Press releases

House of Hope plans 'Meal or No Meal'

PRESS RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 2009

House of Hope volunteers are planning the agency’s fourth annual “Meal or No Meal” Community Awareness Dinner, an event designed to raise funds for the agency and awareness about the vast number of people in Martin County struggling to keep up with life’s basic needs – food, clothing, shelter.

The event will be held 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 at St. Mary’s Pittenger Center, 701 E. Ocean Blvd., Stuart. Tickets for the event are $100 per person, and sponsorship opportunities are available. Please contact House of Hope at (772) 286-4673 or visit www.hohmartin.org for ticket and sponsorship information.

The evening’s meal will be presented by volunteers from area churches and will reflect the menus of the community kitchens that operate in Martin County. Participating are St. Mary’s Episcopal, Redeemer Lutheran, Hobe Sound Community Presbyterian, St. Joseph Catholic and St. Martin De Porres Catholic.

Last year’s event netted nearly $50,000 for House of Hope. Special fund-raisers for this event include a deluxe resort getaway to Grenada and a silent auction highlighted by fine dining and unique art. Entertainment will be provided by the talented St. Joseph School Jazz Band.

Co-chairwomen of the event are Kerry Caruso and Judy Rosenthal. The presenting sponsors are John and Donna Haas. Many more sponsorship opportunities are available.

During the evening, House of Hope executive director Patrick Slattery will outline the increasing need to offer a hand up to families who are overwhelmed by circumstances beyond their control, such as rising prices, job loss, injury, illness, aging.

“Most residents and visitors see only the beautiful life of Martin County,” Slattery said. “But thousands of low-wage workers and fixed-income seniors are struggling to keep up with the basic necessities of life.”

The current economic climate is plunging more and more families into crisis, as seen by the more than 80 percent increase in requests for service at House of Hope over the past two years.

“We have had a significant increase in ‘customers,’ but no similar increase in donations to match that demand,” Slattery said. “That’s why we must be successful in the Meal or No Meal event as well as other fund-raising efforts throughout the year.”

ABOUT POVERTY IN MARTIN COUNTY

Below are the most recent poverty statistics available for Martin County (2007, from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation and the U.S. Census Bureau):

• 41 percent of all jobs pay $25,000 a year or less.

• 20 percent of all households earn less than $25,000 a year.

• 8.2 percent of Martin County residents – about 11,400 people -- live at or below the federal poverty guidelines. Poverty levels are defined as $13,200 for two people; $20,000 for a family of four.

• 16.4 percent of single mothers, 16.1 percent of children, and 5.8 percent of senior citizens over age 65 live in poverty.

ABOUT HOUSE OF HOPE

Founded in 1984, House of Hope is the primary source of emergency food and financial assistance to residents of Martin County, and has become even more vital as the economic crisis makes life increasingly difficult for people with limited resources.

The agency operates four locations – Stuart, Hobe Sound, Indiantown and Jensen Beach – and four service programs: The Pantry Program provides food; the Clothes Closet Program offers clothing and household items to people who otherwise would go without; and the Emergency Financial Assistance (EFA) Program helps pay critical bills such as housing, utilities and medicine. A Case Management Program was added in 2008 to help guide clients from crisis to greater self-reliance and economic stability.

For more information about House of Hope, call (772) 286-HOPE (4673), or visit www.hohmartin.org.