LOWER CAPE OUTREACH COUNCIL Spring 2021
A Big Step Forward!
I’ve been around Lower Cape Outreach Council for a few years now. I’ve been here for moments of progress that have been central to our growth and our ability to serve our clients. When I started here as director of development, the whole organization was located in the basement of this building. Food storage, Katy’s Korner, three offices and our reception area where volunteers worked with card files.

Then the tenant upstairs decided to move out. It was a huge decision but we took a chance and rented the floor upstairs. Now the basement could accommodate so much more food and made it possible for our pantry managers to drop by anytime and find plenty of what they needed. It enabled us to have a conference room for board meetings and community events. It made it possible for us to have enough free space to invite WIC and MassHealth and eventually HAC to share space with us and make their services immediately available to our clients. 

Then we took another leap of faith and started the Hope Chest, our thrift and consignment shop which was a brilliant success from day one and thrived for ten years until there were just too many comparable shops opening up all over town. It was a risk but progressive members of the board felt it was a risk worth taking and a wonderful donor gave us $25k to cover all the decorating and computers and hardware and painting and knocking down of walls. The Hope Chest went on to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Lower Cape Outreach Council, profits we used to extend our range and depth of services. 

I could go on for hours with important moments, big steps and major advancements. Today we occupy the entire building. We have a computer lab with 8 stations for the community to utilize and for the clients who participate in our jobs program. 

Now another long dreamed about step has become a reality and I’m so happy to share it with you…
Our Beautiful Big
Mitsubishi Fuso Box Truck!
This will make so many things possible for our food program.
This past year has been a challenge for all of us. A record number of people turned to us for food support. In 2020 we gave out food valued at $836,435 vs. our 2019 total of $616,000. A major leap! This required us to make many trips to the Greater Boston Food Bank and it necessitated leasing a box truck to make these trips. An expensive proposition!

So we bit the bullet and bought our own truck. It makes sense on so many levels. In this time when we do not accept food donations, it enables us to always have plenty of food on hand. It enables us to deliver food to pantries when volunteers are in short supply. It enables us to think
expansively about our food program and to
bring food to an increasing number of people who cannot access our pantries for reasons of health or transportation.
What’s more, we now have a mobile billboard traveling everywhere from Provincetown to Boston letting people know that Lower Cape Outreach Council truly is “Going where the need is!”

I was here the day it was delivered and Howard started using the truck at once. 
I invite you to come by when you’re in the neighborhood and take a look for yourself. If the truck is here and Howard is too, maybe he’ll take you for a spin. 

One last parting shot, if you’re ever on Rte. 6 behind us, this is what you’ll see!
Now that’s a happy guy!
Good News!
This year, thanks to the generosity of the Fred J. Brotherton Charitable Foundation, we were able to provide 80 brand new Acer Chromebooks to local students who had no computers of their own. 
Whether a kid is studying in class or virtually or a hybrid version of both, a computer is an essential tool for classwork and homework, too.

Some households have no computer. Others have one which everyone shares. Others have an iPhone which has to meet everyone’s online needs.
Altogether these 80 computers cost close to $24,000. So, to the Fred J. Brotherton Charitable Foundation, I say Thanks on my behalf and on behalf of 80 students and their families.
Goodbye
This week we’re all feeling a little sad. We’re saying goodbye to our friend and colleague, Therese Dupree who has for several years served as Lower Cape Outreach Council’s database manager and bookkeeper. Gennie and Therese and I have worked as a team through good times and bad. Now Therese is retiring and will dedicate her energies to playing golf. She will be available to help to consult if we’re in a pinch.
So long Therese. You will be missed.
It’s That Time Again
The 18th Annual Super Restaurant Blowout has just launched. This incredibly popular event helps support our food programs while giving participants a chance to win 10, 8 or 6 nights on the town at some of Cape Cod’s very finest restaurants.

Tickets are $5.00 each or $20.00 for a book of 5 tickets. That’s right . . . 5 tickets for the price of 4!

This year, we are not asking our restaurant community to contribute the gift certificates. Like all small businesses, our local restaurants have struggled this past year. So, we are buying the certificates as a way to say thank you for years of support and friendship.
The drawing will be held on Thursday, June 24th and winners will be notified at once and posted on our website.

By now you’ve probably received our mailing for this event. If not, go on our website and order your tickets. www.lcoutreach.org.

We’ll put them right in the mail to you.
Good luck!
Good Friends
Our friends at Shaw’s here in Orleans come through for our clients with food donations all year long but they have gone much further by sending us a donation of grocery gift cards totaling $14,950.00. This grant was made possible by our local Shaw’s Market and their Holiday Nourishing Neighbors program that took place from November 27th - December 31st.
Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority
Starting in January the CCRTA is helping us and our clients in a major way. Every Tuesday they pick up bags and boxes of groceries and personal care items from our Orleans headquarters and deliver then to households from Harwich to Provincetown that lack transportation and cannot access our pantries. This is a major help and we are very grateful.
Massachusetts Aquaculture Association
The Massachusetts Aquaculture Association is coordinating a program to purchase large oysters from Cape Cod farmers, get them shucked and deliver pints of frozen oysters to local organizations that work to get food to people in need. Our first delivery was 100 pints of oysters. We supplemented the oysters with recipes and $20 gift cards so clients could purchase the other ingredients in the recipes.
“If you knew what I know about the power of giving,
You would not let a single meal pass
without sharing it in some way.”
Buddha
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