Thanks To You, 326 Thanksgiving Meals Served
By Sierra Fleenor, Executive Director, GPHC
We are exhausted here at GPHC. Exhausted, but good exhausted. Exhausted like we just distributed 326 complete Thanksgiving meals to our neighbors, families in need right here in Greater Park Hill.
November was a lot of work, but it’s also been an honor to support the Thanksgiving Giveaway program. Our amazing regular volunteers for our food programs did double, triple, even quadruple duty to make sure the Giveaway was successful this year. We also had an influx of special volunteers who have donated hours and hours of their time to GPHC.
All of our volunteers have been exceptional. They counted, and recounted, cans of yams, corn, green beans and cranberry sauce. They hauled frozen turkeys and assembled meals and called clients and picked up boxes. Our volunteers made this event possible and their enthusiasm and senses of humor (and calming words directed at me) made the whole month outrageously fun.
We have also been blessed by incredibly generous donors. Neighbors answered my frantic call for boxes, ran out to buy turkeys, donated cases of corn and green beans and cranberry sauce. Others made financial contributions so that we could manage the number of turkeys on site. These donors made not only our Thanksgiving Giveaway happen, but also our Weekend Food Program and Emergency Food Pantry successful.
The folks at REALGiving, including Jay “Turkey-Wranglin’” Epperson, are always key to our Thanksgiving success, providing us with dozens of turkeys each year. We know how lucky we are to have amazing donors. I’d like to especially thank the folks at DANK Dispensary, including Jay Griffin and Dan Glenn, who donated $1,000 to help us buy turkeys this year. Their generosity touches my heart, and the hearts of our volunteers and clients.
Of course, the heart of our program is our clients: The families, seniors, and individuals who honor us with the privilege of serving them. To see the joy on our clients’ faces, the gratitude of those we serve—that’s why we do this work.
I’d also like to thank everyone who renewed their membership last month. Your membership donation enables us to carry out the imperative work of serving our neighborhood. We are a volunteer-run organization and that means we’re only as strong as our collective base. So, thank you for becoming a part of our team.
We know you’ve been generous; we know that you’ve made this holiday so special for so many of our neighbors. And, I hate to do it, but I’m going to request that you dig a little deeper into you pockets, as you are willing and able.
Dec. 5 is the statewide giving campaign called Colorado Gives Day. Nonprofits throughout Colorado are asking their donors and supporters to schedule a donation that day through the Colorado Gives Day website, at coloradogives.org/GreaterParkHillCommunity. These donations are part of an incentive program. Last year we raised more than $2,600. If we exceed that number this year, we could receive an additional $5,000 donation from First Bank.
You can use our site on Colorado Gives Day to donate to our Weekend Food Program, the Food Bank, or even to renew your GPHC membership. Your donations will help us buy food our clients prefer, but don’t have access to, including bread and dairy products, as well as allowing us to make infrastructural improvements that our 50-year-old pantry desperately needs. We also still need donations for our food pantry and Weekend Food Program. For our food pantry we are currently in need of hygiene products, including deodorant (for men and women), body wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and toothpaste. We accept regular size, as well as travel size items. A couple clients have little ones who are growing and we now need diapers in size 4 and 5. In terms of food, we need canned fruit, fruit in jars, canned meats (tuna, spam, chunk chicken, etc), hearty soups, turkey chili, rice and corn.
For the Weekend Food Program, we need individually wrapped cereal bars and granola bars, individual fruit cups and applesauce, small boxes of raisins, individual servings of instant oatmeal and individual cereal bowls.
Volunteers
Amy Anderson
Jason Barth
Kelly Berry
Emily Brock
Stephanie Ceccato
Terelya Coneal
Lana Cordes
Jay Epperson
Claudia Fields
Harold Fields
Tas Frashure
JoAllan Gehde
Kristin Gibbs
Heidi Grove
Jim Groves
Elizabeth Heidl
Nam Henderson
Adrienne Hill
Feliz Hillman
Elizabeth Homlar
Noni Horwitz
Ryan Hunter
Erika Hutyra
Megan Jamison
Holly Kurtz
Liz LaFever
Rod Leman
Sara Lohmeyer
Debra Lovell
Tracey MacDermott
Amy Makurumidze
Nate Martin
Rich McClintock
Dani Meyers
Kerry Mierau
Riley Miles
Michelle Miller
Enrique Miranda
Jonathan Moore
Mark Moyle
Jasper Mueller
Chuck Nelson
Ava Noyes
Gracie Nunez
Justin Petaccio
Protass/Selsberg Family
Mike Quigley
Alison Rabinoff
Gen Rothberg
Dez Roberts
Katrice Russell
Mary Salsich
Emily Scherer
Ashley Scott-Trainer
Tammi Scroggins
Heather Shockey
Heather Shulman
Nicholas Sorensen
Carol Spensley
Suzanne Stemmler
Lauren Sudmeier
Mason Sukigara
Shane Sutherland
Amalia Thompson
Brooklyn Thompson
Ashley Thylin
Leslie Twarogowski
Sue Weinstein
Donna Westmoreland
Jeannie Willis
Katherine Wilson
Boy Scout Troop 34
Girl Scout Troop 3573
McAuliffe Student Volunteers
Donations
Jay Ahlborg
Justin Baccary
Tara Bannon
Amy Barrett
Dustin Barrett
Jason Barth
Kris Bergquist
Chris Berry
Kelly Berry
Stacey Bowers
Devin Brock
Emily Brock
Zana Brown
Lana Cordes
Dave DeMarais
Laura Dobbs
Cheryl Dorris
Jenny Dyer
Mike Earnest
Jen England
Jay Epperson
Kimberley Erickson
Gay Faris
Rob Fisher
Alexis Gallione
Mary Gerwin
Lauren Giusti
Dan Glenn
Geneva Goldsby
Luther Goldsby
Shawn Gour
Jay Griffin
Jim Groves
Catherine Hakala
Lyle Hansen
Kristi Hardison
Ellen Hokansen
Bob Homiak
Stephen Hubka
Ryan Hunter
Karen Johnston
Bernadette Kelly
Kevin Kennedy
Scott Kinnamon
Mark Kuhl
Nina Kuhl
L.O. Levine
Tracey MacDermott
Patrick Maley
Viki Manley
Colin Mann
Christina Manzanares
Tanya Matthias
Anne McLaughlin
Denon Moore
Sean Moore
Harriet Mullaney
Mary Kay Myers
Chuck Nelson
Nicholas Nossaman
Louis Plachowski
Diane Pritchard
Rebecca Rogers
Maret Sanchez
Cara Schaarschmidt
Carla Shaver
Robert Shaver
Heather Shockey
Charles Sparks
Laurel Sparks
Elizabeth Spohn
Shane Sutherland
David Swan
Marilyn Swan
Pam Sweetse
Blair Taylor
Barbara Vossler
Demaris Way
John Wilson
Sue Wofford
Judy Wolfe
AARP #995 – Queen City of the Rockies
Blessed Sacrament
Brandon J Scott Photography
Cake Crumbs and Patrons
Cure D’ Ars
DANK Dispensary
Denver Food Rescue
Fairfax Liquors
Food Bank of the Rockies
Hallett Academy
HM Capital
King Soopers
Messiah Community Church
Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
Park Hill Congregational
Park Hill Elementary School
Park Hill Library and Patrons
Park Hill United Methodist
REALGiving
St Thomas Episcopal Church
Station 26 Brewing Co.
Street Reach
Tables Restaurant
Members
Holly Bennett
Rena Bloom
Mary Carlson
Barbara Cavender
Susan Childress
Lana Cordes
Ann Daniel
Mona Estrada
Janet Fairs
Elisabeth Fedde
Raymond Fedde
Chip Galaty
Ezzard Harrison
Margerie Hicks
Ellen Hokanson
John Hokanson
Matthew Jewell
Chris Kermiet
Sharon Kermiet
Mark Kochever
Armand Lebovits
John Lebsack
Douglas Mandic
Stacy McDonald
Frank McLaughlin
Patricia Mead
Barbara Redmond
Lea Reitzig
Rolf Reitzig
Lawrence J. Ricketts
Jacob Schor
Doug Schuler
Jenny Soep
Carol Spensley
Skip Spensley
Wendi Torres
Sarah Ulrich
Linda Weems
JP Young
Susan Young
Mile High Real Estate Valuations
St Thomas Episcopal Church