The Haverhill Taste Of The Town

"The Haverhill Taste Of The Town"

Hosted By BJs Wholesale Club

Saturday, March 19th

11:00-2:00 PM

BJs Wholesale Club

25 Shelly Road

Haverhill, MA 01832

Some of our best sweets will be available for sampling at

The Haverhill Taste Of The Town.

We welcome you to stop by this public event to try some of our goodies and pick up some information about our 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale.

The event will also feature delectable free samples from area food vendors.

 

Dollar Days Raffle Tickets Will Be Available At This Event!

Purchase a $1.00 raffle ticket and be entered in to win a $50.00 gift basket from Cookie Central!

Cookie Central Visits Lazarus House

I met Dennis McCarthy from Lazarus House at a recent Friends Of Kevin networking event. Were it not for the shred of class I have, there would have been visions of me barreling on top of people to make my way across the crowded room to meet Dennis. You see, I knew two things: 

1. I am passionate about fighting to end childhood hunger in America and have been looking for a way to get more involved locally.
2. Dennis was representing Lazarus House, which, at the time, I understood to be a local food pantry. (Boy was I wrong!)

The funniest thing was, when I finally got the chance to speak with Dennis, we didn't really speak at all. He handed me a card and said to set up a tour. I am so incredibly happy I set up that tour! Until today, my understanding of Lazarus House was naive. I am floored by how vastly they impact our community and how progressive the programs they offer are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our tour began at Lazarus House, a shelter located in the Arlinton District of Lawrence, MA. The house, opened in 1983, provides homeless families and individuals food, a bed and a roof over their heads. But the home doesn't stop there. They provide people with the resources to create a life for themselves, in fact they insist on it. The folks behind Lazarus House understand that good people land in unfortunate situations, but they also know that a hand out can only get someone so far...what people really need is a hand up. By providing the residents of the shelter with things like daycare, educational classes, job assistance, money management...the list really goes on and on...and on, they allow the residence to focus on something that will benefit them more than a simple handout, bulding a future. Curious what the success rate of building that future is? 92%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part of Lazarus House's programs is St. Martha's Food Pantry. Their goal?

" To provide food to anyone who is hungry and comes to our door. To eliminate hunger within our community so that people are better able to face their other daily challenges - sustaining housing, paying rent, pursuing jobs, and completing educations."
Here, people can come on Wednesdays and receive a bag containing up to 4 days worth of food. Bagged luches are also available. So, how many families does St. Martha's Pantry provide food to during an average week? As Dennis says, the number has gone up (as you can imagine in this economy) to approximately 600 families per week....a staggering number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another food program offered by Lazarus House is Good Shephard Soup Kitchen. Monday through Friday between May-October and 7 days a week from November-April, a continental breakfast and hot lunch are served. This kitchen is open to the public and the food that is provided is obtained exclusively through donations!

You can also find a Lazarus House Soup Truck on Friday and Saturday nights handing out food, blankets, gloves and hats durning the months of January, February and March.

In all, Lazarus House's food prgrams help to feed approximately 8000 people a month...
again, staggering!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My blog could very quickly become a novel with all the amazing things I learned today. What I can say for certain is that I look forward to volunteering for this organization. I look forward to participating in their events. And I hope that they continue to be the anchor in the lives of so many people in this community. If you live in my area (The Merrimack Valley) please, please, please set up a tour! This tour gave me such an honest grasp of what this organization does for so many people and how much their organization is really needed.

Thank you so, so very much for reading! ~ Michele :)

=========================================

Lazarus House Ministries

www.LazarusHouse.org

978-689-8575

~

Cookie Central's 3rd Annual Great American Bake Sale Update!

Our Great american Bake Sale season is kicking off in 10 days and we at Cookie Central are so excited to be commencing this annual event with the Online Raffle "Dollar Days" on March 10th!  We will be posting all the specifics with links when we get our 2011 Cookie Central Team Page up and running, but let's just say it's going to be super fun! 

I have also posted an updated overview of what (and when) to expect for other great promotions and events we have on the docket.  Many of the dates need finalization...out of our little hands at this time, but We will be updating  as dates and times are set, so please check back!



Online Events:

Dollar Days: An Online Raffle (March/April)

• Donate $1 and be entered to win a $50.00 Gift Basket from Cookie Central

Take The Pledge Rally (April/May) 

• We will donate $1 for every Facebook Fan that takes the No Kid Hungry Pledge! Simply visit http://nokidhungry.org/ take the pledge, post it to our Fan Page Wall and we will donate a dollar on your behalf.
• Not a fan?  Like us today at Cookie Central's Fan Page

Donate & Save: The Give and Get Event (May/June)

• Donate $5 and receive a 5% off coupon
• Donate $10 and receive a 15% off coupon

Cookies With Care (June/July)

• Send a Care Package with love and  100% of the money will go towards our 2011 GABS
• Care Package options
• 1 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ $10.00
• 1/2 Pan Classic Brownies ~ $15.00
• 1 1/2 Dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies & 4 Classic Brownies ~ $20.00

Events In and Around Town

April:
We're working on it :)

May: 
North Andover's Sheep Shearing & Craft Festival
On The Common
North Andover, MA
Date: TBD

June:
We're working on this one too :)

July:
North Andover's 4th of July Celebrations
On The Coomon
North Andover, MA
Date: TBD

September:
Great American Golf Tournament
Merrimack Valley Golf Club
Howe Street
Methuen, MA
Monday, September 26th

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to get involved? Call or email me!
Michele Gorham
978-423-1215
mycookiecentral@gmail.com


~~