We are entering the fourth week of the 2011 Summer Food Drive, and the response has been fantastic!  Thank you to all the generous Vineyard OP people who have graciously donated food to help out the kids right here in Overland Park.  An extra special thanks to Bob and Penny Balfour and Kathy Patch for being the team that has moved hundreds of bags of food down to the north end of the building, sorted it, bagged it for delivery and delivered to Head Start.

What’s this all about?
Even here in Johnson County, numerous families rely on school lunch programs to provide lunches for their children during the school year.  Once the summer months come, and school is out, that benefit is gone, and many of these kids simply go without food during the day.  This need was brought to our attention by our friends at Head Start of Shawnee Mission, and together we developed the Summer Food Drive to help address this need.

Because of Head Start of Shawnee Mission’s close relationship with the families in our area, they are keenly aware of when their children are food insecure.  With their close relationship with the families, they know best where the need is.  By partnering with them, Vineyard OP has the opportunity to help address immediate needs and to be Jesus right here in our own backyard.  

We’ve signed up to support Head Start for nine weeks from the first week in June to the last week in July.   That’s 99 bags of groceries over nine weeks.

This is just another way Vineyard OP seeks to be the best friend our city ever had.

Thanks for your dedication to serving Vineryard OP!

David Andersen