Requests update

August has so far been yet another busy month for Storehouse with around 15 bags a week going to people in need in and around Bury St Edmunds. The cupboards are looking really quite bare in some areas as a result and so we would particularly appreciate the following items:

• tinned meat
• tinned vegetables*
• tinned potatoes & instant mash
• tinned desserts and fruit
• tea bags
• small packets of cereals
• toiletries especially shower gel*, toothpaste* and soap*

We are right out of items marked *.

We are very grateful for all the donations we receive, especially through the holiday period when perhaps it is all too easy to be thinking about other things. As the cupboards are so low at the moment please do drop things in at the Vineyard Centre if you are able to. Thank you for all you give - every can or two makes a real difference in the lives of those who receive them.

July Stats (and requests update)

July has been the busiest month for Storehouse so far in 2009. During the month we received 76 requests for food bags from 15 different local agencies plus some non-agency requests. As a result of these requests, Storehouse gave away 89 food bags during July to single men, single ladies and families. All of these people will have been needy people, from differing backgrounds, but your continuing generosity will have made a real difference in their lives. Each food bag contains food and toiletries for a few days, to help someone have a few meals and keep clean. At the moment we are running very low on tea bags, tinned fish (we have none), tinned meat and meaty meals, vegetables, desserts, small packets of cereals, and long life milk. As you might imagine, most of these are pretty staple foods and we like to put some in every food bag. If you are going to be away during the summer, please feel free to drop any donations of food in at the Vineyard Centre during the week. It's wonderful that we can reach out in this way and touch so many lives in a practical way, but as a way of showing them that God cares for them. Thank you for all you do as part of this ministry.

Requests update

July continues to be a very busy month for Storehouse with much of the food that comes in going out almost as quickly. Even after all the food collected yesterday at our Sunday morning celebration, we are still running low on some items:

• tinned meat, meaty meals and tinned fish*
• tinned fruit and other desserts
• small boxes of cereal (eg multi packs, or weetabix etc which can be hygienically split)
• long life milk
• tea bags
• toiletries, especially toothpaste, deodorants, shower gel*

We have none of the items marked *

As kinships maybe take a break over the Summer, please keep an eye on this blog, and on the notice board on Sunday mornings for updates as to what we are running low of. We always try and make up a food bag with food for all the meals in the day, so we are always needing plenty of different foods, but we do run low on particular things at different times (although it's worth pointing out that we do have plenty of tinned soup for the foreseeable future). Please feel free to drop any food in at the Vineyard Centre at 15a Out Westgate during the week, or in the buckets on a Sunday morning. As Chris was mentioning on Sunday, we might never see the outcome of our actions, but as we reach out with compassion to those in need around us, we are showing God's love to the needy while at the same time allowing him to soften our hearts. Let's keep reaching out and at the same time listening to him as we join together to serve him in this way. Thank you.

Requests update

When I arrived at the Vineyard Centre on Wednesday morning, there were 6 or 7 Storehouse bags waiting to be collected, indicative of what a busy week and month it has been so far. As we had to make up plenty of bags, we are as a result running low on several items. We are right out of Tinned Fish, Shower Gel and Deodorants. We are also running low of tinned meat and meaty meals, instant noodles etc, pasta sauces, tinned desserts (we have just one tin), small packets of cereal, long life milk and tea bags. Please feel free to drop any gifts in at the Vineyard Centre during the week, especially if you would normally take them to Kinship and you might not be meeting up over the Summer. We really do appreciate all your gifts, because even one or two cans make a difference. It is wonderful that as a church we are all a part of this ministry as we give, and as we show God's love to needy people around us, in a practical way. Thank you.

Urgent requests update

After a brief lull in June, the start of July has been very busy for Storehouse, with over 30 bags having gone out already this month! As a result we are right out of tinned desserts, long life milk, deodorant and shower gel, and running low on tinned fish, tinned meat and meaty meals, potatoes (tinned and instant mash), cereals, pasta sauces, toothpaste and soap. Storehouse gives us a wonderful opportunity to reach out to needy people and, in a non judgemental way, demonstrate some of God's love for them. As you continue to give food and toiletries, that is what you are doing, and it really does make a difference. May God bless you as you do this. Thank you.

June stats

June this year was not as busy as last year, following a very busy May. We received 47 requests from 10 local agencies plus several non-agency requests, which resulted in Storehouse giving away 59 food bags to needy people in and around Bury St Edmunds and West Suffolk. As Louise was saying on Sunday (if you haven't heard her talk you can download it from the WSVC website), this is only possible because of what YOU do, as you continue to support this ministry. We are very grateful for everything that you give and let's pray that as we give, lives will be changed. Thank you

By way of an update on the requests front, we have recently received a large consignment of tinned soup, so for the foreseeable future we won't need any more tins of soup to be given to us, thank you. We are still short of several items though, as per last week's notice, in particular
cereals, instant mash, tinned meat and veg. Please feel free to drop any donations in at the Vineyard Centre, or bring to our Sunday morning Celebration. Thank you.

Requests update

I know the requests haven't been updated for a while, but the items we have needed have been pretty much the same. Just to keep things up-to-date, we are right out of the following:

• tinned meals (like ravioli, spag bol etc)
• tinned fish
• tinned potatoes
• shower gel

and we only have one carton of long-life milk left in the cupboards.

We are also running low on the following:

• tinned meat
• instant mash
• pot noodles and cup-a-soups
• cereals (variety packs or splittable packs like Weetabix are really great)
• snacks and cereals bars
• other toiletries - toothpaste, razors, deodorant, shampoo etc

We are truly grateful for everything that you give; when I spoke to people at the CAB AGM (see earlier posting), the question they kept asking was "where do you get all your food from". They were consistently amazed at the generosity that you show in bringing so much food to help people that you don't know, but who are struggling and in need. As we reach out in this way, I am sure that our actions touch more people than we realise, so please be encouraged. You really do make a difference, and may God bless you as you do so. Thank you.