2007 DAMASCUS HELP SUMMARY REPORT
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
The purpose of this corporation is exclusively charitable, as that term is used in Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We provide assistance to needy persons and families in the upper portion of Montgomery County, MD and adjacent areas in the form of emergency food, holiday food baskets and gifts, transportation, furniture and emergency financial assistance. No one shall be denied service because of race, color, creed, age, sex, or marital status.
SERVICE AREA
We serve the areas of upper Montgomery County covered by zip codes 20871, 20872, 20882 north of Brink Rd and 20876 from route 27 north of Brink Rd. We also assist those in need in the southeast portion of Frederick County covered by zip codes 21754 (east of route 75) and 21770 (south of route 80).
GENERAL CHAIRPERSON
In 2007 Damascus HELP continued to fulfill its mission through a combination of efforts on the part of both its wonderful volunteers and its many community supporters. Schools, scouts, religious and philanthropic organizations, businesses and individuals generously supported Damascus HELP via donations of food, money, furniture, labor, and/or facility usage. We are grateful to everyone without which HELP could not function.
We continued to receive monetary contributions from the
community both directly and via workplace campaigns (United Way and Combined
Federal Campaigns, America’s Charities and Wells Fargo). We helped organize and participated in the
CROP WALK and
I’d like to thank both the formal and informal volunteers who, through their dedication and enthusiasm for HELP’s mission, have made the organization as meaningful and effective as it is.
FOOD COMMITTEE
Damascus HELP food drivers deliver a 3-day supply of food to those in need in our service area. Items taken on a typical delivery are canned beans, fruits, juice, meat, pastas, soups, spaghetti sauce, and vegetables, dry pasta, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, powdered milk, coffee, tea, sugar, flour, laundry detergent, bathroom tissue, and soap. In addition, frozen orange juice and meat, bread, eggs and margarine are given.
In 2007, there were 538 deliveries compared to 414 in
2006. These 538 families consisted of
2,160 individuals of which 1,076 were adults and 1,084 were children compared
to 1,667, 914, and 753 respectively in 2006.
This graph shows the total number of food deliveries made per month in 2007.
Food Donations
The food pantry is stocked by a combination of food donations, and purchases made with donated funds. In 2007, food was donated by many churches, schools, organizations, businesses, and individuals. In November and December local schools and scouts had food drives to help stock our pantry for the winter months. Usually a church or several churches in our area collect food monthly from their congregations donate to us. A few scout troops have collected food for us outside of Safeway from people shopping at the store. There is a list of our food staples on our website at www.damascushelp.org to help groups and individuals see what we need. We appreciate all the donations from the community.
Food Purchases
Nearly all the meat and cheese used in 2007 were purchased from the Weis Grocery Store in Damascus. The pantry stocks ground beef, chicken, hot dogs and cheese, which go out with every food delivery. Turkey is also included when it is available. A whole cut-up pig was donated in May. Gladhill Market made a generous turkey and chicken donation in December. This year $6,601 was spent on purchasing frozen food.
Sometimes we do need to purchase our staple foods when we run out of stock. Normally we purchase small jars of coffee, tea bags, dry milk, 2 pound bags of flour and sugar, margarine, juice, and eggs. In addition we purchase laundry detergent, hand soap, and bathroom tissue.
Food Storage
The committee is responsible for sorting all incoming food donations; ensuring that no expired food goes on the shelves; and stocking the shelves of the Pantry. We also can change the quantity of an item to take depending on the then current supply in house mindful that our supply should last all year.
We work closely with the Food Purchasing Committee members to request specific staple food items when they are needed at the Pantry, as well as the Food Donations Committee on suggesting needed food items when asked by prospective donors, and ensuring that there is space for new incoming donations at the Pantry.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE COMMITTEE
Financial assistance is given to people who have been screened
by one of our caseworkers according to our procedures and guidelines.
Some are referred to other social service agencies such as Montgomery
County Department of Health and Human Services. If they are out of our
area, we refer them to the help organizations in their areas.
In 2007, we helped 157 families of which there were 215
adults and 189 children for a total of 404 people with expenditures of
$29,376.59. Thirty-eight percent of the requested needs were for payments
to stop terminations of electric while 37% were for medical, 7% for fuel oil, 7
% for natural gas, 6% for water, 4% for housing cost, and 1% for
childcare. We refer people to
the Montgomery County Home Energy Assistance Office to sign up for the Maryland
Energy Assistance Program and Electric Universal Service Program grants to help
with their main source of heat and their electric usage. People are
also referred to the MD State Pharmacy Assistance Program to see if they
qualify for a state pharmacy discount card. We ask those with no
health insurance to obtain a Montgomery County Pharmacy Discount Card
before we help them with the cost of their prescriptions. These
cards are available at local libraries and clinics. This year
we received a $2,460 fuel fund grant from Allegheny Power to be used for people
with electric terminations.
FURNITURE COMMITTEE
The Damascus Help Furniture Committee collects and distributes gently used furniture and household items. A list of furniture/household requests is kept by the Committee Chairperson. When donation offers are received, the donor is matched with a Help client. The donor may deliver the item(s) to the client directly or the Committee may arrange pick-up and delivery. Donations were received from donors in Frederick, Urbana, Ijamsville, Mt. Airy, Hyattstown, Damascus, Germantown, Clarksburg, Woodfield, Woodsboro, Laytonsville, Olney, and Rockville. For each donation, a receipt and thank-you note were given. Volunteer drivers and moving crews helped on multiple occasions in 2007.
The Chairperson also worked closely with another non-profit organization located in Urbana: Hands of Love, Inc. They, too, collect furniture and household items for the needy, serving Upper Montgomery County, lower Frederick County, and the Appalachia areas of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The two groups—Help and HOL-were able to support one another throughout 2007. Help received a number of needed items from HOL and HOL accepted a number of extra-large and surplus items that Help could not place. HOL also graciously assisted with moving items for Help whenever asked.
Damascus Help assisted some potential donors by referring to
other organizations. Persons wishing to donate large appliances were referred
to ReStore, a part of Habitat for Humanity with locations
in Gaithersburg and Frederick. Persons needing medical equipment such as
walkers, and donors wishing to give the same, were referred to the Damascus
Lions Club. Persons wishing to donate clothing were referred to Harwood
House/Damascus United Methodist Church, and clients were referred there to
purchase inexpensive clothing and household goods. In some cases, the
Chairperson used Harwood House vouchers to obtain clothing and household goods
for clients. Lucy’s, a children’s consignment shop in
Goals for 2008:
-Establish working relationships with other local non-profit organizations
-Locate a storage facility that Help can use at little or no cost
-Recruit new volunteers, namely a Coordinator for Household Goods
-Publicize the work and needs of Damascus Help, especially the Furniture Committee
Following is a
summary of the Committee work in 2007:
New Assistance Requests: 48 families
Number of families served: 37 with 51 adults and 55 children
Number of items donated and placed with families: 305
Clothes Vouchers: 4 (Harwood House Thrift Shop)
Household Vouchers: 1 (Harwood House Thrift Shop)
Gift cards for household purchases: 4 (Used to purchase pillows and linens as needed)
Mattress purchases: 0
Number of donors: 56
Number of volunteer movers: 26 families/organizations for a total of 53 people
OFFICER OF THE DAY
The Officer of the Day (OD) takes telephone calls from people seeking our services or wanting information about Damascus Help. The OD then passes the collected information to the appropriate committee volunteer or refers the caller to other county agencies. In addition to these responsibilities, the ODs are instrumental in receiving requests from those in need that request to participate in the area School Supply Project and Holiday Giving Project. In 2007, we had two new volunteers join as ODs.
TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Damascus HELP provides occasional transportation to doctor appointments, job interviews or social service appointments. Forty-eight hours notice is requested. Gas expense is tax-deductable. In 2007, 10 rides were provided to residents of Damascus and Clarksburg. Current we have eight drivers volunteering. New volunteers are always welcome!
SPECIAL PROJECTS COMMITTEE
Thanksgiving
in February (T.I.F.)
This fund-raiser is coordinated by Community Ministry of Montgomery County. The participating food banks in Montgomery County which includes Damascus Help share equally in the money that is raised. Each food bank solicits restaurants to participate. The participating restaurants give between 10-20% of that day’s receipts to T.I.F. The participating Damascus restaurants were Ledo’s Pizza, Tom and Ray’s, Damascus Buffet and Little Far East II. We are fortunate that these restaurants send in their money in a very timely manner. The amount each food bank received was $2,257.
CROP WALK
The 37th Annual Damascus Crop Walk was held October 14 at Damascus Regional Park. The walkers walked from King's Valley to Sweepstakes Road and back. The participating churches were: St. Paul's Catholic, Damascus United Methodist, Friendship United Methodist, Montgomery United Methodist, Providence United Methodist, Hyattstown United Methodist, Clarksburg United Methodist, Christ Lutheran, and 3 independent walkers. Wesley Grove United Methodist had children walking at their church at another time instead of walking in the park. This year there were five amateur radio operators from the Damascus Emergency Communications Team who patrolled the route to insure that everyone was fine. The number of walkers was 61. A total of $10,156.97 was raised of which Damascus Help will receive $2,539. The other 75% goes for national and world hunger.
HOLIDAY GIVING PROJECT
The 2007 Holiday Giving Project, sponsored by Damascus HELP
and DELAI, provided food, toys, and gifts for families in need in the
20871, 20872, and 20882 (north of Brink Rd.) zip codes for both Thanksgiving
and the December holidays. With the assistance of 52 organizations,
churches, schools, businesses, and individuals we were able to serve 225
families (959 people) for Thanksgiving.
Lockheed Martin and
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
The Volunteer Coordinator recruited volunteers via church bulletins, newspaper articles, monthly newsletters, and speaking engagements. Damascus HELP is continually looking for volunteers to be officers of the day, food drivers, client drivers, and individuals to assist with picking up of pantry donations. We were fortunate in 2007 to gain 19 new volunteers. We did have seven individuals leave HELP to pursue other endeavors.
TREASURER’S REPORT
A
summary of Damascus HELP’s income and expenses in
2007 are as follows:
Income Expenses