Join Us At Trinity Lutheran Church

Good Evening!Please join us in the fight against hgnuer in our community, and in helping our most valuable resource – our children! Hastings community, we need you! My name is Brooke Ballou, and I’m the promotional director for the Food4Thought organization at Hastings College. Food4Thought is a coalition of civic organizations and individuals dedicated to enhancing the healthy development of children in the Hastings community. This volunteer-based, donation funded program provides weekend meals for low-income families who qualify for Hastings Public Schools free lunch program. Currently, the organization provides food for the following number of families at each school:•Lincoln: 16•Longfellow: 17•Morton: 15•Alcott: 12•Hawthorne: 7•Watson: 5 (starting in January, 2013Sadly, these numbers could be much larger, given that, according to the United States Census Bureau, 15.6% of the Hastings, NE population is below the poverty level, and 57% of students (pre-K through high school) in the Hastings Public School system qualify for free and reduced lunches. Currently, it costs $125 to support a child for a semester or $250 for a year. As a growing organization, it’s imperative for F4T to raise the monetary funds needed to sustain the ever-increasing demand the organization faces.To help raise money to fund more families in 2013, our Food4Thought organization in collaboration with the Hastings College Psychology Department is hosting a Dine to Donate event at Applebee’s on Tuesday, December 11 from 5-9 p.m. For every table that presents a flyer (attached) when they pay, Applebee’s will donate 10% of the bill to our organization. I would be extremely grateful if you would help us spread the word of this wonderful community event to your church family this weekend (December 9). It would be awesome if you could put a blurb in your bulletin, as well as vocally announce the event during church! We’ve been using the slogan “Feed your family for a day…Help us feed families for a year,” so feel free to use this as you promote the event. Please be sure to remind parish members that if they can’t dine-in, as long as they show the flyer, we’ll still get 10% of their bill if they choose to carryout. This holiday season, let’s encourage people to give back and love one another like God loves each of us. We’ve decided to take a stand against the poverty facing our very community. Are you with us?? Let’s see what our awesome God can do!!!If interested, please email me back so I can send you a PDF of the flyer community members will need to present when paying at Applebee’s on Tuesday night. If you don’t have access to print the flyers, please contact me and I’d be happy to print them for you. Ideally, we’d love to have you stuff a flyer in each bulletin or have a pile of flyers available for parish members when they exit the church. Additionally, I can attach a large poster you may also print if you’d like to help advertise the event! Again, contact me if you need ANY help!I can’t thank you enough for helping us feed the hungry children of Hastings. Please contact me if you have any questions or need assistance.Blessings,Brookemobile 308.737.1665email