Now that the winter holiday decorations have come down, but while there’s still plenty of snow on the ground, it’s time to take stock and offer some somewhat tardy thank you’s from the Family to Family Holiday Food Distribution Program.

For a decade, this volunteer-run operation has provided the ingredients for healthy holiday meals three times a year — at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and in the spring — to families in need. The distributions take place at the First Baptist Parish House in Vineyard Haven, through the generosity of the church, which donates use of its facility.

For various reasons, including the still-tough economy, cutbacks in government programs, and misfortune in many flavors, there are indeed many families in need on Martha’s Vineyard. This year we distributed meal baskets to 230 families at Thanksgiving and to 200 families at Christmas (we always see fewer clients in December than we do in November. These numbers are about the same as those from last year).

This program is entirely funded by donations from the Island community. The good folks at Reliable Market give us a very good price on the provisions we purchase there, but we still need to raise in the neighborhood of $20,000 each year to keep the program going. That’s a lot of money, but fortunately Martha’s Vineyard has a generous heart. I’m very happy to report that this year we’re in the black.

Our steadfast supporters include George Balco, Lorraine Cottle, Sharon Jackson and Peggy Jackson and the colorful crew of friends who call themselves Island Entertainment at the Ocean View. As they did last year, this group organized fundraisers for Family to Family throughout the year, spreading joy and compassion and collecting serious dollars. This year they presented us with a check for $5,100.

Jane Chandler of the Beach House in Vineyard Haven once again organized a raffle program in which many retail establishments participated. This year the Edgartown merchant’s association joined in the fun. Both Cronig’s stores sponsored donate-as-you-checkout programs, which were started by a concerned citizen and implemented with the good wishes and help of store owner Steve Bernier and manager Sarah MacKay.

The religious community was there for us as well, taking up special collections and encouraging their members to help. The Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard and St. Andrew’s in Edgartown deserve special mention for their enthusiasm.

This year we also had very generous donations of fresh produce from Island farms including Morning Glory, Whippoorwill and Slipaway, and donations of food and sundries from Cronig’s Market and Stop & Shop. The Island Grown Gleaners came through as they always do, providing fresh locally grown produce through their own hard labor in the fields. Grey Barn brought us 200 wheels of cheese to share at our Christmas distribution.

I apologize to every donor I haven’t mentioned, both groups and individuals. There simply isn’t space; there are too many of you! But I would like you to know that every contribution, of which there were hundreds, in amounts from a dollar to a thousand dollars, was put to good use. (Family to Family is a service of the Vineyard Committee on Hunger, a 501c(3) nonprofit organization.)

I would also like to thank the volunteers who make the distributions themselves possible. Moving, sorting, packing, carting more than 12,000 pounds of food at each distribution is a lot of work — not to mention registering clients, cleaning up the hall afterwards and delivering to elders. We had 40 volunteers at Thanksgiving (and a somewhat smaller cadre at Christmas), some helping for the first time, others of whom have been there since Family to Family’s inception. This year we had the privilege of having high school students to help folks carry out all of their food and Elizabeth’s students at First Light day care visited as well. We all felt the special joy of working as a community.

And so, Family to Family continues, a true demonstration of how our community comes together to take care of its own. Thanks to you we were able to help many families at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we’ll be there on March 27 as well, for the springtime distribution. I hope that some day this program will no longer be needed. But so long as it is needed, with your help we’ll be there.

Betty Burton
Vineyard Haven

The writer is the coordinator of Family to Family. Contributions may be sent to Vineyard Committee on Hunger, P.O. Box 4685, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.