As Pioneers plan their participation in the International Centennial Project, Pioneers Dish It Up: Feeding Families Healthy Food, we're reminded that Pioneers have been feeding the hungry throughout our history through a variety of local projects and programs.
Looking back twenty years ago to April of 1991, in Kingston, Ontario, the then 256-member Life Member Club of the Pioneers' Mohawk Loyalist Council donated a ton of food to the local food bank. (Literally a ton!) That same year, the Ohio Valley Pioneers' Chapter bought over $2,000 worth of Ohio-made food products that were locally grown, harvested and packed by Ohio businesses and donated the food to help families in need. Meanwhile, in Bangor, Maine, Pioneers donated a new electric stove to the Greater Bangor Area Shelter to help provide meals for the residents. In addition, members of the South Central Bell Pioneers sold cookbooks at an arts and crafts fair. Proceeds from the books, which included volumes from Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama, benefited local Pioneers projects.
Clearly this is an issue that Pioneers care about, and the need continues to be vast, stretching across all Pioneers' territories. It is reported that there are presently 49 million food insecure people in the United States and over 800,000 Canadians access food banks on a monthly basis. True to our history, Pioneers answer the call of those in need. In this our Centennial year, we hope you and your Pioneers' unit will join us in participating in our Pioneers' International Centennial Project this Fall.
For more information on this project, read our March 13, 2011 blog or visit http://www.pioneersvolunteer.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment