Share your views
Submit letters to the editor via email to suburbanletters@tribpub.com. Please include your name and town of residence for publication. Please include phone number and email address for confirmation. Letters should be no more than 250 words.
Grant especially needed this year
All of us at COOL Ministries are indeed thankful this year for the generosity and support of your readers who give to Help Them To Hope, as well as for the volunteers who work to make this annual giving event successful.
The grant from Help Them To Hope was needed this year more than ever before. The pandemic and subsequent statewide shutdown of many businesses and employers meant an increase of new faces to the COOL Food Pantry. Even in the midst of great challenges, COOL Food pantry has remained open throughout these trying times and remained steadfast in our mission to feed the hungry.
COOL Food Pantry fed over 41,000 individuals last year alone. COOL Food Pantry distributed more than 500,248 meals to hungry families throughout Lake County in 2020. COOL also partnered with other local organizations to deliver food to 100 homeless families each and every month of this pandemic, since March 2020, and continues to do so today.
Our food pantry not only helps Lake County families to meet their nutritional needs, but we also provide toiletry boxes for veterans as well, and we have served an average of 85 veterans and their families per month this last year.
COOL’s Family Housing Program had 20 participating families last year, which included 26 adults and 45 children. These families were given a stable home to stay in while they progressed to self sufficiency. One of these families went on to purchase a home of their own. The joy that everyone working at COOL gets when we move a family into their new place is one that cannot be described, and it was especially joyous this past year because providing these families with a home was a crucial part of them staying healthy and safe while a deadly virus was circulating throughout the community.
“Stay safe at home” was a slogan often repeated last year, but how does one stay safe at home if they have no home? COOL was able to provide that safe space for families to stay healthy and thrive thanks in part to the donations from this campaign, and COOL is so very thankful to Help Them to Hope and all of their partners for all of their help in our mission to feed the hungry and house the homeless.
Mindy Lindholm, executive director, COOL Ministries
Donations help meet most pressing community needs
Roberti Community House would like to express its sincere gratitude for support received from Help them to Hope, Inc. Your readers’ support of this important fundraiser allows organizations such as Roberti Community House to continue to meet the most pressing needs of our local community.
Your readers’ support makes it possible for Roberti Community House to provide meals to our neediest neighbors in Lake County, including those who are COVID-positive, senior citizens and the medically fragile. Your support also allows Roberti Community House to provide these at-risk community members with fresh produce, helping them to receive the nutrients they need.
Thank you for making it possible for food-insecure families to have food and hope during this very difficult time. We greatly appreciate your support.
Maribeth Roberti, founder and executive director, Roberti Community House
