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The main objective of this project is to provide relief from poverty and food scarcity to at-risk adults in our community. Tempe South has chosen to partner with Tempe Community Action Agency (TCAA) to assist Tempe seniors in need to access food, especially as they are transitioning from homelessness to new permanent housing. Working with the TCAA team, Tempe residents like the members of Tempe South Rotary are connected to those in need.
Specifically, the club provides shopping assistance (3-5 club members) to needy seniors and adults in the community, as identified by TCAA through their Neighbors Helping Neighbors program. TCAA staff identify individuals in need, and obtain shopping lists from them. Once each month, the club obtains a shopping list for one or two individuals (or families) and basically does their grocery shopping for them. The club members (2 to 4 club members) then deliver the goods to their home or apartment. The club limits our expenditures to approximately $200 per individual or family. If two families are served each month, then the total monthly cost for the project is $400. The total cost for this annual project, if two such families are selected each month, is $4,800. Tempe South proposes to support this project in the 2025/26 Rotary year with approximately $1,800 through club funds with $3,000 in additional support from a District grant to ensure funding for two families each month.
About the Cooperating Organization, TCAA:
Tempe Community Action Agency (TCAA), was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in 1971, and envisions a society where every person has what they need to live a healthy, purposeful life. Their mission is to eliminate poverty and advance equitable communities. TCAA helps to lift economically vulnerable households in the East Valley out of poverty by helping adults and families enhance their stability and security by providing highly responsive support that helps them meet their goals. Their core services focus on four primary areas of impact: Food Security, Housing Stability, Health and Well-Being, and Economic Mobility, and as such embodies the the concepts of what we believe in Rotary.
Public Awareness of Rotary Sponsored Project:
Tempe South Rotary will partner with TCAA to make sure that both the beneficiaries served and the staff and volunteers at TCAA are aware of our club involvement. Furthermore, the club will lead supply drives during the course of the year to deliver items to TCAA for the beneficiaries, and we aim to have a delivery "ceremony" and photo op, which can be shared through club media and with local news. Finally, pictures are often taken of shopping projects to be included in the club's service project slideshow, shared at events like the annual Tempe Care Fair at the Tempe Public Library complex in March that is open to the public and gives visibility to Rotary and our work.
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