Our Round Up! campaign kicks off this week. When you shop in our stores, the cashier will ask if you want to round your bill up to the nearest dollar as a donation. All monies raised will be used to buy fresh winter vegetables for our two local food pantries, the IFC and OCIM. (Read more here.)
If you’re not familiar with the IFC, read about their important work below, and look for a profile of OCIM next week.
Seven local women founded the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service (IFC) in 1963 to fight poverty in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The organization now provides a range of services: emergency shelter, transitional housing, support circles, a community kitchen and food pantry, and financial assistance for those at-risk of becoming homeless. Life can be unpredictable, with en emergency situation arising at any time. The IFC’s services are an important safety net for our community.
Hundreds of people benefit from the IFC’s services. Last year, 357 people spent 25,622 nights in the shelter. The kitchen served more than 107,572 meals, and the food pantry gave away 13,303 bags of groceries to 1,702 households. Crisis intervention services provided $116,637 to pay rent, utilities, and other bills for 760 households; 643 people received medical, dental, or mental health services; and 1,169 prescriptions were filled.
The IFC has always partnered with other organizations and had help from volunteers. (Last year, over 750 volunteers worked more than 30,000 hours!) It works to create hope in both the lives of its clients and the lives of its workers, and to help clients overcome adversity and become self-sufficient. It is an institution based on respect for everyone, no matter his or her life circumstances, and a belief that we all have the power to make the community a better place for everyone who lives here.