HARVEST DAY RAFFLE
Please check this portion of our website for descriptions of raffle items as they are received. The website will also have an order form that can be used to purchase tickets for raffle items. Please check back frequently, as items arrive all the time and are added regularly. The calendar of meeting and events will indicate at which public venues our raffle will be available. Please come out and support the 2008 MWA Harvest Day Raffle.
“After my mom died, the last thing I wanted was for people to ask me questions because I was still sore and it made me sad just to say her name. But Mommy’s Light wasn’t like that. They weren’t just a charity group throwing gifts at us. They specifically planned a tradition that I used to do with my mom. My tradition helps me keep my mother in my head without it making me emotionally drained.” There are more than 20,000 maternally bereaved children and teens living in the Delaware Valley region and more than 626,000 nationally. When a mother is terminally ill or dies, a multitude of questions, emotions and concerns can arise for her children and adult family members.
Mommy’s Light provides free bereavement education materials and tradition fulfillment services to help answer these and other questions. Our mission is to bring joy and comfort to children and teens by helping them keep alive traditions and simple pleasures they shared with their mothers. Our web site (www.mommyslight.org) is a valuable educational resource filled with practical information presented in a sensitive and meaningful way. Founded in 1997 by Mary Murphy three months before she died from cervical cancer, Mommy’s Light annually (1) provides tradition fulfillment services to more than 150 children and teens and (2) distributes more than 36,000 bereavement education packages. The average annual cost per child is $1,623 and the average cost per education package is $1.63. 74% of our expenses are program expenses, 20% are fundraising and 6% are operating. Mommy’s Light is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Proceeds from the Makefield Women’s Association’s raffle will be used to support Mommy’s Light’s work in Bucks County, PA. www.mommyslight.org
Bucks County Housing Group is a private, non-profit, social service organization that provides a wide range of housing and related social services to homeless and low-income families. Housing Group owns and operates five Homeless Shelters and three Food Pantries in the county. Bucks County is an affluent county, but homelessness, poverty, and hunger are very real issues for many of our neighbors. Housing Group opened the first emergency shelter for homeless families (typically moms with children) in Bucks County in 1980. Since that time, we have expanded services to support clients through the challenges they face as they work to transform their lives. It is difficult to imagine that people go hungry in Bucks County, but the fact is almost 30% of all Americans go hungry EVERY day. The most startling trend we see is the number of families with TWO WORKING adults who cannot make ends meet and must use food pantries to feed their families. Food pantries are supposed to address emergency needs, but are rapidly becoming a regular resource for many community members struggling on the thin edge of poverty. During the last two years, the Food Pantry in Penndel has experienced a huge increase in the demand for food. In 2005, this food pantry served 6,400 individuals. Throughout 2006, this number climbed to 11,000 individuals. In 2007, this small food pantry served almost 17,000 individuals, 45% of whom were children! Despite these increases, the amount of State and Federal food the pantry receives has stayed the same. It has been quite a challenge to keep food on our pantry shelves, but with the help of concerned and caring citizens, we have never had to turn away anyone in need of food. Please help us continue to help those in need in our community. www.bchg.org/food.html
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