Fundraiser for children battling hair loss

There's a big fundraiser coming up in the Reading area for Children's Alopecia Project.

From a story in today's edition of The Mercury:

SPRING CITY — Alex Poloway's hazel eyes sparkle when she talks. Her smile lights up a room. She has an upbeat personality and contagious laugh.

"I've had people like Alex's teacher come up and say, 'She's a role model for me,'" her mother, Flora Poloway, recalled.

The 9-year-old Spring City girl inspires teachers, parents and classmates because of how she handles losing her hair.

"Being in a group makes you feel better because then you know not only you have it," Alex said.

That group is the Children's Alopecia Project, known as CAP, which holds its annual Spring Spectacular fundraiser on Saturday in Reading. The Berks County-based nonprofit helps families around the world understand and cope with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that triggers hair loss in children and adults.

Read more at the link below:

Children battling hair loss find support in each other - The Mercury

Posted using ShareThis

PA ranks 29th in volunteering

A new report billed as the most comprehensive data ever assembled on volunteer trends and demographics ranks Pennsylvania 29th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in terms of offering others a helping hand.

Some highlights in the Corporation for National and Community Service report about Pennsylvania:

Based on the most recent numbers available (the average using 2006 to 2008 data), about 2.7 million Pennsylvania residents volunteered in some capacity. That comes about 28% of the state's residents, earning Pa. 29th place among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Pennsylvania residents put in 345.9 million hours of service or 35.2 hours per resident - ranking them 29th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. If you put a monetary value on the volunteer work, $7 billion of service were contributed, according to the report.

To read the full report, Volunteering in America 2009, follow the link below:

In Tough Times, Volunteering in America Remains Strong

Angel Food Ministries comes to the rescue

As the economic crisis deepens, Angel Food Ministries are popping up all over the country to fill a growing need.

Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization "dedicated to providing food relief and contributing to benevolent outreaches in communities throughout the United States," according to its mission statement.

The program provides food at a reduced rate to anyone who signs up, regardless of income level.

For $30, Angel Food Ministries will provide enough food to feed a family of four for one week or a single person for a month. The menu changes each month and features all the staples, including meat products.

The Angel Food program is helping provide food to more than 500,000 families each month.

Read more about the Chester County program in this Letter to the Editor published in The Pottstown Mercury.

You can also find out more at the group's national Web site, where you can type in your zip code to find the nearest local host site.

Your Head: An Owner's Manual

You can get a free electronic copy of a new book designed to help men deal with depression, anxiety and stress by following the link below.

Your Head: An Owner's Manual

Second-grader organizes food drive

A second grade student at Coventry Christian School in Chester County has came up with the needy this summer.

Payton Sinkbeil, 8, is asking residents to help her and five close friends fill a trailer full of food on Wednesday. The food drive will be held at Coventry Christian, 962 E. Schuykill Road, for the entire day.

There will be a 20-foot trailer parked in front of the school. All non-perishable items, such as canned food, will be accepted.

For directions to the school, check out its Web site.

Letter Carriers Fight Hunger on May 10

Don't forget to pack a bag of food items tonight and leave it out for the mail carrier to pick up on Saturday during the National Food Drive sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The event is taking place in more than 10,000 communities across the U.S.

Letter Carriers Fight Hunger on May 10

Bush niece promotes hunger project

President Bush's niece paid a visit to Chester County to promote a reusable shopping bag that helps feed some of the world's hungry.

Lauren Bush, 23, daughter Neil Bush, joined Ellen Gustafson of the United Nations World Food Program, to help publicize the FEED 100 Bag, which is on sale at the Whole Foods supermarket chain.

For each of the $30 bags shoppers buy, 100 school lunches will be provided to Rwandan students, Bush and Gustafson told reporter Dan Kristie

The FEED 100 Bags first became available at Whole Foods on May 1, eight days after the supermarket chain stopped providing customers with plastic bags, according to Kristie.

Lauren Bush came up with the idea for the FEED 100 Bag in 2006, while she was serving as an honorary spokesperson for the United Nations' World Food Program, Kristie writes.

At that time, Gustafson was working as the World Food Program's communications officer. The two became friends and created FEED Projects, a World Food Program initiative that began offering products which would help provide revenue to relieve world hunger.

Read more about the visit and the hunger program in today's edition of The Daily Local News in West Chester.

(Photos by Tom Kelly IV)

How to feed a family of 4 for $30

I saw this program featured on a TV news show a couple of weeks ago and now a Pottstown-area church is sponsoring the event. With so many people struggling to make ends meet, it's worth checking out. The Web site is at the bottom of the press release.

With gas prices nearing $4 a gallon and other costs of living going up, wouldn’t it be good to feed a family of four for a week for only $30? With the Angel Food Ministries’ food program, that's possible.

Angel Food Ministries is a nonprofit program sponsored by Calvary Christian Center, 426 Laurelwood Road, North Coventry. How the program works is that a family or individual buys a unit for $30. One unit will generally be enough food to assist in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. Monthly specials are also offered for an additional cost.

"This is all name-brand food," says Cindy McKinley, Angel Food coordinator for Calvary Christian Center. "The menus change each month and there’s plenty of variety. A unit consist of both fresh and frozen items."

She pointed to May's menu as an example, which includes Stouffer's Flat Bread Pizza, Borden milk, bacon wrapped beef filets, breaded chicken breast filets, popcorn chicken, cereal, corn, green beans, eggs, onions and canned pears among many other items.

Since starting last spring, close to 300 families have taken advantage of the program at Calvary Christian Center. McKinley said there is no income limits, because this is not that kind of program.

"If you eat food, you qualify," she says. "It's simply another way to buy the same high quality food you could get at your local grocery store."

May orders are being taken and must be placed by May 16. Distribution will be held at 7 p.m. on May 30 at the church. Food can be paid for by using cash, money order or food stamps.

For more information, please call the church at 610-323-0480 or visit the church's Web site at www.calvarychristian.info for the monthly menu.

You can find out more about Angel Food Ministries at the group's Web site, http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

Help a family in need

The Berks County Grange will host a Longaberger Basket Bingo on Friday, May 9, at the Fleetwood Grange Hall.

The bingo will start at 6:30 PM. (Doors open at 5:15 PM.)

All proceeds will go to Joe Santos and family (Joe, an active Scout leader in Berks County, is battling cancer and the family has been overwhelmed with medical bills).

Tickets are $20 if purchased in advance, or $25 at the door. Each ticket will include a hot dog, soda, and a chance at a door prize.

For those who have not been to a Basket Bingo before, you get to play about 15 games of bingo, with Longaberger baskets as the prizes.

The Fleetwood Grange Hall is located off Route 662 in Fleetwood. (http://www.fleetwoodgrange.org)

Food and baked goods will be available for purchase at the event.

For tickets (or questions), contact Tom or Laura Wike at 610-404-7367.