The Family Resource Center will be open Monday, April 6. The center is changing its’ focus. It’s been a place to build relationships and hang out together, providing a hand up not a hand out. They have shifted gears temporarily during the COVID crisis, and only the food pantry and personal care items are available until further notice.
Families are allowed limited time to pack a couple bags of needed items and then head out. The staff does check in with them and provide support the best they can. It is really important that families can have the choice to pack their own bag of items instead of handing out food boxes when they come in. They do deliver food boxes as the need arises and are following CDC guidelines: using hand sanitizer and gloves and social spacing.
Here are some ways that people can help support our students/families within the current guidelines:
If you shop at Rosauers, you can purchase a $25 gift card to donate to the RFRC. You can leave it with the checker and the cards will be picked up each week. It has worked out great so far and families are very appreciative. This allows them to get items that they can use outside of what the Center has in their pantry.
Making food donations directly to the RFRC is challenging right now. You can email Chris Poppert (christine.poppert@ridgefieldsd.org) and she can arrange for food donations to be picked up from your porch or they can be dropped off at the back door of the Nazarene church.
Another way to help is to support Compassion 360. This is a non-profit group that operates as a ministry out of the Nazarene church. This group partnered with Ridgefield School District over four years ago to start the family resource center. They are now one of the many partners that the RFRC relies on to support students and families. There are times that families need certain resources that can’t be accessed through RFRC donations. Compassion 360 is able to provide access to those resources as a non-profit. They have helped the RFRC provide a broader range of resources for families.
The church currently has a Go Fund Me page for virus shortfalls. You can donate on the church website or send a check to the church made out to Compassion 360 with ‘virus shortfalls’ on the memo line. The mailing address is PO Box 118, Ridgefield WA 98642. Check our their website: https://www.compassion360.org/
Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a vital food resource for our community. Many of the families that RFRC works with receive help from them. They are Ridgefield’s only food bank. They hand out food boxes on Tuesdays from 10-12:30pm. You can reach out to them to see what you can do to help. 360-887-3354
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