Our first Leadership 4 Service project is announced!

After each seminar, we challenge our Ambassadors to commit to 100 hours of community service to "pay it forward".  During the seminar, we give each student the opportunity to get a 5 hour head start through several service projects that we schedule for Saturday, June 8th.  We are proud to announce our first service project. . .approximately 30 - 40 of our Ambassadors, alumni and volunteers will be traveling to Crossroads Community Services to volunteer.  Here is a little bit about CCS:

Crossroads Community Services nourishes people and powers change by providing nutritious food, nutrition and life-skills education, and clothing to those in need in the Dallas community.  CCS opened its doors in 2001 as the urban outreach ministry of First United Methodist Church, Dallas. Since then, CCS has distributed enough groceries to prepare over 10 million healthful meals.
 

In 2005, CCS became the first food pantry in the nation to distribute food based on the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Clients select the food they prefer from each food group in the amount recommended to them based on their age, gen-der and activity level. Our focus on nutrition allows our clients an opportunity to receive healthy groceries that are usually too expensive or not accessible for them.  CCS also offers nutrition and life-skills education work-shops that teach our clients how to prepare nutritious meals on a small budget, and how to set and attain goals that are meaningful to them.  Our innovative food distribution method sets us apart from many other food pantries. By working with over 40 Community Distribution Partner sites throughout Dallas County, we reach areas with the greatest need while keep-ing costs to a minimum. Participants at these sites volunteer to pick up the groceries from our in-house pantry, and work together to distribute it to families enrolled in our program at their sites.
 

Through our Clothing Closet, those in need can select arti-cles of gently-used clothing, which clients often use when going on job interviews, to school, or other special events for work or their community. By distributing clothing and nutritious food, we are able to help our clients stretch their budgets further, so that they can afford to pay rent, utilities, and healthcare expenses.
With the help of supporters like you, in 2011 CCS:

 Provided 13,535 clients with enough food to prepare 1.1 million healthful meals.
 Distributed 148,517 articles of clothing, saving our clients over $891,000.
 Hosted 753 volunteers who served 21,370 hours — the equivalent of 10 full-time employees.