MASSENA -- The Massena Neighborhood Center has kicked off its spring donation appeal so it can keep feeding hungry families.

The Food Pantry and Emergency Assistance Program directly aid individuals and families in need who reside within the center's service area.

The Fundraising Committee is again appealing to the generosity of friends, neighbors and local businesses, to consider making a donation.

Checks, made payable to the Massena Neighborhood Center, can be sent to 61 Beach Street, Suite 103, Massena, NY 13662.

You might also consider becoming a MNC volunteer. Only the director is a full-time paid position, and without the help of volunteers, there wouldn't be enough time to run programs such as those offered at Christmas.

The MNC Christmas program provides hot holiday meals and ensures children have warm hats and mittens, and gifts under the tree. Throughout the year the center also provides monetary assistance in a other areas, such as for utilities, rent, transportation costs, and prescriptions.

MNC also stocks and distributes food through their on-site food pantry. Each month an estimated 150 families receive a three to five day food package. With cutbacks in HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program), and emergency HEAP funding unavailable until January, families found it difficult to meet their home heating needs. The Neighborhood Center was able to help many meet the cost of 100 gallons of fuel to help bridge that gap until the emergency funds became available.

During 2011, monetary aid totaling $40,000 received through local donations and a one-time grant was provided for families in need.

Last year 948 separate families, comprising 2,615 individuals, received some type of assistance through the Neighborhood Center. Only 13.5% of these families own their homes, and 2.5% have no place they can call home.

According to MNC Director Elaine Eggleston, “The majority of these families fall under the category of “working poor” which means they are working for minimum wage, sometimes holding down two jobs, and often do not have health insurance through their employers. We are also seeing an increase in both male and female single-parent families and grandparents raising their grandchildren.”

The Massena Neighborhood Center is an outreach site of the St. Lawrence Community Development Program, Inc., which provides county, state and federal programs and a Neighborhood Center Director. The Center's goal is to help people help themselves through programs such as Crisis Intervention; Care & Share; Food Pantry; Family Development; Referrals and Advocacy; and the Christmas Program, to name a few. With questions or for information on any of these programs, please call Elaine Eggleston, MNC Director, at 764-0050.