| | | Sit back, relax, and check out what's happening at Our Daily Bread! We're talking about getting back to our social center activities, working with other agencies, fun ways to help out, and a special save-the-date for the 2022 #Bread4Bread. Scroll on! |
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| | | We're so excited to be reopening our birthday program, and our guests are, too! Birthdays are important around here, and getting a gift bag with some thoughtfully-chosen items and a card can really make a guest’s special day even more special. Every month, kind people fill gift bags with small gifts, hygiene products, socks, lip gloss, notebooks, first aid products, and much more. We have a long list of ideas for what to include, and birthday bag donors choose some items and even add others! If you're interested in learning more or signing up for a birthday bag donation slot, check out the "birthday bags" section here: |
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| | | Our Daily Bread has always been more than just a meal. We provide respite from the weather and a safe space to recharge. This is especially important to guests experiencing homelessness, as most shelters aren’t open in the day. Pre-COVID, 52% of our guests were experiencing homelessness. Now, it’s 70%. Eating in community helps combat the loneliness that many guests face due to extreme poverty. We’ve all eaten meals alone, and we’ve all eaten meals together – we know which meals taste better. Many guests grab a quick bite on their way to work, so we are continuing to provide to-go meals for guests in a hurry. But, we have more guests dining in these days, and we now serve around 200 dine-in meals each day. Dine-in guests receive a full, respectful dining experience. 53% of our guests report using our services daily, and 27% visit us 2-4 times per week. Our guests depend on us, and, with your support, we have been here for them, adapting as we’ve needed to, but very grateful to return to what we were before. |
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| | | We are slowly but surely getting back to the social center aspect of what we do. We pride ourselves on providing not only food, but a space for socializing and relaxing as well. Our lower dining room is a quieter space full of new furniture- couches, big chairs, and three rocking chairs- for guests to nap safely, charge their phones and use our Wi-Fi, and just get comfortable. Many of our guests are unsheltered, and it can be hard to actually get good rest when you have to keep your guard up to stay safe. |
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| | | We’ve started having art day on Fridays during meal time, providing coloring sheets, blank art paper, markers, colored pencils, and other materials. Making art and coloring can be meditative, therapeutic, and relaxing, and the art table is a nice space for guests to talk quietly with each other and get creative. |
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| | | We have been working to bring resources to our dining room for guests on a weekly schedule, and it’s been going great. Mondays, we have Addiction Services Council providing connections to recovery and peer support. Tuesdays, Freestore Foodbank sends representatives to assist guests with getting IDs and birth certificates as well as applying for Medicaid and SNAP. Wednesdays, the Hamilton County Quick Response Team visits with harm reduction supplies and drug treatment connections. Finally, on Thursdays we host Goodwill’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program outreach staff (pictured above). We’re so pleased to meet and work with others who care about guests’ well being and want to provide them with support and assistance. |
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| | | Wondering how to help? Here's a list of some great ways to support our hungry neighbors! Donate Food: We always need food donations- making sandwiches (a great activity for groups!), baking brownies, or donating a pre-cooked dish we can heat and serve is a great way to help lighten the load in our bustling kitchen. Hold a Canned Food Drive: Bring together your church, company, neighborhood, or other group excited to help others with a simple activity that makes a direct impact. We're happy to help you get set up with materials and answer questions! Donate Goods: We always need goods donations of 55 gallon trash bags, Ziploc sandwich bags, toilet paper, and more. We keep our needs list updated on our website. We know some of you out there are really savvy shoppers with memberships to Costco or Sam's Club, and these are definitely things we need in bulk on an ongoing basis. |
| | If you can't make it down to drop off, purchasing from our Amazon Wishlist is a great option! It features foods, goods, kitchen supplies, ponchos, and more. Check out our newly-updated and expanded list here. |
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| SAVE THE DATE: #BREAD4BREAD |
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|  | Next month, YOU can help fight hunger and rescue good food- plus, win a fun 80’s-style design Our Daily Bread t-shirt and have your gift matched dollar for dollar! Create your own awesome fundraising page, create or join a team, or donate directly, all through our #Bread4Bread operations fund drive. Keep an eye on your email- we'll let you know when we launch! If you want a sneak peek of the t-shirt design, or if you just want to know what we're up to more often than a quarterly newsletter, make sure you're following us on social media: |
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| And that's a wrap- you made it through all our updates! Thanks for reading! |
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| | | | OUR VISION Every person in the Greater Cincinnati community has sufficient access to food, essential social services and a safe place of belonging. | | OUR MISSION The mission of Our Daily Bread is to provide stability and hope to guests in need by offering meals, hospitality and services in a safe, respectful environment, located in Over the Rhine. | | |
| CONTACT US Our Daily Bread
1730 Race Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
(513) 621-6364
info@ourdailybread.us |
| Copyright © 2022 Our Daily Bread, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you expressed an interest in supporting Our Daily Bread's mission. |
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