We are amazed and humbled every year how the PHP program grows each year.  We are very grateful for the local community and businesses support every year that allows us to do all the great work we do.  We are thankful for all of our volunteers who give hundreds of hours volunteering at our programs, organizing our fundraising events and programs and being involved on our committees and board. Our program remains 100% volunteer run. Every penny raised and donated goes back into one of our six programs.  In 2023, Perry Helping Perry with the help of the community assisted the community with:

·      Food Pantry – We provided over 213,000 pounds in food assistance to an average of 181 families (535 people)

                 each pantry twice a month. 

·      Clothes Closet – We served 780 families throughout the year free clothing, toiletry items and household goods. 

·      Diaper Program – With our partnership with the Heart of Ohio Diaper Bank, we provided 11,010 diapers to

        infants and adults. 

·      Sack Snacks – We provide 340 students weekend snack bags weekly throughout the school year. 

·      Bike Program – We refurbished and handed out 310 bicycles to children and adults. 

·      Back to School Program – We provided 322 students with backpacks and school supplies.

·      Christmas Assistance – We provided 416 children with Christmas gifts.

Every year, our volunteers and community continually amazes us with what we can do coming together as Perry Helping Perry. Your generosity of love, donations and time has allowed us to meet the needs of the community in record numbers.

Food Pantry Program

   * Hosted 24 drive through food pantries where we averaged about 148 families, which included about 414 people per handout. 

      In total, we served over 3,500 families (or almost 10,000 individuals) throughout the yea   

   * Purchased 145,955 pounds of food and hygiene items through the Akron Canton Food Bank on an average of 21 cents per pound. 

      We accepted food drive donations through Perry Local Schools and Dare Program along with personal donations though local 

      businesses, churches Perry Fire Department and Diehl Subaru.

Snack Sacks Program

   * Served 350-370 snack sacks weekly during the school year for students Pre-K to 12th to have breakfast, lunch, and snack items

      for the weekend. 

Clothes Closet Program  

   * Became distribution partner from the Heart of Ohio Diaper Bank in September. Along with diapers, we are able to obtain

      adult diapers, wipes and women products as supplies are available.  

   * We are continuing to see an increased traffic flow into the Cloth Closet. The generosity of the donations is greatly appreciated

      by the clients. 

Bike Program

   * Rolled out 317 bikes through our Bike Program, including their partnership with the Christmas Program. Over the last three,

      we have given out a whopping 805 bikes and in addition to helmets. 

   * Stay tuned for more information about our next Bike Giveaway Event on June 10, 2023.  

 Back to School Program

   * Equipped 228 students with backpacks and school supplies in July before the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

Christmas Program

   * Helped 424 children (ages birth to 18) have a brighter Christmas by giving Christmas gifts through the Christmas Program

      and Bikes from our Bike Program. 

Fundraising Events

   * Hosted our sold out Golf Outing in July & be on the lookout for our 2023 Golf Outing being planned for July 23, 2023. 

   * Hosted our 2nd annual Quarter Auction with another planned for October 22, 2023.

Biggest Day of 2022 for Perry Helping Perry – December 17th

   * Staffed over 100 volunteers between 3 locations at Christmas that served 190 families (553 people) through our food pantry,

      aided in our Christmas program, and took donations along with helping shoppers at our Clothes Closet.  

We are grateful for our program coordinators who organize and volunteer to run all of our programs, our board members, and most of all the community that nevers fails to make it possible for us to meet the needs of Perry. We are proud to be a 100% volunteer organization!

If you would like to learn more about our programs or how you can become a part of our organization, check out our website at perryhelpingperry.com or contact us at perryhelpingperry@gmail.com.

For over a decade Perry Helping Perry has operated on the love the Perry community

has for one another. In 2021, your generosity has helped PHP to assist over 110 individuals through our Hardship Program, hand out backpacks and school supplies to 147 kids,

given out 333 total bikes to get kids and families outside together along with getting adults

to work, allowed 122 families to shop for over 300 kids at our Christmas program,

distribute almost 300 snack sacks within the schools each week totaling over 10,000 going

out for the school year, provide a facility that allows our clients to shop with

dignity for clothing and housewares all at no cost to themselves, and has allowed us to

serve over 3,000 households containing almost 10,000 individuals with over 165,000 pounds

of food just from the Akron Canton Food Bank alone at our food pantry.  Every penny donated to

Perry Helping Perry goes straight back into our community and we are so very grateful for

your continued support!!! 

Melissa Thompson Chairman of Perry Helping Perry

2020 has been a very different and difficult year around the world. What I have seen throughout 2020 is not only the isolation, challenges, and struggles of families, but how this community takes care of each other. Those of us at Perry Helping Perry have been fortunate enough to witness firsthand the generosity of the people of Perry Township whether past or present. What I want to tell all of you is THANK YOU because with each and every donation and volunteer hour received in 2020 they have allowed us to reach out to help lift up so many in our community during these unprecedented times. The way this community pulls together will never cease to amaze me and warm my heart. Words can not express how truly amazing each and every one of our volunteers are and how without them nothing we do would be possible.When asked what word I would use to describe 2020, the word I chose was Grace. The grace and adaptability our program directors, volunteers, and patrons have shown this past year is so astounding it is beyond words. We have all worked together to not only adapt, but to improve our programs to better meet the needs of our community. I want to reflect on 2020 and what we were able to accomplish as we start our journey together into 2021.

The food pantry held 21 food distributions in 2020 compared to our normal 12 per year. At those food distributions, we served 2,649 households which is equal to over 8,000 people. This year alone we have served 318 new families in Perry and spent nearly $20,000 at the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank for a total of over 113,000 pounds of food. In addition to receiving a grant from the Food Bank, we were also fortunate enough to receive a $15,000 grant from Perry Township as a part of their COVID grant.

This year included a lot of changes to our Clothes Closet Program. Through the generosity of Richville United Church of Christ and our faithful team of volunteers, the clothes closet program has been helping those in Perry for almost a decade. Even with their amazing support, we felt that we needed to make some changes to better serve our patrons. While the Clothes Closet was closed due to COVID, we moved into a location that allowed us to expand as well as becoming handicap accessible. In addition, the old Feist Hardware building allows us to be within walking distance to more of our patrons. Opening day at the new location was on August 1st. From August through October we had 203 patrons shop for themselves and their families. In that same timespan, with the bountiful donations received, we were able to distribute over 35,000 items to our walk-in clients as well as distributing any overflow to area senior and assisted living facilities, convalescence facilities, crisis situations, local churches, veterans, foster children and through agencies like the United Way, Red Cross and The Salvation Army for emergency situations ensuring no donation ever goes to waste. None of this could have been done without the commitment to making the most of the new location, the hard work put in by all of our volunteers to make this program a success, and the businesses that were willing to donate. The kindness and generosity of Perry shines through the smiles on our patrons faces.

Our Snack Sack Program has continued to help provide food for school age kids on the weekends. They receive their bags on the last day of the school week or for virtual students they can be picked up at lunch pickup. This year we are packing and distributing 360 bags weekly throughout all of our Perry school buildings. We are so grateful for our volunteer packers that have made it possible for the program to continue. We can not thank you enough and can not wait for things to become safe again so we can get all of our volunteers back with us packing.

After a two year hiatus the bike program was brought back in 2020. We started with 19 bikes donated by the Perry Police Department in April with a goal of trying to give out 50 bikes in the summer. The strong dedication to the program resulted in that goal being blown out of the water. From April through December 20th, we have given out a total of 186 bikes to kids and adults in the Perry Community. The biggest thrill was to be included in the PHP Christmas Assistance program where 54 bikes were picked out for children. The goal for 2021 is to have 300 bikes donated and to give out a bike helmet with each bike. Bikes can still be donated by dropping them off at Waikem Subaru.

We have two seasonal programs at Perry Helping Perry that are designed to help families in need. This year our School Supply Giveaway was able to help 65 families for a total of 144 kids. Each child was provided with a backpack, school supplies, and a shoe voucher before the start of the school year. At this year’s Christmas Assistance Program, we had 147 families for a total of 373 children signed up for Christmas assistance. The families were scheduled for a time and were able to come “shop” to pick out wonderful Christmas surprises for their children. As we look forward to 2021, the word that describes it for me is Hope. I have hope that we can continue to reach more and more families through our programs, hope that we can build stronger community relationships, and hope that we can find a way to have security in a world that will never be quite the same as it was before. No matter what this year brings I know one thing and that is we are in this together!

Warmest Wishes for a Happy New Year!

Melissa Thompson Chairman of Perry Helping Perry