Our Mission: To encourage and enrich the lives of families and individuals living in rural poverty by establishing meaningful relationships, promoting education, and offering material aid.
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Dear Friends,
Summer 2023 is racing by us and school will be starting back before we know it!! The Box Project has had an exciting summer welcoming our NEW Summer/Fall 2023 intern Lily Rodenhiser and meeting with Dr. Pamela N. Walker to learn about her upcoming book titled Signed, Sealed, Delivered: How Black and White Mothers Used the Box Project and the Postal System to Fight Hunger and Feed the Mississippi Freedom Movement.
The Mississippi Delta has been hit hard over the past few months with a rash of severe weather that has directly impacted many of our Box Project families. If you are interested in supporting our efforts in Tornado Recovery for many of our delta communities affected, please sign-up to sponsor a family impacted by the tornados or donate to our Tornado Relief Fund. Be sure to designate your donation with the Community Foundation of Northwest MS to the Tornado Relief efforts.
Sponsor and recipient families, alike have been feeling the pinch of the current high cost of gas and everyday living expenses. Due to the current financial climate, many of our sponsor families have been forced to end their support. This has left us with the need to replace these families. Unfortunately, the number of new sponsors has stalled and we are in need of sponsor families ASAP. Please share the mission of the Box Project with your friends and family, and encourage them to become a sponsor for a family on our waitlist.
We hope you and your Box Project family are managing the stress of this situation well. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns regarding your family and/or continued support.
Sincerely,
Kara Dulaney, MS
Box Project Director
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The Box Project would like to WELCOME Lily Rodenhiser!
Lily is our new Box Project intern who will be with us through the fall of 2023. She is from Memphis, Tennessee; where she graduated from Hutchison School in May 2022. Lily is currently a sophomore at The University of Mississippi and is a Graham-McLean Institute CEED (Catalyzing Entrepreneurship and Economic Development) Innovation Scholar. Lily has been updating our website and assisting us with updating our records with new contact information and activity statuses, so do not be surprised if you hear from her via email soon! “I am very excited to be working with The Box Project! I have learned so much about the Mississippi Delta, and I have already had the pleasure of conversing with many sponsors and recipients. Over the last month, I have been emailing sponsors asking for updates as well as stories. Many of these personal stories have made me realize that The Box Project is much more than simply a box, but it is the genuine relationship that is built through the box that makes this organization so special.”
Lily would like to have sponsors & recipients complete the Box Project update form, linked HERE to assist her with the work she will be doing over the next several months.
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Dr. Pamela N. Walker is an Assistant Professor of African American and Women’s History at the University of Vermont. She is the grandchild and daughter of rural Mississippians, which led her to study history by asking questions about the origins of the fabric scraps in her grandmother’s apron. Her work broadly examines motherhood, race, activism, benevolence, ideas about the “South”, epistolary writing, and political consciousness in 1960s-era social movement networks. In comes the Box Project, she is currently working on a book titled Signed, Sealed, Delivered: How Black and White Mothers Used the Box Project and the Postal System to Fight Hunger and Feed the Mississippi Freedom Movement. Her book tells a new and illuminating story of ordinary black and white women’s overlooked participation in the modern Civil Rights Movement using one of the nation’s largest federal agencies: the U.S. Postal System.
We are very excited and look forward to reading Dr. Walker's book!! We will share the link to purchase the book Signed, Sealed, Delivered: How Black and White Mothers Used the Box Project and the Postal System to Fight Hunger and Feed the Mississippi Freedom Movement once it has been completed.
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The Box Project needs NEW SPONSORS to connect with families on the waitlist!! Please share with your friends and family about our efforts to end generational poverty! We encourage small groups (like a Church Sunday School Class) as well as individuals and families to make a difference in the life of those fighting poverty in the Mississippi Delta!!
Click HERE to become a Sponsor!
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The Box Project Referral Agency Annual Meeting was hosted in February at our Clarksdale office. The agency leaders discussed ways to improve retention of sponsors and to increase efficiency in the referral process.
We are so grateful for the work that these ladies do to keep the Box Project referrals coming in!!
Pictured: L-R: Chelesa Presley (Diaper Bank of the Delta), Adrianna Ellis & Carol Mack (Delta Health Partners), Kara Dulaney (Box Project Director), Trena Robinson (St. Gabriel's Mercy Center) & Linda McGee (Jonestown But God Ministries)
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COMING SOON!!
We enjoyed touring the NEW FOOD PANTRY and THRIFT SOTRE in Mound Bayou at St. Gabriel's Mercy Center located in Bolivar County serving Box Project recipients in the area. Please let your recipient families know about the wonderful resources available at this referral agency partner.
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TORNADO RELIEF IN THE MS DELTA |
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The Box Project was "Boots on the Ground" during the early recovery efforts in several delta counties affected by the tornados this spring. If you are interested in assisting a family in recovery click HERE or just to support the efforts of our Tornado Relief Efforts click HERE.
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Sponsors, please be diligent in communicating with your Box Project Family during this current financial climate. This is a time they may need extra guidance and encouragement as well as help with basic household items to help curve the pinch from increased cost of food and transportation.
As you know we strongly discourage recipients requesting financial support. However, if you are able and feel that your family's household could benefit from assistance with transportation or food costs, please send a gift card instead of cash or Venmo (cash app, etc). Be sure to communicate that the offering of support is limited and not to be expected or requested by the recipient family.
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Is your Box Project Family benefiting from a Food Pantry? In the next few weeks, we will be reaching out to the pantries to try to identify if our Box Project Families needs are being met. If you know that your family has benefited please let us know by email to director@boxproject.org which pantry is meeting their need. If your family needs help with food, let us know and we will try to help you get them connected with a pantry. |
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Friend Raise- Share about your experience with your Box Project Family, and encourage others to consider sponsoring a family or donating to help sustain the Box Project's mission.
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Stimulus Checks- For those who do not need the CARES Act stimulus check, consider donating to the Box Project.
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Retirement and IRA Required Minimum Distribution-Consider a roll-over to the Box Project Current Giving Fund or Endowment for tax advantages.
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Planned Giving-As you review your long-range estate and financial plans, ask you financial advisor the benefits of including the Box Project in these plans.
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Non Traditional Gifts -You may receive tax savings by donating stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other assets. Please check with your financial advisors for tax savings you may receive by donating to the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi designated for The Box Project.
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Create a Better Tomorrow, Make a Difference Today |
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The Box Project, program of the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi.
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Connecting People Who Care With Causes That Matter
Established in 2002 with a generous grant from the Maddox Foundation
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COMMUNITY FOUNDATION NEWS |
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About the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi:
The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi manages 240 donor-established funds. Established in 2002 with a generous grant from the Maddox Foundation, the Community Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Foundation serves Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Leflore, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, and Tunica counties. A board of 19 volunteer civic leaders governs the Community Foundation. Learn more about the Community Foundation at www.cfnm.org or call 662.449.5002. Follow the Community Foundation on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CFNM315/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CFNM_2002
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