January Issue - Oxford/Orion FISH

January, 2016
Angels, Angels everywhere as FISH
ends the year with a huge success
Inside this
Issue:
* Special thanks to 2
all AngelFISH
volunteers (male
and female) for
their spirit of giving
More than 200 children from the families of our
FISH clients had a brighter and happier holiday
season thanks to the 2015 AngelFISH Christmas
Gift-Giving Program.
“It was a true success, a huge success,” said Lynn
Kennis, who heads the program for Oxford/Orion
FISH. “This year we had extraordinary donors and
an incredibly dedicated and hard-working team of
AngelFISH volunteers who helped put smiles on
the faces of our children on Christmas morning.
“There were angels everywhere,” she added,
“from those who volunteered to adopt a child and
buy items on his or her wish list, to those making
a financial contribution or buying items for the
Bonus Tables, to the host of volunteers who helped
with the setup and distribution of the gifts.”
Continued on the next page
* FISH food
drop-off locations
*
*
*
*
Katie Perry and other students from St.
Joseph’s Religious Education Program
brought plenty of smiles along with their
boundless energy and enthusiasm to Myrick
Hall where they helped to arrange the bonus
tables and ready the room for FISH clients
coming to pick up the gifts for their children.
Bulletin board
3
We’re going green
Next meeting
Prayer line
* Record year
of outreach
4
We welcome your
comments and letters.
Don Danko, editor, at
[email protected].
Pantry is located at 487
First Street, Oxford
Township, MI 48371.
Hotline: 248-628-3933,
Option 0.
AngelFISH volunteers gather by one of the bonus gift table at St. Joe’s Myrick Hall preparing for the
distribution of the gifts to FISH clients to help make a brighter and happier holiday season possible
for their children. More than 200 children received gifts this year through the AngelFISH program.
Page 2
Continued from Page 1
“Our AngelFISH Committee would like
to extend a very heartfelt thank you to
all of our generous donors,” Lynn said.
“The program ran so smoothly because
of the incredible support we received
from our fabulous FISH volunteers,
family and friends, Colleen Schultz
and the seventh and eighth grade
students from St. Joseph's Religious
Education Program.
“We are also extremely grateful to
St. Joseph Catholic Church and
School. Without the use of Myrick
Hall for three days this amazing giftgiving program would not exist.
You don’t have to be female to be an Oxford/Orion FISH angel, as the ROMEOs (Retired
Orion Men Eating Out) frequently demonstrate by helping to unload deliveries from
Gleaners. December’s delivery (above) required plenty of angelic assistance, which they
gratefully provided. Eric van Amstel (page one photo) may be far from becoming a
ROMEO, but he sure provides heavenly help moving those plastic storage crates around.
“Not only were our FISH clients blessed with the generosity of so
many, but other agencies also received donations from some of the remaining items on our Bonus Tables, including Love INC, The Giving
Tree from St. Joseph, and The Grace Centers of Hope for the homeless.
We are truly fortunate to have such a spirit of giving in our community.
“Those of us who were volunteers received quite a blessing as well,”
Lynn added. “We were on hand to see the overwhelming joy on the
part of the children’s parents as they picked up the donated gifts for their
children. They were moved, and so were we. Thank you, everyone.”
Bell Veterinary Clinic made donations to our food pantry part of the opening of its new
Oxford location at 845 S. Lapeer Rd. FISH family member Belle Danko, a Portuguese Water
Dog, gave Santa a thank you visit on behalf of FISH during the clinic’s holiday open house.
Oxford/Orion FISH food drop-off locations
Following is a list of drop-off locations that can be used to contribute items to the pantry. Contributions can
also be dropped off at the Oxford/Orion FISH pantry in Oxford. See our website (oxfordorionfish.org) for
specific hours and days of operation at the pantry and the locations shown below.
Lake Orion Post Office
611 N. Axford St.
Lake Orion, MI 48362
ONTV: Orion Neighborhood Television
1349 Joslyn Rd.
Lake Orion, MI 48360
Oxford Post Office
52 E. Burdick St
Oxford, MI 48371
St. Joseph Catholic Church
714 N. Lapeer Rd.
Lake Orion, MI 48362
Hollywood Market
1101 S. Lapeer Rd.
Lake Orion, MI 48360
Oxford Village Offices
22 W. Burdick St.
Oxford, MI 48371
Lake Orion United Methodist Church
140 E. Flint St
Lake Orion, MI 48361
fLipSpot
233 Kay Industrial Drive
Orion Township, MI 48359
Paul’s Barber Shop
87 W. Burdick St
Oxford, MI 48371
Grondins Hair Center
1041 S. Lapeer Rd.
Lake Orion, MI 48360
Addison Township Offices
1440 Rochester Rd
Leonard, MI 48367
Page 3
Bulletin
Board
Items that top our pantry’s Wish List for January include . . . chili, Manwich, canned pasta, mandarin oranges
and evaporated milk. Check our website, oxfordorionfish.org, for other items as special needs arise.
Looking ahead to our 2016 food drives . . . we are in need of a number of volunteers, preferably who drive a truck or
large car, who would be willing to pick up food items at various locations and deliver them to our pantry. If you can
help, please contact Judy Miller at [email protected] or call 248-390-9250. Also, volunteers please note that FISH
will no longer have drop-in stocking at the pantry on the fourth Saturday of the month.
Our Volunteers of the Month . . . are the employees of the Meijer Store in
Oxford who worked especially hard in the months of November and December
administering its Holiday Simply Give Campaign which raised significant funds
for our food pantry. The funds are allowing us to put higher quality and more
nutritious items both in our pantry and in the kitchens and refrigerators of our
clients. Meijer employees like Heather and Nathan (photo) also assist in handling our weekly food order which typically fills two cars.
A special note of thanks . . . to Bill Yott and Metropolitan Publishing for the
complimentary printing of all 12 of our monthly FISHline newsletters in 2015. We are grateful for their continued support which allows us to keep our donors and volunteers informed on all our client needs and programs.
Our gratitude is overflowing
Our deepest appreciation to King of Kings Lutherean
Church for its recent food collection drive and Christ the
Redeemer Catholic Church for its soaps drive. Sincere
thanks as well to the Oxford Tap Room and Cooper Standard
in Leonard for their recent pantry donations; and to L.
Brooks Paterson’s group for its “casual day” donation.
Pantry totals for November
Households served:
Individuals served:
Amount of food:
Number of new clients:
182
414
16,670 pounds
9
Our next General Meeting will be held at 9 a.m.,
Thursday, January 14, at the
Lake Orion United Methodist Church.
Everyone is welcome to attend.
The Prayer Line
In thanksgiving for all the support we received from our volunteers in 2015.
For all those who have helped our neighbors in need by participating in the 2015 Holiday Simply Give Campaign.
For Ann Avesian and John Jarvis on their continued recovery from health issues.
For Mary Boberg as she continues her recovery from a stroke.
Almighty God, whose great commandment is that we shall love our neighbors as ourselves, and who has taught us that
we should do to others as we would have them do to us, we ask your blessing upon the work and growth of the FISH
movement throughout the world. As our purpose is to help our fellow persons, and to promote all that is good in the
life of our community, so we pray that you will strengthen our hands in all our undertakings, and that your work may
spread the spirit of fellowship and goodwill among all people.
Page 4
A record year of outreach
As we look to 2016 and the opportunities we
will have in the coming year to reach out to
our neighbors in need, we want to also look
back to the past year of FISH programs and
activities and say thank you to our donors
and volunteers for making possible what has
been another record year of outreach.
We will publish a full report on our food
drives and other activities for 2015 in the
next issue of FISHline. However, we’d like
to note that all those activities would not be
possible without the support of an entire
community of groups and individual volunteers who give so generously of their time.
One recent example was a Saturday pantry
visit made by Junior Girl Scout Troop
71142 (photo) from Paint Creek Elementary School in Lake Orion. Their troop leader is Heather Kavanaugh.
Parents brought the girls and a few of their siblings to the pantry for a day of service. “They did an outstanding
job,” said FISH director, Ron Wood, “and they needed very little supervision. They just got right down to
work crating and tagging all the food we received from Gleaners and TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance
Program) earlier in the week, and they had a lot of fun doing it.”
Oxford/Orion FISH
P.O. Box 732
LAKE ORION, MI 48361
Nonprofit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
PERMIT NO. 44
Lake Orion, MI