Back in the early 1980s, Nestle was pushing a certain candy bar big time. There were TV commercials and everything (maybe–who can remember all that?). Anyway, they product they were pitching was the 100 Grand bar. Pretty tasty. Chocolate, caramel, crisped rice, maybe some nutty concoction thrown in for good measure. It was a quality product. And 100 Grand? That was a pretty penny. How could it NOT be good?!?

Well 100 grand is still a pretty penny in some places–like NNEMAP Food Pantry. And thanks to ALL of our donors and sponsors, we just pulled in OVER 100 grand through the CenturyLink Campaign to Fight Hunger. This event, featuring generous matching funds from the Clarke M. Williams Foundation, concluded on the night of June 15. We just got our final tally–with donations and matching funds, NNEMAP Food Pantry will soon be getting $102,109.39 to put into our piggy bank. Let me say that again:

$102,109.39

That’s a lot of candy bars! Or, actually, that’s a lot of healthier food choices (we like to make sure our neighbors have wholesome selections when they come to shop!). Maybe with that extra 39 cents we can get one of these:

The short-lived Reggie! bar presented an 8-year-old with a relative bargain at 25 cents back in 1980. As one former Reggie Jackson teammate quipped, “When you open a Reggie bar, it tells you how good it is.”

I’m not about to compare our donors to a candy bar–but I will tell you how great you are. Your response to this rare matching funds opportunity exceeded our wildest expectations. We are grateful for your continued generosity. It is truly not possible to thank you enough for your support. I will say, however, that I was always partial to the 100 Grand!

On behalf of the staff, volunteers, board of directors and, most importantly, the thousands of neighbors we serve–THANK YOU!!!!!