Hunger and Poverty News

Unlike Baby Yoda, people most who come to our food pantry like chili and we are running low

12/13/2019

Every week we help hundreds of families with food and clothing because of our amazing donors and volunteers. For the month of January our top donation needs are canned chili for our food pantry and blankets and warm coats that we can give away to people on a referral basis at our thrift store.

Over 2,000 low income families received turkeys at our Thanksgiving Giveaway this year

12/2/2019

At our Thankgsiving Food Giveaway on November 27, 2019, we helped 2,264 families. We would not have been able to help so many families without our amazing donors, hundreds of volunteers and community partners.

The sales tax on food is unpopular and unfair

11/25/2019

On Wednesday. November 21, 2019, leaders of faith and community groups gathered at the Utah Capitol building to explain why a proposal to increase the sales tax on food is unpopular and unfair. Below is a talk from one of the speakers and photos from the event.

Speech by Rev. Vinnetta Golphin-Wilkerson, Pastor from Granger Community Christian Church (DOC)

On November 16, between 10 am and noon (2 hours), the Granger Community Christian Church food pantry, served 176 families (avg 4/family = 704 people). The Granger food pantry is one of several across the state working to help low income families in Utah.

Granger is not an emergency pantry, we are part of the life plan for families who are balancing low wage/part time jobs to manage basic needs - housing, utilities, transportation and food.

The families we serve are a small part of a larger, and sadly growing number of families who are on the edge of household stability, a cold/flu, a flat tire or other minor car repair, can make the difference in paying each month’s rent.

Families who are struggling month to month, and or check to check, will be unfairly impacted by the proposed changes in the tax structure.  We should not change the tax system so that those with less money are forced to pay more for groceries every month while their landlord and employers pay less tax total every year.

Our legislators are good people from our communities. They are tasked with balancing the needs and priorities of our state in the context of our values and humanity.  We are here today to help our legislature hear our voices as they work to achieve this balance.

We want our legislators to know that new industry and trade is important but fairness to families is more important.
We want our legislators to hear us explain the daily reality for low-income and fixed-income families,
We want our legislators to understand a once a year rebate will not repair the harm done to families by this tax increase that impacts their budgets every week.

Two years ago, the Utah House of Representatives passed HB 148, which eliminated the state portion of the sales tax on unprepared food and paid for that cut by increasing the tax on nonfood items by 0.22 percent.

This bill would benefit most Utah families (including the 704 from last Saturday) because the sales tax reduction on food would be eight times bigger than the increase to tax on nonfood items. Most families spend much more money on food than on the nonfood items that are subject to sales tax.

Simply put, with this bill needed revenue could be gained AND families with low and fixed incomes would save money to use on other family and household needs like utilities or transportation. It is a win-win.

How you can help in December

11/13/2019

Our amazing donors and volunteers are the reason we are able to provide food and clothing to hundreds of low income households every week . This month we need breakfast cereal and canned chili for our food pantries and warm blankets and coats to give away in our thrift store.

We also need people who are willing to sign up for a regular shift as a receptionist in our food pantry. This volunteer opportunity is perfect for seniors who may feel like they can't volunteer anymore because of mobility or strength issues. If you know someone who is interested in volunteering please have them call our food pantry director, Rachel Fishbein, between 10 AM and 5 PM on Monday through Thursday, 801-364-7765.

The director of our Thrift Store, KC Owens, has come up with a unique idea for using the making the month of December, a time to serve others-- a reverse advent calendar where you donate a different item every day instead of receiving a piece of chocolate or a toy. You can read more about KC's idea here.

An Advent Calendar for opening hearts and serving others

11/13/2019

by KC Owens, Thrift Store Director

Advent is the four-week period beginning on the Sunday nearest the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30) through the following three Sundays. The word Advent, is a Latin word meaning coming.  To Christians this means that time when Jesus was born as a baby to live among men.  It is a time of anticipation. Believers had (and still do have) such a sense of awe and overwhelming gratitude and wonder at what happened that first Christmas that they felt the need for a period of preparation immediately beforehand. They could then not only take time themselves to meditate on it, but also teach their children the tremendous significance of Christmas.

Advent calendars typically don’t follow the period of Advent described above. Instead, they begin on December 1 and mark the 24 days before Christmas.  “At first, the days preceding Christmas were marked off from December 1 with chalk on believers' doors. Then in Germany in the late 19th century the mother of a child named Gerhard Lang made her son an Advent Calendar comprised of 24 tiny sweets stuck onto cardboard. Lang never forgot the excitement he felt when he was given his Advent calendar at the beginning of each December, and how it reminded him every day that the greatest celebration of the whole year was approaching ever nearer. As an adult he went into partnership with his friend Reichhold and opened a printing office. In 1908, they produced what is thought to be the first-ever printed Advent Calendar with a small colored picture for each day in Advent. Later on, at the beginning of the 20th century, they hit on the idea of making the pictures into little shuttered windows for the children to open day by day in order to heighten their sense of expectation.”( https://www.gotquestions.org/advent-calendar.html)

Advent calendars come in all shapes and sizes.  However, they all daily revel a surprise of some sorts to help build the anticipation and wonder of Christmas Day.  It might be an image, a Bible verse, piece of chocolate, or small gift but the purpose is to add to the anticipation of Christmas Day and the meaning that Christians hold in the birth of Christ.   Over the years Christianity has declined and Christmas has become more commercialized we have seen advent calendars become commercialized as well. You don't need an Advent calendar to know that Christmas is coming, but opening a little numbered door to reveal a prize is an idea that everyone—religious or not—can get behind. They now make advent calendars for pets.

So what does this have to do with Crossroads Thrift Store and what we do here? Well a few weeks ago I was on Facebook and a friend posted a reverse advent calendar for a Food Pantry in Las Vegas and it got me to thinking about Christmas time and how as soon as Christmas is over we are in desperate need to help the folks that come in with certain items.  We can NEVER keep in stock enough socks, underwear, blankets, coats, towels, pots, and pans.  It is always a shortage in these areas. So, I thought what if? What if we did a calendar for the time leading up to Christmas, that people and their families could use to help understand and build to their own anticipation of a MEANINGFUL Christmas. A time to give of our own resources to help others in need.  Most of us are going to receive gifts on Christmas Day that are truly wants and not desperate needs.  I listen to my friends and family talk about how they are trying to teach their kids the real meaning of Christmas and always searching for ways to help them understand.  We receive phone calls and emails from people who want to come volunteer so they get a small understanding that it isn’t just about the day it is about so much more.

So, we decided to try to do a reverse advent calendar so that we can have more stuff to give away to those that need it most in the coldest time of year.  It is reverse because instead of you getting a small gift or surprise each day you are giving a small gift each day and it will lead to the BIG DAY (day after Christmas) that will go a long way to help another individual or family!

REVERSE ADVENT CALENDER
EACH DAY ADD AN ITEM TO A BOX or BAG
DELIVER TO CROSSROADS THRIFT STORE ON THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
1385 West Indiana Ave, Salt Lake City, UT 84104
HELP THOSE IN NEED BY CLEANING OUT YOUR STUFF!

December 1 – A pair of warm socks
December 2 – A gently used warm jacket
December 3 – A gently used warm long sleeve shirt
December 4- A gently used pair of denim jeans
December 5- A gently used pair of closed toed shoes
December 6 - A gently used backpack
December 7 - A gently used towel
December 8 - A gently used sweat shirt
December 9 - A gently used pair of pants
December 10 – 1 pair new underwear
December 11 - A gently used sauce pan
December 12 - A gently used wash cloth
December 13 - A gently used plate
December 14 - A gently used pair of pants
December 15 - A gently used pair of socks
December 16 - A gently used set of long underwear
December 17 - A gently used skillet
December 18 - A gently used hoodie
December 19 - A gently used warm hat
December 20 - A gently used bowl
December 21 - A gently used baking pan
December 22- A gently used blanket/sleeping bag/quilt
December 23 - A gently used dish towel
December 24 - A gently used set of gloves
IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE SUGGESTED ITEM FEEL FREE TO SUBSTITUTE SOMETHING OF EQUAL NEED!

Here are a few ideas of HOW to use this in a meaningful way.

Get a wreath and cut out each individual day and place on the wreath with the day clearly printed where you can see it. Each day take that days date and gather the needed item. On December 26 deliver it to the Thrift Store.

Use a regular calendar and cut out each individual day and tape on the calendar.  Each day take that days date and gather the needed item. On December 26 deliver it to the Thrift Store.

Google DIY Advent Calendar ideas and a whole bunch will pop up.

We hope you join us to help others while finding a new way to increase your own anticipation of Christmas and its true meaning!

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EMERGENCY FOOD PANTRY
347 South 400 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
801-364-7765
Monday – Friday
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM

CROSSROADS THRIFT STORE
1385 West Indiana Avenue
Salt Lake City, UT 84104
801-359-8837
Tues.– Friday : 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

CROSSROADS WESTSIDE FOOD PANTRY
1358 West Indiana Avenue
Salt Lake City, UT 84104
801-935-4079
This facility is currently closed to help slow the spread of COVID 19. When we are able to reopen this facility our hours will be:
Mon, Tues, Thurs: 9AM - 5PM
Food only (no emergency services)

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