Food collected for Lamb House
Recently the Dave Mungenast Marina celebrated Christmas in July by having a canned food drive for the Lamb House. Thanks to our generous customers, we were able to gather a boat-load of groceries to donate to this great organization.
If you’re not familiar with the Lamb House, we’d like to take this opportunity to share some information about what they do.
Imagine…
- You’re the kid in gym class who fakes being sick all the time because the truth is the only pair of shoes you own are two sizes too small and it’s too painful to run in them.
- You and your spouse were living a nice, middle-class life until the economy tanked. Now you’re both unemployed, the savings are gone, the refrigerator is empty and your kids are hungry.
- You finally get the chance to leave your abusive spouse and you take it, literally escaping in the middle of the night with just the clothes on your back. You’re never going back, but where do you go from here?
Who helps these people and the thousands more like them facing similar situations each day in the Camdenton area?
The Lamb House can… with your help.
The Lamb House was started back in 1988 by a group of local churches who wanted to combine their efforts to help those in need of emergency aid. Today there are 14 churches that sit on the board of the Lamb House which is a non-profit, 501C3 faith-based organization.
Today, the Lamb House is an emergency food pantry for people who are not on food stamps as well as a resource to educate people on how to go about getting government aid such as food stamps. The Lamb House also provides emergency funding for disconnected utilities and prescription medicines.
In 2009, the Lamb House helped just under 11,000 clients. This year the economy is causing a greater number of people to seek their help. According to Pat Woodward, manager of the Lamb House, “Fifty percent of our clients this year I have never seen before.”
Pat told us that summer food donations are especially important. “Donations like the ones from the Marina are critical to us in the summer. During the school year, kids are able to get free lunches through the school but in the summer they don’t have many options.”
I did a quick Google search and discovered that at the Dogwood Elementary School in Camdenton, 53.9% of the students are eligible for the free lunch program. That translates into a huge need during the summer.
In addition to the food pantry, the Lamb House has several programs designed to help area residents.
Sue’s Shoes
The program enables any Camdenton school nurse to contact the Lamb House and make arrangements for a child to get a new pair of shoes. Seeing the look on a child’s face when they are getting the first pair of brand new shoes is the favorite part of Pat’s job. “It’s amazing to see a ten-year old light-up when they put on their very own pair of Nike’s that fit their feet perfectly.”
Senior Citizen Voucher Program
The Camdenton County Senior Citizen Tax Board enables the Lamb House to provide any Camdenton resident who is sixty years old or older and currently on food stamps, with a $40 food voucher they can use at area grocery stores to get the special food items they choose.
Burn Closet
This is a program that provides clothing, small kitchen appliances and other household items to those clients who are starting all over. This is especially helpful for people leaving an abusive home without any supplies or those who have suffered fire or flood damage in their home.
In order to fund these programs, the Lamb House relies on private donations of food, money and used clothing. One hundred percent of the food and money donations are given back to the community. The Lamb House uses the clothing donations in their clothing store where they sell the items at a significantly reduced price. The proceeds from the clothing sales are then used to fund their programs as well as pay the operating costs for the organization.
If you would like to make a donation to the Lamb House to support the critical work they do, they may be reached at:
Pat Woodward, Manager
Lamb House
50 Illinois Street
Camdenton, MO 65020-6886
(573) 346-2168
Hours: Monday – Friday: 9:30AM to 1PM
Saturday: 9AM to Noon
Thank you again to all of our terrific customers who helped raise food for this organization that does so much.
