Giving Thanks For Our Volunteers
Gearing Up To Share Thanksgiving Meals
By Sierra Fleenor
Executive Director, GPHC
October was an incredible month here at Greater Park Hill Community. We had new volunteers, members and donors join us in our work, and we give thanks to each and every one of you.
Early in October, we had master composter volunteers from Denver Urban Gardens join us for a workshop on composting. We learned how to care for our own compost bins here at GPHC and the six folks who attended learned more about composting at home. We’d like to thank Judy Elliot from Denver Urban Gardens for her help in organizing this event, as well as Dima Smirnov and Kathleen Ryan who facilitated our awesome workshop.
We also had the pleasure of welcoming youth volunteers from McAuliffe International School twice over the last month. Students came with their chaperones and helped us assemble bags for the Weekend Food Program. They brought great energy and willingness to learn more about food insecurity in our neighborhood. Thank you, McAuliffe volunteers!
Brandon J. Scott Photography volunteered time, energy, and free photos to our food pantry clients this month. Scott brought his photo equipment to take professional portraits of our clients, who enjoyed the opportunity to have free family photos made for their personal use (including prints).
As you can tell, there are a myriad of ways to be involved. We have volunteer opportunities that involve working with clients and ones that don’t. We have regular commitments and one-off opportunities. We love to have groups, as with the McAuliffe crew, and we love to provide opportunities for the community to share gifts and professional talent, as with Denver Urban Gardens and Brandon J. Scott Photography. We hope you’ll consider getting involved. Right now, we especially need volunteers for our Garden Walk committee, the Weekend Food Program, the Food Pantry, and our Thanksgiving Giveaway. We always need blockworkers to help deliver the newspaper.
Turkey alert!
It’s November, which means we are getting ready to distribute 300 complete Thanksgiving dinners. And yes, we need a few items – preferably dropped off to us by the middle of the month: Frozen (not fresh) turkeys, pre-cooked turkey breasts (for seniors), stuffing, potatoes (boxes and fresh), yams, cranberries, broth, cream of mushroom soup, gravy packets, fresh rolls, frozen pies, baking pans, turkey bags, green beans, peas, carrots, and corn. We accept any size of cans, but 16 and 24 ounces are preferred.
For our regular food pantry, we also need some items: Jars and cans of fruit, canned meats, Ensure and other meal replacements, turkey chili, can openers, spatulas, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shaving supplies (razors and cream), baby wipes, dish soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, lip moisturizer, deodorant (for men and women), toothpaste, and toothbrushes. We also need travel size items, so feel free to bring us any you have stashed in the bathroom closet, being unused.
For the Weekend Food Program, we need individually wrapped cereal bars and granola bars, individual fruit cups and applesauce, small boxes of raisins, boxes of macaroni and cheese, boxes of individual servings of instant oatmeal, and individual cereal bowls.
We accept donations of fresh, frozen, and non-perishable food Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at our office, 2823 Fairfax St. You can also donate non-perishable items for our food programs at the Park Hill Branch of Denver Public Library, 4750 Montview Blvd., or at Cake Crumbs, 2216 Kearney St., during their business hours.
Thank you to all our donors, volunteers, and members listed below. We couldn’t achieve all we do if it weren’t for each and every one of you. If you would like to become a volunteer, donor, or member please visit our website at greaterparkhill.org or contact us at info@greaterparkhill.org or 303-388-0918.
Donors
C Beneet
Roy Daniel
Yvonne Franklin
Ben Gehde
JoAllan Gehde
Jim Groves
Ellen Hokanson
RE Jaekel
Jan MacIntosh
Anne McLaughlin
Harriet Mullaney
John Neal
Susan Neal
Jeff Rosensweig
C Schneider
Jean Sibley
Anne Sunderwirth
Karen Timmons
Ray Twiggs
Josh Weiner
Kevin Wiegand
AARP #995 – Queen City of the Rockies
Blessed Sacrament
Brandon J Scott Photography
Cake Crumbs and Patrons
Cure D’ Ars
Denver Food Rescue
Food Bank of the Rockies
Messiah Community Church
Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
Park Hill Congregational
Park Hill Elementary School
Park Hill Library and Patrons
Park Hill United Methodist
St Thomas Community Garden
St Thomas Episcopal Church
The Counterpath Community Garden
Volunteers
Jason Barth
Christine Caruso
Stephanie Ceccato
Jackson Decker
Atti Deye
Ely Diakite
Luke Dinges
Andrew Evans
Taylor Fahres
Solis Falcon
Jackson Faris
Jack Farrar
Reece Ferrufino
Maxwell Ficco
Claudia Fields
Harold Fields
Brandon Figueroa
Tas Frashure
JoAllan Gehde
Maria Goodwin
Ryan Hajek
Alex Hammack
Brooks Haslar
Mats Hegstrom
Malia Heien
Nam Henderson
Adrienne Hill
Noni Horwitz
Erika Hutyra
Megan Jamison
Andrea Johnson
Lynn Kalinauskas
Bernadette Kelly
Rod Leman
Debra Lovell
Tracey MacDermott
Jasper Mueller
Chuck Nelson
Sam Perez
Mike Quigley
Alison Rabinoff
Peggy Roberts
Vanessa Roberts
Alejandro Rodriguez
Laura Rogers
Kathleen Ryan
Sofia Sandel
Brandon J Scott
Ashley Scott-Trainer
Heather Shulman
Dmitry Smirnov
Myla Smith
Kai Snyder
Aidan Sobolevsky
Suzanne Stemmler
Shane Sutherland
Samantha Veitch
Taryn Veitch
Sue Weinstein
Donna Westmoreland
Members
Ginny Allen
Matthew Bradford
Gordon Buchmann
Lydia Buchmann
Brenda Campbell
Colette Carey
Anthony Caruso
Christine Caruso
Eve Cohen
Dolores Cuthbertson
Bev Dennis
George Dennis
Amelia Drumwright
Geneva Goldsby
Luther Goldsby
Jesse Granger
Ryan Hunter
Lynn Kalinauskus
Bernadette Kelly
Liz Kenney
Owetta McNeil
Charles Nichols
LaMone Noles
Sally Ortiz
Keith Porter
Andy Sense
Lindsay Sense
David Smith
Jody Smith
Kate Sultan
Everett Volk
Matt Wenipe
Ben Whisenton
Scott Wick
Leslie Williams
Nanci Young