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Gathering Change, Inc. Hunger Awareness Breakfast Raises $4,000 for Local Food Pantries
Fundraising event invites supporters to "Come to the Table"

NORTH READING, Mass. (March 24, 2011) - Gathering Change, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that distributes funds to neighborhood food pantries and social programs by collecting spare change from communities, raised $4,000 at its inaugural fundraiser breakfast, Come to the Table. Held on Saturday, March 19,  at the Thomson Country Club in North Reading, Mass., the event marked an important milestone for an organization that has collected approximately $70,000 in spare change for neighbors in need since its inception in October 2008.

According to the Greater Boston Food Bank, one in 11 people in the Commonwealth visit a food pantry, soup kitchen or shelter. With over 100 of the group's supporters in attendance, Gathering Change, Inc., President Dorothy Goodwin and Sandy Carriker, co-chair of Christian Community Service, discussed local efforts to combat hunger, which have become even more essential in recent years due to the economic downturn.

"In 2008 there were 425,000 Massachusetts residents who did not know where their next meal was coming from, and today there are 660,000 residents relying on a food pantry, and another 200,000 rely on a soup kitchen or a shelter for a hot meal," said Goodwin. "Gathering Change, Inc., invites everyone to come to the table to think about what they can do to help their neighbors with basic needs."

With its spare change donated from local communities, Gathering Change, Inc., has supplied food or funds to over 39 Massachusetts food pantries that provide immediate help to those that are hungry and cannot make it to their next paycheck. The organization is supported by an all-volunteer working board of 12 women.

Guests also learned more about healthy eating alternatives from Julie Soderblom of Soderblom Wellness and Liz Barbour of The Creative Feast. Lynnfield High School's all-female a cappella group, A Cabella, provided the musical entertainment, singing the national anthem, "Somewhere over the Rainbow," and "Say A Little Prayer."

"We believe that our spare change can changes lives, and we believe we can change the course of hunger with this simple act," added Goodwin. "If 1 million Massachusetts residents out the 6.5 million who live in this state saved just $50 in spare change, that would amount to $50 million raised. A year from now I hope I can tell that is what is happening at Gathering Change, Inc."

A percentage of the funds collected at the breakfast will be matched by the Rhode Island-based Feinstein Foundation $1 Million Hunger Challenge.

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Gathering Change, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization that collects spare change from our communities for distribution back into our neighborhood food pantries and social programs. The mission of Gathering Change, Inc., is to meet the immediate basic needs of citizens within our cities and towns who cannot achieve this goal alone. Gathering Change, Inc., gives everyone the opportunity to participate by sharing their abundance, thereby fostering a sense of interconnection, care and well-being throughout our neighborhoods. For more information, visit: http://www.gatheringchange.org.