Last year's goal was 12,000 snack bags...and we knocked it out of the park! Snacks in Sacks, together with help from all of you, delivered 13,364 snack bags to our outreach partners: Street Reach, Kept, Inc., Jacob's Ladder, The Forgotten Louisville, Keep Louisville Warm, and Louisville Outreach for the Unsheltered. If you follow us on Facebook, you may have noticed their shout-outs. More importantly, you probably noticed how grateful they are to take vehicles full of snack bags to meet the ongoing needs. Please know that what you help us accomplish means so much to those who receive the bags as well as to those who serve them.
2023 introduced us to even more groups of people who share our desire to give food to those who struggle with homelessness, hunger, and food insecurity in our local communities. Thank you for finding us and for reaching out. In an attempt to express our heartfelt gratitude, we wanted to highlight the ways that each of you have helped us have a successful year of outreach. And we wanted to show our volunteers, of all ages, making a difference one kind act at a time. We see you. And we appreciate you.
Another important piece of this puzzle has been KY Harvest - an organization that works to eliminate hunger. Because of our affiliation with KY Harvest, we were able to rescue 400+ pounds of non-perishable food items from a local elementary school last year for our snack bags. That's HUGE!
We would like to thank Amazon Smile for the $60.08 that was deposited into the Snacks and Sacks account in 2023 before the program was discontinued in February. We'd also like to thank Kroger Community Rewards (and the 7 households who are supporting us, at no extra cost, through their shopping) for the $129.80 deposited during 2023. Finally, we'd like to thank Walmart for their Spark Good program. We have 18 individuals who are choosing to round up purchases made online to send some change our way: $37.16 was contributed during 2023.
Lastly, we heard our teenage volunteers request an easier means to donate, and we responded with setting up a Venmo account. As always, every dollar donated goes into purchasing supplies for our snack bags, and Snacks in Sacks continues to be a 100% volunteer-operated nonprofit. Thank you for supporting us across whichever platform works for you. Whether you donate your time, your snack food items, your money, or a combination thereof, we COULD NOT make all this happen without you!
January
The owner of Precision Home Inspections KY started the New Year by pledging on FB that he would donate a package of snack food to SIS for everyone that hired and completed any inspection during 2023 - and he did! What an unexpected and cool way to start the year. Thank you so much, Eric Pohler!
February
Several supporters helped "show the love" by putting together 410 snack bags to give to those in need. My family and I look forward to this challenge every year now. It's pretty easy to host a small event if you're interested: pick a date, choose a number of bags you plan to fill, and decide how to split up the food categories for each person to purchase. Alternately, you can handle the shopping and have your guests simply bring a smile and helping hands. Another way still is to organize a collection at work or school and gather together to fill gallon storage bags with snacks, like the CPFI group pictured below.
The Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International at Sullivan University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences showed Snacks in Sacks some love by making and dropping off snack bags.
March
Our Friday evening event at Fern Creek United Methodist Church was a rewarding ending to a long week and resulted in 1,423 bags for Street Reach. Thank you to those who came out to help and to those who sent supplies beforehand. We always love having events at the place where Snacks in Sacks first got started.
Additionally, students from St. Martha Catholic School volunteered their time in March to collect supplies and make over 200 snack bags. Thanks friends!
April
Ahrens Work Transition Program showed up big again this year for Snacks in Sacks. They assembled a total of 975 bags during March, April, and May. Thank you all for continuing to support our mission!
May
Many thanks to countless students (and their families) from Trinity High School for making and dropping off more than 900 snack bags from March-May!
Many of these families contributed 25 bags each, so you can see how a service project that ripples through a school can have a HUGE impact. These young men really embody the spirit of giving back.
June
Snacks in Sacks received a $3,800 grant from the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels to make around 2,000 bags for our September bagging event. Thank you to our loyal supporters whose faithful monthly contributions help us qualify for grants like these!
Early summer created an opportunity for our board members and some friends to gather and make 1,000 bags for houseless outreach! We got to enjoy the beautiful weather and each other's company while contributing to something bigger.
July
The Carrithers Middle School volleyball team made 100 snack bags! A big thank you to these awesome student-athletes. Studies, sports, and service? Look out world - here comes our bright future!
August
Thank you to the St. Michael’s community for hosting Snacks in Sacks. It took approximately 85 volunteers about 30 minutes to make 1,446 snack bags for houseless outreach! We appreciate everyone who donated and everyone who came out to volunteer.
September
Our bag filling event at Fern Creek United Methodist Church was a huge success. We made 2,192 bags and had 100 bags donated before the event for a grand total of 2,292 bags. We had a lot of new faces come to volunteer, including groups from Amazon Logistics and St. Gabriel. Thanks to everyone who attended, donated, and otherwise helped make this event so amazing!
October
Thank you so much to the St. Michael 8th grade class for making and dropping off 350 snack bags! That's 700 proteins, 700 treats, 350 breakfasts, 350 crackers, 350 chips, and 350 fruits more than we had before your support.
November
A thousand thanks to Primrose School at Old Henry Crossing and Primrose School of East Louisville for selecting Snacks in Sacks as the beneficiary of their annual Caring and Giving Food Drive. The schools collected and dropped off 5,000 items of snack food!!!
A Primrose teacher stated: "We truly believe that who children become is just as important as what they know. And we love teaching our children about finding the joy in giving back to our community." I love that they prioritize teaching the importance of generosity!
We had several other generous groups giving back to their communities throughout November including Cub Scout Pack 109, St. Edward Girl Scouts, and Down Syndrome of Louisville.
Cub Scout Pack 109
DSL chose Snacks in Sacks again this year for their 10th annual “ThanksGIVE” party and made 298 snack bags for the homeless.
We wrapped up our November feeling grateful to Knowfully Learning Group for awarding Snacks in Sacks with a $2,500 donation to make 1,000 bags with Ahrens. Teamwork really does make the dream work.
December
Our St. Martha event was a huge success. We made 2,525 bags, a Snacks in Sacks record!
Thanks to everyone who donated and volunteered, and thanks to Super Troop 194 for sponsoring the event.
A big thanks to St. Edward Cub Scout Pack 175 for making 520 snack bags at their Christmas party! We love that you thought of us, especially during the busy holidays!
And, to close out 2023, we received news that we were awarded a $5,000 grant from Spectrum again this year! What a blessing. We appreciate all the gifts, big and small. It's been an amazing year. Thank you for inviting us into your lives. Thank you for including us in your service projects. Thank you for believing, like us, that no one should go without food. The need is big. But, with you all, we are growing. We can't wait to see what 2024 brings!
