Basic Needs Ministry - a 501(c)(3) public charity
Cleveland Township Emergency Food Pantry - Cleveland Library

Est. 2003 - Generated over $17 million in total benefits - food, clothing, prescription savings, education Staffed only by community volunteers

What do you want to help us start in 2009?

1. 2003 - Community Clothing Closet - 26,000 clothing items available for those in need
2. 2004 - Housewares Support - Assistance for fire and disaster victims
3. 2006 - Cleveland Township Emergency Food Pantry - provided food for 243,000+ meals - monthly needs
4. 2007 - Computer Lab - free Internet access, software use and training
5. 2007 - Prescription Drug Discount Program - $2+ million in savings
6. 2008 - Cleveland Library - free public library with 25,000 books/videos to loan to every township resident

Please note our policy on donated books and other media, which was adopted December 13, 2008.

ALL donated books and media will be placed in the Cleveland Library for use by the entire community. Basic Needs Ministry will only sell books and media that have gone through the rejection or purge process from the Cleveland Library collection. For four months, staff, volunteers, and local residents drove hundeds of miles weekly to obtain materials to add to the collection. Our staff, residents, and friends already donated $250,000 worth of books and media (replacement value estimated by experienced professional librarian). It would be unethical, a breech of faith, and absurd to sell a library book for $2 or less to an individual for personal use, when a donor just bought it for up to $150.00 on his VISA at a bookstore. Lest anyone think we only get donations of pap romance paperback fiction, let it be known that a first edition museum art book in our collection is identical with one in the rare books collection at UNC-CH.

From our E-mail (unedited):

"My families I have sent have said it is wonderful and they could not believe all the clothing they got.   A big thanks you you for that, because with all the other demands on the families, purchasing clothing is just a luxury.   A lot of times, they do without and send kids to school in shorts or t-shirts when it is cold outside.   Thank you so much for your wonderful resource."

IMMEDIATE NEED: Someone to drive to the Food Bank in Raleigh on Monday mornings at 10:30, shop for food, load it in your vehicle, and bring it to the Food Pantry and at least put away the frozen/refrigerated. Allow 3 hours for a round trip. Our ideal team needs 6 people, including cart holders and packers - minimum age 16. We need one more team member to take Food Bank warehouse training.

Have an hour to hang around? Sort a tote of clothing, pack a box for disaster aid, hang some clothes, hand out some food, sweep the floor, dust some shelves, build a set of book shelves for the library, ...

Come and see where we do it: 5533 NC HWY 42 W, Garner, NC 27529 - Rear Units D96-100 Telephone - 919-661-6565 debit/credit Only Open to the Public - Mondays 6 p.m.-9 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Volunteer only work night - Thursdays 6-9 p.m. When Monday, Thursday, or Saturday fall on a holiday, call to verify our schedule.

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