If everybody could just donate a dollar or a can of food, it would make a huge difference.”
That’s what Karen Dylewski said in an interview with the Review back in September. She’s the director of the Howard Mohr Community Center and runs the food pantry that’s housed there. At the time, Dylewski was fretting that supplies were too low and she wouldn’t be able to give needy families in Forest Park the basics with which to stock their cupboards. Well, she’s worrying a bit less these days and is busy writing thank-you notes to all the people who’ve quietly stepped up and donated that dollar, or that can of food.
You have made a huge difference.
Charitable giving is one of those things we’ve all thought about at one time or another, for one cause or another. What’s tricky is overcoming that helpless feeling. That you’re only one person and you only have so much to offer can easily discourage good intentions. Relax. The weight of the world isn’t on any one person’s shoulders. We all live here and we can all pitch in.
Over the last couple months, Dylewski and her staff have witnessed exactly that. Those who’ve fallen on lean times are more likely to find the help they’re looking for, and the Forest Park Food Pantry is better able to provide the holiday boxes – a turkey and all the trimmings – it takes so much pride in giving. A few folks in town have organized collections in their neighborhood and their workplace, and though the payoff comes in handing over carloads of food, it still comes down to gathering a couple items here and a couple items there.
“If everybody could just donate a dollar or a can of food, it would make a huge difference.”
In reporting our front-page story this week in which the efforts of Kristine Lazzara, Marie Beckman and Rose Krogh are highlighted, the Review was happy to confirm that people still inspire one another. Krogh has never participated in any programs at the community center, and never met its director. That changed, she said, after reading in September of the overwhelming demands the recession has placed on the food pantry. Lazzara, too, was similarly moved.
The food pantry here benefits Forest Park. These are your neighbors, your child’s classmates who benefit from the generosity of their neighbors and the families of their child’s classmates. This is still a small town.
“If everybody could just donate a dollar or a can of food, it would make a huge difference.”
