It is with great excitement that I – Delbert the Duck – announce my campaign to bring awareness about some important issues facing our community!
For those who don’t know me, I represent Neighbors, Inc., a local non-profit that provides emergency assistance programs to low-income members of northern Dakota County. This includes providing people with food, clothing, emergency assistance grants, holiday gifts, transportation to medical appointments, daily check-in calls and more.
You might think that poverty isn’t an issue in the suburbs, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Data shows that nationally, suburbs have the largest and fastest growing poor population, and South St. Paul, West St. Paul and Inver Grove Heights have some of the highest rates of poverty in Dakota County.
Last year, members of our community came to us 103,536 times and Neighbors was able to help by:
- Providing food to 15,933 individuals through the food shelf
- Serving 43,752 meals to kids during the summer
- Distributing 1,643 clothing vouchers
- Driving seniors to 2,122 medical appointments
- Providing holiday-related assistance to 950 families
- Organizing social events for 150 adults with developmental disabilities
- Offering 5,000 referrals to other forms of assistance
How do we do it? We are lucky to have a community that is generous with its resources. In 2015, 1,847 volunteers spent 48,510 hours helping serve their neighbors in need. In addition, donors and funders have seen the value of the services Neighbors offers and provide financial support through individual donations, grants and special events participation.
My goal, throughout the coming months, is to highlight the work that Neighbors is doing, why it’s important and how you can help. I look forward to connecting with you while I’m out and about in the community – at parades, local businesses and events – and encourage you to check out Neighbors on Facebook and Twitter for additional news and updates.
Quack, quack!
Delbert
P.S.: I love photos! If you take one with me over the summer, share it using the hashtags #Delbert2016 and #NeighborsInc.
***Neighbors, Inc. does not endorse any registered political candidate. ***