Our Impact in November

Finally got all of our "impact" numbers from November. We easily served more people this month than in any other this year.

(Keep in mind that these numbers do not reflect the 54,446 people fed at our Thanksgiving food distribution, or the 604 meals served at our Thanksgiving dinner at Crossroads. More on that in a minute.)

As always, the big number to keep your eye on is first-time visits to Union Mission Family Services (that's our social service department which meets with guests on a daily basis to assist with food and clothing vouchers, utility assistance, etc.) No surprise here: 192 people came to us in November that had never been through our doors in 2009. The previous high was in September, when we saw 119 first-time guests.

Let's put this into perspective. Our first-time visit totals hit a year-long low in July, with 44 people. That means November represented a 23 percent increase over our lowest month.

Elsewhere we were somewhat static. Crossroads saw a jump in homeless served, but we're still not seeing the levels of homeless we saw over the summer. But, let's face it, with the cold weather rolling in--and remember, November was unseasonably warm--we are expecting larger numbers there.

Now for the drumroll: we fed 52,196 people in November. That's the second highest number of the year (in July we fed 53,127). But don't forget the Thanksgiving numbers. Add those in, and we're looking at 107,426 people fed in November alone. That's just an astounding level of need.

So, what's your reaction? Were you aware of how hard the recession is hitting our state?