|
January 22, 2012: Ash Wednesday is a month from today, which will
begin the season of Lent. Labels’ 2012 Lent Guide has been posted. Our
Lent program has been very popular in past years, so we hope you’ll check it
out. The Labels Lent program includes:
To access the 2012 Lent Guide, click here. January 19, 2012: Feeding Frenzy results continue to roll in.
From Weston High School, an even $500. January 16, 2012: The Boston College Athletic Department has
been incredibly generous with the kids of Cor Unum – sending jackets and
shoes for the winter, cash for other clothing needs, and 50 tickets to an upcoming
basketball game at B.C. January 13, 2012: Central Committee member Paul B. O’Brien
appeared last night on NightSide with Dan Rea on WBZ Radio 1030 in Boston.
The folks at BZ Radio have been incredibly generous to us almost since our
founding. January 10, 2012: Thanks to Central Committee member Conan O’Brien,
the lovely Liza Powell O’Brien, and their kids for having waitered at Cor
Unum during the Christmas season. January 7, 2012: We are grateful for a gift of $5,000 from
supporters in Belmont, MA. That’s a great way to start out 2012! January 4, 2012: Labels’ super duper Central Committee met tonight
to discuss plans for some creative new initiatives for 2012. Stay tuned for
more info. January 1, 2012: Happy New Year to all! We presume that 2012
will bring more hunger to people in Lawrence . . . and that we will be able to
defeat this reality with nutritious meals and much love! December 29, 2011: Thanks to the Babson Baseball Boys for
helping run last night’s Christmas party/asylum for Cor Unum kids. December 26, 2011: The final count of guests served dinner at
Cor Unum on Christmas Day was 631. Thanks to all who helped! December 23, 2011: A big Christmas feast is being prepared at
Cor Unum. Dinner will be served on Christmas Day beginning at 4:00 pm. Join
us! December 20, 2011: Harvard Magazine has published a profile of Central Committee member Paul B. O’Brien, with mention of Labels
and a guest appearance by Central Committee member Conan O’Brien. December 17, 2011: If you’re interested in volunteering at Cor
Unum as part of your Christmas or Hanukkah celebrations, call 978-688-8900 or go to the Volunteer page at corunummealcenter.org. December 14, 2011: We enthusiastically welcome holiday and end-of-year financial
donations, which may be sent to us at 118 South Broadway, Lawrence, MA 01843,
or made online. December 11, 2011: Please be sure you spend some of your
holiday shopping time making purchases of Labels gear at our online store. December 8, 2011: It’s another milestone day for
Labels Are For Jars! At dinner tonight, the ONE MILLIONTH MEAL was served at the Cor Unum Meal Center! One million meals served in just over five years .
. . amazing. While we look forward to the day when there will
be no more hungry people to feed in Lawrence, we are thrilled that so many
people have sacrificed so much to eliminate the reality of hunger through Cor
Unum! December 5, 2011: We’ve received local Feeding Frenzy news, from Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, that $1,100 was collected during Feeding Frenzy week! December 2, 2011: Hats off to the Feeding Frenzy team at Newton North High School, who collected $1,723 to feed their peers through
Cor Unum. November 30, 2011: Many
thanks to our Feeding Frenzy team at Winchester High
School, who collected $292.40. November 27, 2011: Central Committee member Conan O’Brien and his family were in Lawrence
this weekend to help serve dinner at Cor Unum. It was terrific to have them
back in town. November 24, 2011: Happy Thanksgiving to all! Our traditional Thanksgiving feast begins at
Cor Unum today at 4:30 pm, and will continue with superabundant meals for the
next few days. November 21, 2011: We’ve got excellent Feeding Frenzy Week results from the boys at
the Belmont Hill School: $1,913.10! November 18, 2011: Feeding Frenzy Week results are beginning
to come in. Our team at Mount Alvernia High School collected $650.10.
Great work! November 15, 2011: If you’re thinking about organizing a charitable activity with your
family/friends this season, please remember that your help is probably MOST
needed on days other than Thanksgiving and Christmas. When you call an agency
top offer help, consider asking when they most need you. November 12, 2011: Thank you to the Boston College athletic department for having as
guests at today’s football game against North Carolina State a group of 40
Cor Unum kids. November 8, 2011: Muchisimas gracias to a supporter from Canton, MA, who has begun the
holiday season with a donation of $10,000 to Labels Are For Jars. This will
provide 10,000 meals at Cor Unum. November 5, 2011: Cooler weather means it’s time to pick up a
Labels Skullcap by John Varvatos
from our online store. November 2, 2011: We have great results coming in from Feeding Frenzy Week! Thank you to all of our teams and captains. We’ll get straight to
work planning for next year! October 30, 2011: In the middle of a snowstorm, we had a
great celebration last night of Cor Unum’s fifth anniversary with some of our
most loyal supporters. Check out the pics, including of our celebrity wait staff. October 27, 2011: The 2010 Census reports the following numbers of poor children in the
USA: 4.4. million Black, 5 million White, 6.1 million Hispanic. The last
figure certainly reflects our reality in Lawrence. October 24, 2011: This is Feeding Frenzy Week! Thank you and good luck to all
of our Feeding Frenzy school captains! October 21, 2011: We have a new Labels baby. Congratulations to Central Committee member
Michael Pueschel and his wife, Myra, on the birth of their second son,
Sheppard. October 19, 2011: We had two more people brutally murdered in
our neighborhood this week – our sixth and seventh killings in the past two
months. October 16, 2011: Cor Unum volunteers gathered this morning for a celebration of the
fifth anniversary of the meal center’s operations. Our success has everything
to do with the sacrifice of time and talent by generous volunteers. Join us! October 13, 2011: Letter from a family in Haverhill, MA: “We purchased a Labels Are For
Jars shirt for Father’s Day two years ago. Since then, our two boys have been
using the container as their ‘share’ jar. We finally counted it up this week
and, boy, were they proud! 124.46! We hope this helps. Some day we hope to
make the trip over with our boys – now 3½ and 7 – to see your operation at
the meal center. You have made it so easy to help others in our community!” October 10, 2011: Feeding Frenzy continues to grow! To get
involved, call us at 978-984-0118, or email us at feedingfrenzy@comcast.net. October 7, 2011: How do we fund 675 meals at Cor Unum? We put together 27 recent
donations of $25 from people in these MA communities: Allston, Andover,
Arlington, Billerica, Boxford, Cohasset, Concord, Haverhill, Hingham, Hyde
Park, Lawrence, Melrose, Methuen, Milton, Newburyport, North Andover, North Chelmsford,
Reading, Salem, Shrewsbury, Swampscott, Walpole, Wellesley, West Roxbury,
Westwood, Wilmington, and Winchester. That’s how we do it. October 4, 2011: Best wishes to Central Committee member Mary Ellen Mills and her brand
new hubbie, Michael Harney! September 30, 2011: Happy fifth birthday to the Cor Unum Meal Center! We are amazed to
realize that more than 900,000 meals have been served at Cor Unum during the
past five years. Thank you to all who have made this possible through your
support of Labels Are For Jars! September 28, 2011: Many thanks to a generous family in Pennsylvania that sent us a gift of
$15,000! September 25, 2011: Guests of Cor Unum were served a huge meal last night to celebrate the fifth
anniversary of the opening of the doors of the meal center. 877 people were served dinner last night! September 22, 2011: We’ve got teenagers working on Feeding Frenzy in Concord, Natick, Wellesley,
Weston, Newton (two schools), Winchester, Belmont, and Lynnfield. Interested
in getting on board? Email us at feedingfrenzy@comcast.net. September 19, 2011: The state of Massachusetts reports that 75 percent of students at Lawrence High School qualify for free or
reduced-cost meals – once again, the highest percentage of teens at risk for hunger
in MA. This is the reality we are battling through Feeding Frenzy. September 16, 2011: Thank you for recent Labels jar returns from around MA: $10.13 from
Norwood, $67.73 from Braintree, $45 from North Easton, $134.75 from Newton,
$66.99 from Douglas, $120 from Somerville, $24.42 from Methuen, $32 from
Andover, $225 from Boston, $45.10 from Natick, $72 from Lawrence, $43.30 from
Needham, and $49.68 from Sharon. When did you last empty your Labels jar? September 13, 2011: Over 60,000 meals were served at the Cor Unum Meal Center during June,
July, and August! September 10, 2011: We are very proud to announce the launch of Feeding Frenzy, a new campaign organized by high school students in Massachusetts. Feeding Frenzy
is a response to
the reality that huge numbers of teenagers in Massachusetts are hungry. We
believe that teen hunger in MA is absolutely unnecessary, because there is
more than enough excellent food available to feed everyone who needs it.
People simply need to provide food to the kids who are hungry. The goal of Feeding Frenzy
is to bring
together thousands of MA teenagers to help feed thousands of hungry MA kids
through our Cor Unum Meal Center. As you know, kids each day receive
fantastic free meals through Cor Unum. The teenagers leading Feeding Frenzy
are using
Facebook to connect with as many teenagers as they can to collect as much
money as they can to feed hungry MA teenagers through Cor Unum. They hope to
get out the word about Feeding Frenzy to thousands of kids, using the Feeding Frenzy Facebook page. Feeding Frenzy
student captains
are beginning to organize teams at their high schools. They’ll introduce Feeding Frenzy
to kids at their
schools through Facebook and on-site promotions during September and October.
October 24-28 will be Feeding Frenzy Week, when there will be
collections of money at participating high schools. If a lot of teenagers
make modest donations to Feeding Frenzy, we will collectively be able to raise a lot of money. It costs only
one dollar to provide a restaurant-quality meal for a hungry kid at Cor Unum.
If MA teenagers collectively contribute $25,000 during Feeding Frenzy Week,
they will provide 25,000 meals to hungry kids through Cor Unum! We hope you will help us spread the word about Feeding Frenzy: 1) Go to our Feeding Frenzy Facebook page
and “Like” the
page. 2) Read further information about the project and check out one of our introductory videos. 3) Post a status or send a direct message to your friends saying: “I'm
Liking the Feeding Frenzy Facebook page
and suggest you
do too." 4) If you’re a Massachusetts high school student, join us by organizing
Feeding Frenzy
at your school.
To get on board, email us at feedingfrenzy@comcast.net, or call us at 978-984-0118. 5) If you know Massachusetts teenagers who might be interested in
organizing Feeding Frenzy
at their schools,
share this information with them and encourage them to join the campaign. Thank you for your support of Labels Are For Jars, and thank you for
becoming part of Feeding Frenzy! September 7, 2011: This is a sobering week in Lawrence because of the brutal murder of a
family of three in our neighborhood – the fifth killings we’ve experienced in
recent weeks. September 1, 2011: Most kids in Lawrence this week are
returning to school, so summer vacation is officially coming to an end. We
are very grateful to everyone who helped us by participating in Summer
Service 2011 at Cor Unum. The sacrifice of your time and talent made a big
difference. Gracias! August 29, 2011: We’re happy to report that Cor Unum
survived yesterday’s tropical storm with only one downed tree and one smashed
fence! August 26, 2011: We are battening down the hatches for
Hurricane Irene. Whatever the weather, we plan to continue serving meals at
Cor Unum! August 23, 2011: This has been a particularly violent week
in Lawrence – with a near-riot early on Sunday and a brutal shooting yesterday. It’s a hot summer. August 20, 2011: Thank you to a family from Summit, NJ for having
travelled today to Lawrence to participate in Summer Service at Cor Unum. August 17, 2011: We yesterday were happy to welcome to
Lawrence one of our supporters from California. It was her first time visiting
Cor Unum. If you’re from out of town and would like to come see us, just give
a shout! August 14, 2011: Thank you to one of our corporate
supporters for a donation of $3,000. That pays for 3,000 meals. August 11, 2011: Thanks for a repeat gift from Labels fans
in Sheboygan, WI. We love saying the word “Sheboygan”. August 7, 2011: Because of Lawrence’s population increase,
the state of MA has automatically granted the city five more liquor licenses. Since a great deal of our community’s
violence is connected with night clubs, this is a perplexing gift. August 4, 2011: Around a month from now, a Feeding Frenzy
will be launched. August 1, 2011: We have been serving 200+ guests at dinner
and 500+ at dinner most nights at Cor Unum. We welcome the contribution of
your time and talent through Summer
Service at Cor Unum. To help us out, call 978-688-8900 or go to the Volunteer page at corunummealcenter.org. July 29, 2011: Check out the photos of the Red Sox Wives’ participation in Summer Service at Cor Unum last
Friday night. July 26, 2011: Here are some pics of the Lowell Family’s visit to Cor Unum
last week. July 23, 2011: Muchas gracias to the Red Sox Wives for
having supported Summer Service by
pitching in at dinner at Cor Unum on Friday night. July 20, 2011: Hit For Hunger leader Mike Lowell and his
family will be waitering at dinner tomorrow night at Cor Unum as part of Summer Service. July 17, 2011: We have a great team of teenagers working on
a video for our latest and greatest project. Stay tuned. July 14, 2011: To state the obvious, our economy continues to be in the tank. We
unfortunately have the highest level of hunger in the USA’s recent history.
How amazing it is to be able to beat hunger every day in Lawrence! July 11, 2011: Central Committee member Conan O’Brien is
the subject of the documentary film “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop”. Which he can’t. Catch it in theaters
across the country. July 8, 2011: The fifth anniversary of the opening of the
Cor Unum Meal Center will take place at the end of September. What’s your
guess of the total number of meals we’ll have served by then? July 5, 2011: Thanks to the volunteers who helped serve
yesterday’s fabulous July 4th meal at Cor Unum. We continue to
promote Summer Service at Cor
Unum. Come help serve or prepare a meal by calling 978-688-8900 or going to the Volunteer page at corunummealcenter.org. July 2, 2011: July 4th will be celebrated at
Cor Unum with an indoor picnic from 4:30 to 6:30 pm on Monday. June 29, 2011: Thanks to the folks at WQOM 1060 in Boston
for having hosted Central Committee member Paul B. O’Brien on yesterday’s show. June 26, 2011: Summer vacation has begun for all of our kids
in Lawrence. We expect to be serving 500+ meals at dinner every night this
week. June 23, 2011: Baseball fans, be sure to pick up some Hit
for Hunger shirts from our online store.
We’re hoping a couple of our guys will be named All Stars this summer. June 20, 2011: Muchas gracias to Zachary A. from Wheaton
College, who continues to promote Labels and collect money for our cause on
campus. June 17, 2011: Summer vacations are beginning. We hope you
will consider being part of Summer Service at Cor Unum. To help
with a meal, call 978-688-8900
or go to the Volunteer page at corunummealcenter.org. June 14, 2011: Congratulations to the teenagers from Cor
Unum who have graduated from high school in recent weeks. Only around 40
percent of kids in Lawrence graduate from high school, so we are enormously
proud of those who have reached this achievement. June 11, 2011: The rising costs of food and fuel in our
country are obviously very disturbing. At the Cor Unum Meal Center, we continue
to produce top-quality meals at a total cost of one dollar per meal. June 8, 2011: Completely out of the blue, one of our
Central Committee members this week was given a check for $5,000 for Labels
from a person at a bar who had been told about our work. June 5, 2011: Follow us on Twitter. We do not serve in the U.S.
House of representatives, so we will not send you any disturbing pics. June 2, 2011: During Thanksgiving and Christmas, many of
us think about more actively reaching out to help people in need. In
fact, the time of year with the greatest demand for service volunteers is the
summer. At Cor Unum, tens of thousands of children and adults will be
served free, nutritious meals this summer. Serving meals at Cor Unum is
a wonderful opportunity for individuals, families, and groups. Will you
consider volunteering your time through Summer Service at Cor
Unum? To get more information or to register to volunteer, call 978-688-8900, or go to the Volunteer page at corunummealcenter.org. May 30, 2011: A recent college graduate
from Lawrence several years ago volunteered at Cor Unum with her Mom and
siblings. Like all volunteers, the family of volunteers shared meals with Cor
Unum guests. The young woman tells us: “We did not question my mother about
the real reasons we were eating at Cor Unum and my mother never told us.” May 27, 2011: Thanks to all who voted in the Highland
Street Foundation’s contest that offered the possibility of sending Cor Unum
kids to a Red Sox game. The voting ended early and all the participating
charities were declared winners. May 24, 2011: The AARP reports
that between 2006 and 2008, the percentage of poor and near-poor seniors who
were hungry more than doubled, from 4.7% to 10.1%. We have certainly seen those
statistics reflected in the number of seniors we serve each day at Cor Unum. May 21, 2011: Thank you to the folks at Our Lady of
Sorrows Church in Sharon, MA for having participated in the Labels Lent
program and for having raised more than $2,000 in the process! May 18, 2011: The Highland Street Foundation is running a
contest to send kids connected with MA charities to a Red Sox game. Cor Unum
is one of the ten finalists. You can vote online once per day through May 31 to send our
kids to Fenway. May 15, 2011: Central Committee member Paul B. O’Brien
yesterday received the Paul Tsongas Award at the Kennedy Library. Surprises
included a video from Coco and a $30,000 donation to Cor Unum from the Mike
Lowell Foundation. May 12, 2011: Congratulations to Central Committee member
Sean Casey, whose “MLB Tonight” show has won a 2011 Sports Emmy. May 9, 2011: The Highland Street Foundation is running a
contest to send kids connected with MA charities to a Red Sox game. Cor Unum
is one of the ten finalists. You can vote online once per day through May 31 to send our
kids to Fenway. May 6, 2011: Central Committee member Paul B. O’Brien
yesterday received the Paul Tsongas Award at the Kennedy Library. Surprises
included a video from Coco and a $30,000 donation to Cor Unum from the Mike
Lowell Foundation. May 3, 2011: Congratulations to Central Committee member
Sean Casey, whose “MLB Tonight” show has won a 2011 Sports Emmy. April 30, 2011: Thanks to everyone who has been sending us
the money they collected in their Labels Lent Jars. Keep it coming to 118
South Broadway, Lawrence, MA 01843. April 27, 2011: A shout out to the students at Mount
Alvernia Academy in Newton, MA for their support of Labels in recent months.
We’re looking forward to a new collaboration next fall! April 24, 2011: Happy Easter! We had a huge dinner at Cor
Unum tonight, serving 855 guests, 289 of whom were children! April 21, 2011: A couple wrote to us from Wisconsin with a
generous donation. The husband a few summers ago spent time with us in Lawrence
as a volunteer with Catholic HEART Work Camp. It’s good to keep alive the
connection! April 18, 2011: We’re coming to the culmination of Lent. If
you’ve been participating in the Labels Lent program, please send us your
Lent Jar collection in the form of a check or money order to 118 South
Broadway, Lawrence, MA 01843. Thanks! April 15, 2011: A parent in Boston tells us that his
adolescent sons are “spoiled brats”. When they recently asked for the latest
and greatest material something, their Dad told them he would not consider
the request until they had volunteered serving five dinners at Cor Unum. April 12, 2011: Cor Unum’s Easter dinner will be served on
Sunday, April 24 from 4:00 to 6:30 pm. It will be a feast! April 9, 2011: A long-time Labels supporter volunteered at
Cor Unum tonight and left us a donation of $15,000. MUCHAS gracias!! April 6, 2011: If you’re interested in helping, spring
clean-up day at Cor Unum is on Saturday, April 16 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
This is a great opportunity for helpers of all ages. April 3, 2011: Baseball season is here. For all you fans,
be sure to pick up a Hit for Hunger shirt from our store.
Shirts are available in blue and red for Josh Beckett, Mikey Lowell, David
Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, and Dustin Pedroia. March 30, 2011: Be sure to take a look at our second new television PSA. March 27, 2011: We’re very pleased to release two
television PSAs this spring. If you’re in television and are interested in
broadcasting our spots, please call us at 978-984-0118. Here’s the first of the PSAs. March 24, 2011: Thank you for the note from a supporter who
works at Fidelity Investments and sent us a check for the second pile of
money she’s raised from her co-workers through the Labels jar she keeps on
her desk. March 21, 2011: Hooray for spring. Will there be no more
snow in Lawrence this season? We’re taking bets. March 18, 2011: We’re honored to have a teenager from
suburban Boston doing his Mitzvah project with Labels and Cor Unum. If you’re
interested in pursuing something like this yourself, give us a call at
978-984-0118. March 15, 2011: A big shout out for Daylight Savings Time.
Really. The increase in light hours at the end of the day means that many
guests at Cor Unum are able to walk to the meal center with greater personal
security. March 12, 2011: Thank you to the folks at Saint John’s Prep
in Danvers, MA for hosting a screening and discussion of Scenes from a Parish this week. It was great to see there a group
of teenagers from Lawrence! March 9, 2011: Today is Ash Wednesday. We invite anyone
who’s interested to participate in our 2011 Labels Lent program. To access
this year’s materials, click here. March 6, 2011: The mountains of piled snow that have
filled Lawrence since just after Christmas are finally melting away. A lot of
surprising stuff emerges from under those mountains . . . March 3, 2011: Here’s a trip around the USA for recent
donations received by Labels: $10 from Round Rock, TX: $15 from Whiting, NJ;
$20 from New York City; $25 from Apex, NC; $25 from San Diego, CA; $25 from
Canton, GA; $30 from Lake Worth, FL; $50 from Salem, NH; $100 from Newport,
RI; $100 from Annapolis, MD; $100 from Burlington, IA; $100 from Norwich, CT;
$200 from Woodland Hills, CA; and $2,500 from Findlay, OH. February 28, 2011: We
welcome to Lawrence for a week of volunteering at Cor Unum an Alternative
Spring Break group from St. Anselm College. February 25, 2011: Thank you to a Boston business for its gift
of $3,000 in honor of one of our Hit for Hunger players! February 22, 2011: One
million thanks to Magnet Film Works in Miami for the work they've done on our
TV PSAs. Check out Magnet! February 19, 2011: Labels Are For Jars involves people of a
huge range of religious faiths and no professed faith. For our Christian friends, Lent is on the
way – beginning the second week of March. Each year, we organize a Labels Lent
program, which has proven to be very popular and spiritually helpful for
thousands of folks. The Labels Lent program includes:
To access the 2011 Lent Guide, click here. February 16, 2011: We have completed production of our first
television PSAs and are beginning the process of distribution. If you work in
TV and have interest in seeing the clips, give us a call at 978-984-0118. February 13, 2011: Members of our Hit for Hunger team were
together in Miami tonight for our Mikey Lowell’s retirement bash. Mr. Lowell
has retired from baseball, but not from Labels. In fact, you can buy his
shirts in our online store. February 10, 2011: Feeding . . . Frenzy. February 7, 2011: A long-term supporter of Labels has
directed a very major financial contribution our way. Large or small, all
gifts sent to Labels are much appreciated. Every dollar contributed provides
a full meal at the Cor Unum Meal Center. February 4, 2011: Central Committee member Sean Casey is in
Boston today and contributing his design skills for a project we’re
developing for Massachusetts teenagers this spring. Stay tuned. February 1, 2011: Eighty-nine percent of Lawrence’s school
children are Latino and are, of course, a large percentage of the people we
serve through Cor Unum. A new study about the state of Latino students in the
Massachusetts educational system presents some sobering points about our
community. January 29, 2011: Central Committee member Paul B. O’Brien
was the keynote speaker at today’s Spring Break Alternative conference at St.
Anselm College in Manchester, NH. We’re looking forward to a group from St.
Anselm’s volunteering at Cor Unum during spring break this year. January 26, 2011: An elementary school student’s mother and
great aunt contributed cash to Labels for every hit he had in Little League
baseball last season. He just sent us his very impressive collection. Great
idea for the 2011 season! January 23, 2011: Thank you to Labels fans in Round Rock,
Texas for gifts in both December and January! Buzz Archive (click here for
older articles) |
|
|