To the editor:

As operations manager for Good Cheer, I am in a position to see firsthand how your financial and food item donations for our food bank directly benefit people in our community.

The economy may slowly be improving, but you wouldn’t know it by the number of people coming to the food bank. Many people have finally exhausted their savings after losing jobs or experiencing a drop in business, and must now turn to Good Cheer for help in feeding their families. Some days our waiting room is quite full, as only six shopping carts can fit inside the grocery area at a time.

What really touches my heart are the young children with their mothers. Did you know that last year Good Cheer provided supplemental food for 1,665 children on South Whidbey? Thank God we live in a place where neighbors care about neighbors, and believe that creating and sustaining a hunger-free community matters.

What has prompted me to write this letter is that our numbers remain quite high, but our financial donations for the first part of this year are lighter than usual.

As a result, we have had to cap the number of points large households receive, plus increase points for some food items.

In addition, volunteers and staff are implementing ways to provide greater structure to our check-in program.

We are also extending our Bayview facility donation hours Tuesdays through Fridays until 7 p.m. in order to both receive more donations for sale in our thrift stores, as well as to make it more convenient for people to volunteer at Good Cheer after work.

Evening hours are also a convenience for people to donate items to Good Cheer after work — especially important as out-of-area charities are also soliciting for furniture and clothing donations on South Whidbey. Good Cheer’s major funding source is from the sales proceeds from its thrift stores, and we rely upon our hometown area for item donations.

We are fortunate to have a marvelous team of volunteers performing vital functions — but what we need right now are monetary donations to keep our food-bank shelves stocked.

If you can contribute, please use the remit envelope in Good Cheer’s last newsletter, contribute online at www.goodcheer.org, or mail in a donation to Good Cheer, PO Box 144, Langley, WA 98260.

Rita Burns

Operations Manager

Good Cheer