collects the items, drops them off at United Way, separates the products after which they are distributed through the People Gotta Eat food pantry network. This program works alongside United Way’s initiative People Gotta Eat. PGE is a cooperative effort between more than 16 of the county’s food pantries to address food insecurity through collaboration and coordinated fundraising efforts. The various food pantries have direct access to clients that have utilized the toiletries and PGE works as the distributors of the products raised by the program.  The process has reclaimed over a ton of product from the landfill and put the soaps and shampoos into the hands of those most in need.

 Andy graduates Notre Dame this year with his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics and a minor in Community Service.  The next chapter of Andy’s life includes service in the Peace Corp.

 Andy believes the tenant that “charity is at the heart of the Church.” This program relates to each of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching.  Part of Notre Dame’s stated mission is to “cultivate in its students…a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice, and oppression that burdens the lives of so many.”  Andy embodies this mission, regardless of whether it is here in St. Joseph County, back home in Washington State or for the next few years in Peru.

2013 VITA Results

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program served 2,210 taxpayers from January 23 through April 15. VITA IRS-certified volunteers filed 4,404 taxes for individuals in St. Joseph, Elkhart, LaPorte, Marshall & Kosciusko Counties.

50.2% of the tax returns filed were federal returns, and 49.8% were state returns. Most taxpayers requested their forms to be e-filed. By going through VITA, tax refund dollars were able to go back directly to working families. 

The largest proportion of taxpayers was served at the United Way of St. Joseph County site (22.5%), followed by the Elkhart Public Library (16%) and the Salvation Army-Elkhart (10.1%) sites.

A big thank you goes out to our great community partner, 1st Source Bank, for proudly sponsoring the Pro$perity Building Campaign, which makes services like VITA possible.

It's never too early to start thinking about becoming a VITA volunteer! The more volunteers, the more people we can help in our community! Click here for more information about becoming a VITA volunteer.