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Ballantyne Families Helping Neighbors In Need |
NEWSLETTER - JANUARY 2025 |
Happy New Year! As we welcome 2025, I’ve been reflecting on how our community has come together over the past 4 ½ years. Thanks to your incredible generosity, we’ve provided over $500,000 in grocery gift cards and food to more than 14,000 people! These numbers are astounding, but even more inspiring are the stories of the people behind them. From giving donations to creating heartfelt cards, organizing food drives, volunteering in the pantry, and taking on leadership roles in Ballantyne Families Helping Neighbors In Need—every effort, big or small, has made a tremendous impact.
December Holiday Support In December, our community came together to support 97 families, providing: $11,825 in grocery gift cards 198 bags of food for holiday meals Nearly 300 encouraging notes from the community A resource guide to connect families with additional support
Here are some heartfelt messages we received from families we helped: “I wanted to again say thank you so very much for the generous gift. My eyes filled with tears as I read the cards they meant a lot. I put them on my refrigerator as a reminder of the love that has been shown.”
“To a community that has invested a lot of time and effort to make families like me feel loved and special during the holiday seasons. Thank you for providing that extra support during these times and just know that the hard work that you and the others put forth never goes unnoticed.”
“Just taking a moment to give thanks to the Ballantyne families for all the support and help from the bottom of our heart we appreciate and are very thankful for all you do to help our family. Happy Holidays and thanks for brightening up our holiday as well.”
“I would like to take this time to thank you for your generosity. Words can’t express how grateful I am for your help during this season. Thank you for your tremendous support. Me and my children are very grateful. Keep being a light!”
A quote I saw recently feels especially fitting: “Never stop doing little things for others. Sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.”
Celebrating 5 Years of Impact As we approach our 5th Anniversary, we’re deeply grateful for everyone who has supported our mission to ensure none of our neighbors in need go hungry. To mark this milestone, we’re planning some exciting events to celebrate and reflect on all we’ve achieved together. Stay tuned for more details!
If you’d like to get involved, we’d love to have you join our volunteer planning meeting on January 14 at 9:45 AM at Community House. Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/ES8YQXk2ynezNRi99
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our mission. Here’s to an incredible 2025 filled with compassion, generosity, and impact!
Thank You! Heather and Team Ballantyne Families Helping Neighbors In Need
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What a Great End to 2024 for the Pantry!
Thanks to your incredible support, we’ve had a truly successful year. To date, we’ve fulfilled 150 pantry requests, providing nearly 3,000 pounds of food! That’s an amazing achievement, and we’re supporting an average of 10 families each week.
Over the holiday break, we were fortunate to have some special helpers lend a hand. A huge THANK YOU to Audi Naftzger and her son, Ethan, as well as Laura McCluer and her son, Patrick. They generously gave their time to sort, date, and organize new inventory, along with tackling other important tasks. Their efforts made a big difference in keeping the pantry running smoothly.
Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year! We’re so grateful for your continued support and look forward to an even brighter 2025.
Thanks to the following people who volunteered this month in the food pantry; Vimmi Borkar, Alyssa Cowell, Susan Dalton, Amulya Deepak, Melissa Graham, Dominique Greve, Susan Hicks, Erin Holm, Denise Oswald, and Kim Pongetti and our pantry leadership team Erin Furey, Tammy Menzel and Sheilah White.
Sincerely, Erin, Tammy, and Sheilah |
Food Drives/Partnership Update |
We are grateful for the groups that collected food donations in December for our pantry. Community House Middle School’s band and orchestra collected items at their winter concerts. Thanks also goes out to Allison Martin for hosting a drive in her neighborhood as well as to the Velayo Family for their generous donation to the pantry.
Our pantry team recently reported that we have given out over 3,600 items of food since the beginning of the 2024 school year. We wouldn’t be able to do this without local families and community groups collecting food items for our pantry!
We have several schools collecting in February as part of their school service projects with their students and families. We are grateful for the partnerships we have with our schools and their support of us so that we can help school families and employees with food assistance.
Best, Lauren Rosenbaum |
DOMINIQUE GREVE, Congratulations on being selected Volunteer of the Month for Ballantyne Families!
We asked Dominique to share why she likes to volunteer for Ballantyne Families:
"I am truly grateful to have been a part of Ballantyne Families from the beginning and love that I have witnessed the enormous impact and growth over the last few years. The thought of families struggling to feed their children is truly heartbreaking. I am thankful for the opportunity to volunteer at the pantry and be able to provide some relief to these families."
Thank you so much for your constant support, Dominique! We hope you never stop doing little things for others. Sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.
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Let’s Make a Difference Together in the New Year!
Together, we can make 2025 our most impactful year yet! We’re looking for enthusiastic volunteers to support our mission in various areas: 5 Year Anniversary Celebration Volunteers – Help us plan our 5 year anniversary celebration. Your first meeting will be on January 14 at 9:45 am in the cafeteria of Community House Middle School. To RSVP, go to: https://forms.gle/ES8YQXk2ynezNRi99
Corporate Sponsors – does your company provide support to local nonprofits? As demand continues to grow, we estimate we'll need to raise over $50,000 to support area families struggling with food insecurity in the new year. We would love more corporate sponsors to join in and help with our summer food support. . Please email heather@ballantynefamilies.com if you have questions or think your company could help.
Adair at Ballantyne, Ardrey Commons, Ardrey Crest, Ardrey Kell Villages, Ardrey Woods, Ashton Grove, Auburn Place, Ballanmoor, Ballantyne Commons, Ballantyne Meadows, Balmoral Park, Berwick, Bexley At Ballantyne, Blakeney Greens, Blakeney Preserve, Bridlestone, Brittany Oaks, Cady Lake, Cardinal Woods, Carlyle, Carmel Commons/Crossing, Carolina Crossing, Carolina Village, Churchfield, Colony Woods, Copper Ridge, Country Club Estates, Coventry Court, Danby, Daventry at Southampton, Edinburgh, Ellington Park, Estates at Oakhaven, Farmington Woods, Fieldstone, Glenfinnan, Highgrove, Hunters Gate, Innisfree, Ivy Hall, Kenilworth/Amberleigh, Kingsley, Landen Glen, Landen Meadows, Manor at Oakhaven, Maplecrest, Marvin Chase, Oak Ridge, Oakbrooke, Olde Blakeney, Orchid Hill, Park Lake, Park Ridge, Parkside, Piper Glen, Polo View, Providence Country Club, Providence Crossing, Providence Pointe, Providence West, Provincetowne, Raeburn, Rea Farms, Reavencrest, Richmond Hill, Rougemont, Scotts Hill, Sonoma, Southgate Commons, Southpoint, Stonebriar, Strathmoor, The Retreat, Thornhill, Vanderbilt at Providence, Vineyard, Weston Glen, Williamsburg, Woodside Falls, Wyndham Oaks, Wynridge Estates.
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Thanks to the following organizations and people who volunteered this month in the food pantry: Harris Teeter for donating $300 in grocery gift cards and 600 reusable bags.
VT Seva for inviting us to their event in December.
Ballantyne Magazine for having us in their Winter issue (page 20).
South Meck Presbyterian Church and their parishioners for having us at their Alternative Gift Market and generously donating to Ballantyne Families.
Thank you to Twisha Shetty for making extra decorated envelopes for our December giving campaign.
Angela Stewart, Becky Rogers and Ryan Neelsen who work in the front office of Community House Middle School and graciously accept and move all the Amazon packages that we receive for the pantry along with working with all of the extra people who come to the school to work with Ballantyne Families.
Thanks to the many people who have purchased food items for the pantry through the Amazon Wish List. You have really helped fill our pantry shelves!
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14023 Lissadell Circle
Charlotte, North Carolina 28277
USA |
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