Ken’s Corner Winter 2008

“We will open the book.
Its pages are blank. We are
going to put words on them
ourselves. The book is called
Opportunity and its first
chapter is the New Year’s Day.”
Edith Lovejoy Pierce
The start of the New Year is a
time for reflection and a time
for optimism as we recall the
best of the previous year, our
successes and challenges, and
look forward with renewed determination to make our
community a better place for all of our citizens. As I look
back at what we accomplished here at SVP in 2007 it is so easy
to recall numbers, the statistics of those served.

By the end of 2007 we project the following for the year: 30,000 individuals served in our Food Bank (just under 1 million pounds) 24,000 served in our Clothing Bank (over 150,000 pounds) 2,400 received Emergency Services (totaling $90,000) Coats and winter clothing distributed to over 1,500; season of sharing toys to over 1,900; school supplies and backpacks to over 1,300. Payee and counseling services and our community partners here on our campus: the busiest WIC Clinic in the County, the very successful Theater Arts for Children program , the ESD 101 Net School, our SNAP office…the list goes on.

To be sure, we served a lot of folks here last year (unfortunately, ours seems to be a growth industry). However, it is the stories behind the numbers that touch the heart. Each of us at SVP, whether volunteer or staff, board or auxiliary member spends some time directly serving those who come to us; and, each of us has been touched by many stories we have heard, stories of the human spirit, of perseverance, of courage, of love for a child, of love for an elder or disadvantaged person. In the next issue of Partners we are going to share some of these stories, not to be exploitive, rather to better illustrate why our work is so necessary for our communities’ well-being.

We at Spokane Valley Partners wish a prosperous and joyful 2008 for all of you.

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” Oprah Winfery