Brandon Twp.- November has arrived and as many look forward to the holidays, OCEF seeks help to make both Thanksgiving and Christmas more joyous celebrations for those in need in this community.
The Ortonville Community Emergency Fund will assist about 200 families this holiday season and is currently accepting sign-ups from low-income households within the Brandon School District who are seeking help in putting Thanksgiving dinner on their tables.
‘I would really like to thank the community,? said Karyn Milligan, OCEF food pantry director. ‘This could never, ever happen without them? not just Christmas and the holidays, but all the other things they help with… It’s a surprise every day. The generosity is amazing. Volunteering is important, every can of corn is important, if it’s a dollar? it’s important.?
While the non-profit organization helps between 80-100 families each month with food, the requests for assistance rise at the holidays as families try to care for children on break from school, where they may receive free or reduced price breakfasts and lunches.
OCEF is seeking donations of various items including cake mix; cereal; canned fruit; peanut butter; macaroni and cheese; canned soup; canned vegetables including corn and green beans; canned gravy/broth; pie crust mix; stuffing mix; frosting; cranberry sauce; Jell-O/pudding; jelly; muffin/quick bread mix; canned tuna; evaporated milk; pasta; canned pumpkin; toilet paper; and paper towels.
Donations of Bueche’s gift cards in the amount of $15 are also needed, as they are given to each family for the purchase of meat. Cash donations are also welcome.
OCEF also seeks volunteers? nearly 400 people stepped up to help with holiday food sorting, packing and distributions in 2012, and Milligan notes every one of them was needed and put to work.
Linda Hickey, a Brandon Township resident, has been volunteering with OCEF for the past several years, after a friend from church invited her. She retired eight years ago after a long career as an X-ray technician and mammographer to care for her grandchildren and now, she said, is finally her time to volunteer.
‘You feel good, it’s good for your soul,? she said of her efforts with OCEF. ‘You get to meet a lot of new people from all over Ortonville and I’ve lived here most of my life… You get together and feel good about the work. It takes a lot of volunteers, there are so many good people.?
Good people are needed to sort the food donations beginning at 1 p.m., Nov. 23, and then to pack 4-5 bags of food for each small family and 6-7 bags of food for each large family, for distribution on Nov. 24. The process will repeat itself for Christmas, with a food sort planned for 1 p.m., Dec. 14, and food distribution Dec. 15.
Deadline for Thanksgiving food donations is Friday, Nov. 21 and Christmas food donation deadline is Dec. 12. Food may be dropped off at St. Anne Church, 825 S. Ortonville Road, at Bueche’s Food World, 400 N. Ortonville Road (in the OCEF box in the vestibule), or at various local churches and businesses with designated OCEF boxes.
‘It’s the donors and volunteers who come and get this done,? said Milligan. ‘It’s a wonderful way to get into the spirit of the holiday. I have one lady with multiple handicapped children, but she arranges who is going to take care of the kids, so she can be here. It’s her way of giving back and she says it helps her get into the spirit.?