NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Sue Wray with BrightHouse said a local business was able to help out their shelter recently.
"People are really generous, but this year has been exceptionally so," Wray said Wednesday. "We try to put up things on social media about some of our gifts and some of the non-cash gifts. Collins Bus, they brought in, last weekend, a lot of breakfast meat and waffle mix and things like that. They were gifts that they had given their employees and they had about 20 left over. Cassie, who is an advocate for us, has a sister in law who works for Collins, so she suggested they donate it to our shelter. Everybody at shelter is going to have really good breakfasts for quite awhile. A lot of the people in shelter don't do a ton of cooking, because they are really busy trying to get their lives organized again. Things like bacon sandwiches and stuff are really popular."
This is in addition to Eagle Media's Stuff the Bus earlier this month, which will help for months.
"It always depends on what we get," Wray said. "Every year, it's really interesting, because we'll get more of one thing than another. Last year, we got so much peanut butter. This year, we got some peanut butter, but just enough. What we got this year was a lot of toilet tissue and things like that, which is great, because you always need that. It depends on what the product is and how many people we have in shelter, but it usually keeps us going pretty much with just the addition of fresh foods, through April or May."
BrightHouse is almost on pace to match its fundraising from last year.
"Right now, we're at $19,000 for the month of December," Wray said. "Last year, we were at $21,000, but we do have some other gifts coming in. We did a fundraising letter, just like everybody else does. We can always use cash gifts. If you need help making a donation from your IRA, call me. I will help you with that. You can also make donations through our website."
If you need help right away, call the BrightHouse 24-hour crisis line at (620) 663-2522, or if you'd like to donate, you can call their office at (620) 665-3630.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.