Throughout the year, the Allen Community Outreach (ACO) serves to provide food and financial aid to the homeless and underprivileged of the Allen, Fairview, and Lucas areas. The holidays mark an especially important time for the ACO, as they work to provide home cooked meals for each financially struggling family in Collin County. However, this year the ACO has struggled with lack of donations, and faces a shortage of food available for Thanksgiving.
Marjorie Vaneskahian, director of volunteer services at the ACO, knows why the ACO has experienced such a drop in donations this year.
“Since January 2011, the ACO food pantry has given more than 200,000 pounds of food to families,” Vaneskahian said. “The amount is unprecedented, so we know that there is a new need for food assistance. It’s taking more donations to serve the families coming in this year.”
The ACO normally caters to a remarkable 200-300 families per Thanksgiving season. However, this year the number and the need for food has increased
“Donations are vital to supporting this need in our community,” Vaneskahian said. “Recently it was reported that homelessness in Collin Country had raised 106% from 2010 to 2011.”
The ACO, contrary to popular belief, does not cater to food needs only.
“ACO is here to help with rent assistant, utility bills, clothing and food as some of the basic needs,” Vaneskahian said. “We want to prevent homelessness and with donations of food, clothing, and financial support we can keep many families from facing homelessness and hunger.”
For most, however, it’s the lack of awareness of the problem that keeps the ACO’s shelves empty this year.
“ACO? I don’t even know what that is,” sophomore Maggie Compton said.
But there are the few that have given time, financial support, or food to the cause.
“I helped out at an ACO food drive, and we got a ton of food from random neighborhoods,” sophomore Caryn Reeves said. “It’s important to donate, because we have so much to give and the homeless don’t have anything.”
Vaneskahian agrees with the importance of the program, and provides ways to stop donation shortages in the future.
“The community can best help us with regular donations year round so that we don’t get so low in the Spring, late Summer, and just before the holidays,” Vaneskahian said. “Families depend on our pantry weekly to supply them with groceries to feed their families during difficult times.”
The food items needed are: grocery store gift cards, canned hams, bisquick, corn meal, corn muffin mix, flour, sugar, canned pie filling, pie crust mix, canned veggies, yams, marshmallows, stuffing mix, instant mashed potatoes, rice, dried beans, canned fruit, canned gravy, broth, canned milk, foil roasting pans, pie pans.
To make a donation, visit www.acocares.org, or drop-off food at the First United Methodist Church of Allen gymnasium on 601 S. Greenville Ave. from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
