Newspaper Page Text
Hometown!
Hero,
Pam Koner was reading the Sunday newspaper on her
deck in 2W2 when she spotted a photograph of a girl sitting on a filthy mattress, eating her one
meal of the day—pasta with chicken neck bones. A story accompanying the photograph described
one of the nation's poorest places: Pembroke, a township in Kankakee County, 111.
What mowed Koner most was learning that at the end of each month, the shelves of the only
local food pantry, in Hopkins Park, 111. (pop. 711), were empty and some families barely had enough to
eat. “When I walked off my deck that day, I said, ‘l’ve got to do something,’” recalls Koner, 34, owner and
director of several creative arts-based childcare programs in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. (pop. 7,648).
It didn't take long for Koner to figure out a way to help. She called the pastor of the Church of the Cross,
which runs the food pantry in Hopkins Park, and pitched her idea. “I said, What if I have families in my
community adopt families in yours and send them one week of food when the food pantry’s empty?’
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A newspaper article
inspired Koner to help.
Pam Koner, founder of Family-to-Family, and her daughter, Chloe, pack
“I’m the mother of adopted children,” she added, referring to her
girls, Olivia, 18, and Chloe, 15. “To me, the word adoption means ‘to
make families.' ”
Within a few weeks, Koner had the names of 17 families in Pembroke
Township willing to be adopted, and she recruited neighbors and friends
in her hometown to serve as donors. Within a month, she had linked 34
families, and the Family-to-Family program was bom.
Today, through word of mouth and media coverage, the program
has grown to more than 475 donor families who send monthly food
parcels to 475 recipient families in 13 communities in Arkansas,
Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Louisiana,
South Dakota and West Virginia. “Our mission is to have 20 com
munities by next year,” Koner says.
Each month, donor families log on to her website—www.family-to
family.imi—to access their monthly shopping lists, which includes items
such as soup, pasta, tuna fish and other pre-packaged food. In addition to
food, the pregram encourages donors to send other needed items, such as
over-the-counter medications, sheets, towels, clothing and back-to-school
supplies. The monthly cost per donor family averages $35 to S4O. Federal
Express ships more than S(X) Family-to-Family food packages free of charge
each month.
Lori Ratner of Stamford, Conn., lias been involved with Family-to-Fam
ily for almost two years. “Without doing much, you’re doing so much,” Rat
ner says. “It’s had a big impact, not only on myself, but also on my husband
and my four kids. It shows them you can give in more ways than just giving
money, and it shows them the little things do make a difference.”
Koner acknowledges it takes time to shop for another family and pack
age the food every month, but she does it because it’s more meaningful than
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•American Profile