Dear Colony Project Supporter,
The Bridge Fund (TBF) is proud to begin our second year partnering with
The Colony Project (TCP), Jill Kushner’s visionary initiative to combat hunger in Bonita Springs and Estero. We kicked off the 2020 season and cheered the success of the 2019 programs at the sixth annual Colony Project luncheon February 11, hosted by Jill.
If you attended the luncheon
at The Colony Bay Club, you heard that in the first year of TCP and TBF partnership, we together fed hundreds of our neighbors—school children, families, adults and seniors—at risk of food insufficiency. Speakers enthusiastically described the feeding programs that would not exist without our successful collaboration. Your generous contributions have made a real impact. Here’s how:
UPDATING THE COLONY PROJECT'S 2019 FOOD INITIATIVES
Two speakers from
Café of Life
described the unique programs established with TCP funding last year. Thanks to you, 30 families in migrant camps received deliveries of weekly grocery staples; 27 senior households got much appreciated produce and dairy products brought to their doors, and at Thanksgiving, turkey dinners with all the trimmings; and weekend take-home meals—complete with a frozen chicken or ground beef, rice, beans and tortillas—were distributed to 58 families at Leitner Park every Friday.
The executive director of
Blessings in a Backpack Southwest Florida
thanked you for providing 268 local school children with weekend take-home packs to assure that they had access to nutritious, kid-friendly food between lunch at school Friday and breakfast back at school Monday. T
eachers report that test scores, reading skills, behavior, general health, and attendance have improved dramatically as a result of students getting the nourishment they need.
In addition, 28 families of preschoolers at
RCMA’s Child Development Center in Bonita Springs
received bags of groceries at their camps, delivered by the school bus every other Friday afternoon.
WHAT’S AHEAD FOR THE COLONY PROJECT
This year, we hope to meet or exceed TCP’s 2019 accomplishments. Luncheon attendees helped us celebrate $70,000 raised thus far for 2020’s feeding programs. We hope to continue the projects already in place for the full year, plus add, if funding will allow:
•
Another grocery distribution program of shelf
-
stable items for up to 25 local seniors
•
More home-delivered holiday meals for seniors
•
Additional children provided with Blessings in a Backpack at Bonita Springs and/or San Carlos Elementary Schools
Our ability to provide critical nutrition to more food
-
insecure seniors and children will depend on TCP support. If you have contributed this year, our sincerest thanks. If not, we hope that you will consider once again helping us feed your neighbors in need. We will send an update in the late spring to give you a final donation tally, and let you know what our current projects and any new ones are accomplishing.
Thank you for supporting The Colony Project 2020!
The Bridge Fund
