NEWS
New Pantry Shelves Improve Safety and Capacity
For every organization, big or small, strategic planning is critical; and the initiatives that come from that work vary in complexity and effort. New commercial pantry shelving may not seem like the stuff of strategy-making, but when that new shelving improves safety and maximizes storage and display capacity for our core program, that puts the project in a whole new perspective! Our shelving project was months in the making, and it was unveiled mid-February after a four-day shut-down of the pantry. Our Building and Grounds committee and pantry staff lead the project with the help of some hard-working volunteers. The...
Thank You 2023 Golfers & Sponsors!
Thank You Golfers & Sponsors! Another successful Circle of Concern golf tournament is in the books, and we are grateful to everyone who made this event possible! The event raised nearly $35,000 ($5,000 more than 2022!) for the food pantry and our other programs. Many thanks to our hosts from St. Mark Presbyterian Church, our dedicated volunteers, Greg and his team at Aberdeen and our players who are the lifeblood of this popular tournament! We especially want to thank our sponsors, who are the foundation of this event! Presenting Sponsor – Orthopedic Specialists Leaderboard – BASF St. Louis Hydration –...
So Much S’more than Camp!
Mention summer camp, and visions of swimming, arts & crafts and maybe the ubiquitous chocolate marshmallow sandwich come to mind. Summer camp means so much more, especially for the children of Circle clients. To date this year, 104 children have been awarded Summer Opportunity camperships. The nearly $13,500 in camperships cover admission to summer enrichment of the child’s choice. Swim lessons? Absolutely! Baseball? Sure! Music lessons, cooking classes, theater or chess camp? Yes! These camps provide instruction and play, but they offer even more. By engaging children in extra activities in the summer, they tend to remain intellectually engaged between...
Circle Celebrates a Fulbright Scholar!
Every recipient of a Circle of Concern scholarship is a winner. After all, the competitive application process assures that each student has already laid a path toward success, thanks to good grades, strong goals and a willingness to work for a bright future. Sometimes, though, the future shines a little more bright. Fulbright, that is! Lucy Grimshaw, a four-year recipient of a Circle scholarship, is now a Fulbright Scholarship awardee! Fulbright Scholarships are highly competitive awards that support international studies, professional connections and a broad, global perspective for the recipients to then bring home to serve their communities at home....
Nutrition Insecurity / Garden Greens
Garden Greens & Healthy Families The last few years have brought many changes to Circle of Concern. One of the most popular of them has been our on-site garden, which produced nearly 2,000 pounds of colorful, varied fruits and vegetable for our clients in 2022. Plans are underway for this spring’s planting, and volunteers are poised to get seeds in the ground and harvest in our clients’ kitchens. We also look forward to the generous surplus that our home-gardening friends bring to share. Local church and community gardens bring such abundance, too. Throughout the summer, beautiful tomatoes, greens, beans and...
Drive-Up Donors!
Drive-Through Food Drive at Circle Saturday, April 22 – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 112 St. Louis Avenue in Valley Park Hosted by King of Kings Lutheran Church Amazon Wish List » Saturday warehouse donation drop-offs are back! During Covid, we couldn’t take donations in our warehouse on Saturday, but we’re open on Saturday now, for your convenience! Cap off a busy week with a feel-good drop-off of needed foods on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Our volunteers will be happy to help you unload. Check out our Amazon Wish List for items we need the most now....
2023 Circle of Concern Golf Tournament
The Fairway is Full! Our player roster for the 17th Annual Circle of Concern Golf Tournament is SOLD OUT! We are grateful for our friends who will join us on the links on Monday, May 22 at Aberdeen Golf Club in Eureka!* There’s still time to support Circle with a sponsorship to promote your business, club, team or family to a full flight of happy golfers. Levels range from $150 to $1,500, and we will be happy to provide signage and multiple mentions at the event and afterwards. Sign up to sponsor here, visit www.circleofconcern.org or scan with your phone...
Program Snapshot: Scholarship
We love our scholarship program which, this year, is awarding 12 renewal scholarships to students already in post-high school education and nine scholarships to new students fresh out of high school. Here are just a few reasons why we love this program so much: Several students are entering medical fields, including a future nurse, physician’s assistant and neurosurgeon. Two awardees are the first members of their families to attend college; their entire families are rallied behind them and their success. One student opted to finish the last two years of high school remotely to save money and, more importantly, to...
Holiday Adoption Open
The holidays start early at Circle! For the past two years, thanks to your generous support, every Circle client received a gift card by early December to celebrate the holiday season, instead of receiving gifts at a large, crowded event. This year, as we’ve inched toward more normal times, we asked our clients which they preferred from the Holiday Adoption program. Overwhelmingly, our clients reported that the gift cards gave them the most flexibility in giving their loved ones the most fulfilling holiday. As a result, although we all miss the holiday fun of shopping for our adopted families, we...
Votes are Counted!
With curbside service – and pre-filled bags – over, clients are happily back in the pantry, choosing their own favorite foods and flavors. Offering a client choice food pantry is important for some very important reasons. First and foremost, it affords all Circle of Concern families the dignity of making their own decisions about that most elemental thing – what is served on their own dinner tables. Another huge benefit of client choice is that it means less waste of foods that people don’t enjoy. When clients choose foods they know they will eat, they, in essence, vote for those...
