Star Staff Reports
Millington Crisis Center Executive Director Lois Wilber says she has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of new families in our community seeking assistance at the Millington Crisis Center Ministry over the summer months. She also notes an alarming increase in the number of young people, ages 18-25 coming to the Center for help. The all-volunteer nonprofit has been working for nearly 30 years to assist families in our community in crisis. With a meager assured monthly budget of $846.16 provided by three local churches, the Center pays its own utility bills and insurance for the small house they occupy, and more importantly, provides families in distress with help. From rent/housing, utilities, gas for transportation, clothing, personal hygiene products and household items, just to name a few, as well as referrals to other area agencies, the Center’s mission is to bridge the gap for those in crisis. According to the Crisis Center’s Board of Directors, the Center provided assistance to 144 families during the month of August. Donations and volunteers are critical to the Center’s ministry. “We are in dire need of funds as well as volunteers,” Wilber says. She outlines several ways people in our community can lend a hand in the Crisis Center’s ministry that don’t cost anything: Kroger Community Rewards® makes donating to the Crisis Center easy. All you have to do is shop or purchase gas at Kroger, swipe your Kroger Plus Card and the Millington Crisis Center will receive a contribution based on your purchase from Kroger. Hopefully, you’re already enrolled and have been earning funds for the Center since January. However, even if you’ve been enrolled in the past you must re-enroll every January. If you haven’t done so this year, please take a moment to re-enroll now for your future donations to go the Center. And, if you do not yet have a Kroger Plus card, now’s a great time to sign up! They are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger and there is absolutely no cost to you other than what you’re already spending. It has no effect on your Kroger Plus discounts or fuel points. To enroll or re-enroll, go to kroger.com/communityrewards, log in or sign up for a free Kroger account. Then, enroll in the Community Rewards program, search for Millington Crisis Center and click on the name to confirm. The organization number is 81018. You can also support the Crisis Center through the AmazonSmile program, an automatic way for you to generate contributions every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of your purchases to the Crisis Center once you’ve selected it as your charity of choice. Just go to smile.amazon.com and select Millington Crisis Center from the list of charitable organizations. Then after you shop, the Crisis Center will receive a donation from your eligible purchases. AmazonSmile offers the same vast selection of products, the same price and the same service, and it supports the Crisis Center, too. The Crisis Center participates in Terracycle®, a recycling program that provides funds to charities based on the amount of specific items collected. Items include cereal bags or inside liners, triggers and pumps from cleaning supplies, individual and family-size plastic chip bags, plastic cups coded (6) for recycling, foil drink pouches – rinsed out, electronics including non-working cell phones, iPods, webcams, laptops, tablets e-readers, cameras, camcorders, GPS units, calculators and power chords. Also collected are foil wrappers from energy/protein/granola bars, plastic food storage bags or containers, plastic baby food pouches and caps, inkjet/laser/toner cartridges, oral care products: toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes/caps, floss containers, mouthwash bottles and the outer box of any of these items, hair care product bottles, lotions/facial products, soap/body wash, deodorant, all makeup containers, antibiotic ointment tubes, Further included are plastic tape dispensers and inner cores, pens, pencils, mechanical pencils, markers and caps. For additional information visit www.terracycle,com. The Crisis Center is accepting these specific items only. Recycle donations may be dropped off in the shed behind the Center at 8133 Wilkinsville Road. Go green and help our environment and the Center at the same time. The Crisis Center needs volunteers to help sort the recycling and other donated items including clothing and household items. We also need a few volunteers to manage our Facebook page. All of these may be a good community service project for a school class, youth group, scout troop or church group. Please contact the Crisis Center at 872-4357 to volunteer.
The Millington Crisis Center Ministry was founded in 1987 by volunteers to coordinate community efforts and resources in meeting the needs of Millington families in crises. Find us on the web at www.millingtoncc.org, and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/millingtoncrisiscenter.
