Fill the Plate, Feed a Family 2019 Kick-off

The Gray House is kicking off its fifth annual “Fill the Plate, Feed a Family Challenge,” an on-line fundraising initiative which will run from Sunday, Sept. 1 through Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.

The Organization has set a goal of raising $15,000 for the month of September and is asking the community to help them reach this goal. All proceeds will directly support their Market, a food assistance program which serve an average of 460 households each month.

The efforts will kick-off at Hot Table, Tower Square in Springfield on Wednesday, Sept. 4 where 50% of proceeds from sales throughout the day will benefit The Gray House. Patrons must present the cashier with a fundraising flyer: Digital version or Print version. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno will be arriving between 11:30am and noon to make his annual donation in support of The Market at Gray House.

Throughout the month, The Gray House is asking for monetary donations to help fill the plates of families in need. Donations can be made at www.mightycause.com/FTP2019 . The first $4,000 donated through the site will be matched thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor. More information can also be found  at www.GrayHouse.org/FillThePlate.

Since beginning this fundraising initiative in 2015, The Gray House has raised over $44,000 to support the food assistance operations. “The donations from “Fill The Plate” are leveraged to provide food to families in need, individuals who are homeless, the elderly, veterans and folks from all walks of life. We encourage donors to post on social media and share with their networks so that we can raise awareness of food insecurity in our community and raise the much needed funds to support these efforts,” says Teresa Liberti, Executive Director at The Gray House.

In September of 2018, The Gray House re-branded its food assistance program to ‘The Market at Gray House’ and began offering evening hours on the second and fourth Fridays of each month. “These changes helped us to reduce the stigma associated with food assistance and improve accessibility to ‘working poor’ families in the community. As a result, we’ve seen an increase in the number of individuals served each month of 20%. The funds raised through Fill the Plate are invaluable in allowing us to continue making improvements such as this,” stated Liberti.