October Wrap-Up
Urgent needs
In the first six months of 2023, we have served 21,840 meals to our residents and 1,687 food boxes through our Community Assistance program. That’s about nine families visiting Hope Harbor for food boxes once a day from January to June.
Hope Harbor is an essential source of meals and our community's basic needs. Unfortunately, our food pantries have run critically low for the last few weeks.
We urgently ask you to please donate non-expired and unopened food pantry items.
Please donate canned veggies, meat, fruit, and soup; mac and cheese; pasta; pasta sauce; applesauce; crackers; cereal; beans; rice; peanut butter; jelly; salad dressing; and other non-perishable foods.
Other URGENT Needs:
Hygiene Needs:
Diapers (sizes 4-7)
Baby wipes
Men; women; and children’s deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash
Razors and shaving cream
Travel size hygiene items and travel size dental items
Pads (for regular and medium flows) and tampons (for all types of flows/sizes).
Misc. Needs:
Adult and children medicine for pain, stomach ache, anti-acids, cold/fever, allergy, etc.
Men’s winter gloves, hats, and scarves
Paper towels
Facial tissues
Towels
Sippy cups
Socks
Donations can be dropped off at our Service Center at 615 W 1st Street, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. If you wish to make a donation outside of our business hours, please call our Direct Care Shelter staff at (308) 383-4634 to schedule a drop off.
You can also support Hope Harbor with monetary donations. Thank you!
Events Recap
Week Without Violence: October 16-21
We are so grateful to each and every person who joined us to raise awareness and stand against gendered domestic violence during Week Without Violence!
On Monday, we held a group painting fundraising event at Arts & Drafts. We enjoyed a charcuterie spread and drinks. We all painted an art piece that represented the colors of our organizations, orange for YWCA, green for Willow Rising, and yellow and blue for Hope Harbor. In the center, we painted a purple flower to represent domestic violence awareness. We also painted the word “empower” for all the victims and survivors of domestic violence. During the painting, we presented about our organizations and what we can offer to those experiencing the trauma from domestic violence. We also had a survivor speak on her experience. Once our paintings were dry, we moved on to the auction portion of the night. We auctioned off four amazing art pieces and surpassed our goal!
We are so thankful to everyone who attended, who participated in the daily tasks for the week, the talented artists, and our brave speaker for sharing her story.
Project Connect: October 26
We held our annual Project Connect event at the Pinnacle Bank Expo. This was our eleventh year providing free services to those in need in one day.
This year, we had over 50 Service Providers sign up and offer their services or information about their services to individuals and families.
We are thankful for all our Service Providers, volunteers, and steering committee for making Project Connect successful once again!
Harbies
Harbies is our monthly staff get together, where we hold a potluck and spend the hour talking, playing games, and other fun for team bonding and to reduce stress.
October’s theme was “Halloween Party"! This month was hosted by the Leadership Team! They provided a delicious spread of Papa John’s pizza, sweet treats, and goody bags.
We were challenged to figure out Halloween riddles and then all participated in a bonding exercise to write “It scares me how well you…” on each other’s ghost sheet.
What’s Next
Hope for the Holidays:
We are currently planning our 28th annual holiday program, Hope for the Holidays and it has officially opened!
Our holiday program is designed to match each Hope Harbor resident with a sponsor family or business within the community to make their holiday wishes come true while at their temporary home.
Those wishing to sponsor someone should sign up by clicking the button below. Although the sign up period is through November 21, 2023, donors interested in sponsoring an individual will be notified of their information as soon as possible. To create consistency we ask that donors aim to spend $100.00 per individual resident. Gifts should be delivered to Hope Harbor no later than Monday, December 4th. They should be delivered unwrapped; we got it covered!
We also have clients that move in the week of the holiday party every year. Since it is too late to sponsor them, staff members shop for them. If you would like to donate gift cards and/or monetarily to help us with these last minute gifts, that would be greatly appreciated. Just note this when dropping off or mailing in your donation, or making a donation online, and we will make sure that is what the donation is used for.
Thank you!
