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The Setting Lawrence has a population of just under
70,000 people, 72 percent of whom are Hispanic. An amazing 28 percent of the
people of Lawrence live below the poverty line. Of children under age 18 in
Lawrence, 38 percent live in households below the poverty line, as do 22
percent of people age 65 and over. The combination of economic poverty and an
unusually expensive housing market leaves many people in Approximately 75 percent of school-age
children in The Need The Solution Cor Unum is a not-for-profit meal center
located in The The Cor Unum Meal Center very powerfully responds to the urgent need to feed the hungry in Lawrence, lovingly welcoming all people, providing nourishment for the bodies and souls of all who are in need. |
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Labels Are For Jars is our campaign to raise
money to operate the Cor Unum Meal Center. To do so, we have created a
product that also undermines societal labeling. We have designed a black t-shirt with a
label on the chest. The label has printed on it one or two words that are
commonly used to negatively label people in our society - “addict”, “geek”,
“homeless”, “jock”, “mentally ill”, “minority”, “pacifist”, “prisoner”, “rock
star”, slacker”, and “troubled teen”. On the back of the shirt, it says
"Labels Are For Jars" across the shoulders. The Labels Are For Jars line also
includes the Labels Skull Cap by John
Varvatos, personally designed by one of today’s most celebrated fashion
designers, John Varvatos. The 100 percent marino black wool cap with grey
stitching has a “hungry” label on the front and the Labels Are For Jars and
John Varvatos logos on the back. We have packaged the shirts and
caps in clear plastic jars with coin slots cut into the screw tops. Buyers
are encouraged to fill the jars with donations from family, friends,
co-workers, etc., and to send the donations back to us, so we can continue to
fund Cor Unum. Labels Are For Jars is comprised completely of volunteers, so
every cent we collect is used to help feed the hungry in The shirts are sold from our website and through
direct sales groups in local communities called street teams. Street teams
are primarily groups of high school and college students, who have a unique
power to affect change in our society. Labels gear is also sold in all
Newbury Comics retail stores. Labels Are For Jars is trying to remove the “hungry” label in two ways. We want to remove the societal label...and we want to feed hungry people in Lawrence, Massachusetts. In Lawrence, which is the poorest city in the state, most of the people who are hungry are low-income families with children and are the working poor. Too often, their choice is between paying rent and buying food. |
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At the end of 2001, a small group of men and women who shared a common concern about hunger in Lawrence began to explore in depth the reality of hunger in their city. They reviewed existing anti-hunger efforts in Lawrence, speaking at length with the leaders of food programs, government and private social service organizations, local health care institutions, and schools. After extensive research, it was determined that there was a compelling need for additional food for the hungry and a significant demand for a meal center to be established in South Lawrence. Community leaders generously offered their support for a new effort that might address the challenges at hand. In the spring of 2002, this new effort took the form of a committee that proceeded with the planning and organization of what emerged as the Cor Unum Meal Center. (“Cor Unum” means “One Heart” in Latin.) By the end of the planning process, it was concluded that more than $1.5 million would be needed to build the Cor Unum Meal Center – a very ambitious goal! In the autumn of 2004, a campaign was launched to raise $1.5+ million for the construction of Cor Unum, with Labels Are For Jars at the center of the pursuit of the mission. In September of 2005, the fundraising goal for the construction of Cor Unum was reached! Thanks to the sacrifice of individuals, foundations, businesses, and the extraordinary number of people connected with Cor Unum through Labels Are For Jars, what had seemed by many to be an unreachable goal became a reality. With the achievement of the construction goal, Labels embraced the mission of helping raise by September 2006 $400,000 to fund Cor Unum’s operational expenses. Construction of the Cor Unum Meal
Center was completed in September 2006, allowing the doors of the
state-of-the-art center to be opened on September 30, 2006 for the serving of
meals. The fantastic news was that the $400,000 goal for operational expenses
was reached. Once again, the supporters of Cor Unum and Labels Are For Jars
achieved what had seemed to many to be an
unachievable goal! Between October 2006 and January
2007, dinner service at Cor Unum expanded from three to seven nights a week.
Breakfast service began in May 2007 and reached a full seven-days-a-week
schedule in August 2007. By the time of the center’s first anniversary in
September 2007, more than 100,000 meals had been served at the Cor Unum Meal
Center. At the current rate of meal
service, it is estimated that at least 150,000 meals will be served at Cor
Unum during its second year of operations. Our mission continues! Labels Are
For Jars is committed to raising the funds needed to keep Cor Unum thriving.
Through Labels Are For Jars, people who want to change the world by feeding
the hungry are able to do so in Lawrence, MA. For more information please visit www.corunummealcenter.org |
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Located twenty-five miles north of Boston, Lawrence, Massachusetts is truly a city of immigrants and industry. Known as the "Immigrant City", Lawrence has always been a multi-ethnic and multicultural gateway city with a high proportion of foreign-born residents. The successive waves of immigrants coming to Lawrence to work in the mills began with the Irish, followed by French Canadians, British, and Germans in the late 1800s. Around the turn of the century and early 1900s, Italians, Poles, Lithuanians, and Syrians began arriving. A wave of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans started in the mid-late 1900s, and the newest arrivals originate from Vietnam and Cambodia. The current population of roughly 70,000 is largely Hispanic and has given a Latino slant to the local economy and culture. The massive mill buildings lining the Merrimack River, the striking clock and bell towers, and the breath-taking Great Stone Dam are all a tribute to Lawrence's rich industrial heritage. Once a thriving industrial center, Lawrence now faces significant economic challenges that have an enormous impact on people’s ability to sufficiently feed themselves. According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey report (released in August 2006):
Eastern Massachusetts is one of the most expensive housing markets in the country. Lawrence has a significant housing shortage, leading to disproportionately expensive housing costs. Many of the residents of Lawrence are forced to choose to pay for housing rather than for food. The Massachusetts
Department of Public Health’s “Massachusetts Births 2005” report (released in
February 2007) reveals the startling social and health care conditions in
which the majority of children in Lawrence are born:
On the educational
front, Lawrence faces daunting challenges:
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At the
beginning of 2007, the Massachusetts Department of Education reported that
Lawrence has the worst graduation rate of any municipal public school system in
Massachusetts, graduating only 41 percent of the Class of 2006. This placed Lawrence 276th of
279 schools studied, with only three charter schools performing worse. ·
In the
2007 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests, 31 percent
of high school students failed English (compared to six percent of students
statewide) and 47 percent failed mathematics (compared to nine percent of
students statewide). Lawrence, MA is a wonderful city
with a rich history, a vibrant population, dedicated leaders, and development
projects that offer hope for the future. It is also a city with dramatic
socioeconomic problems that must be addressed not just in the future, but
today. |
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Hunger exists everywhere. Hunger does not
discriminate on the basis of age, race, or sex. It affects our children, the
unemployed, the disabled, the homeless, and the working poor. Hunger happens in communities all around The statistics that perhaps most shockingly
reveal the reality of hunger in If all people are created equal, and if all
people have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness, much more must be done by all of us to feed the hungry in In Labels Are For Jars is eliminating hunger in Lawrence. |
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Saint Patrick Parish is a remarkably dynamic community in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Founded in 1872 to serve the needs of a primarily Irish immigrant population, St. Patrick’s has evolved into a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-generational family in the growing Lawrence community. At St. Patrick’s, more than 2000 people worship each week in three languages — English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. More than 1,000 parish volunteers coordinate approximately 75 ministries and organizations that involve people of all ages and needs. Every year, more and more parishioners sacrifice their time and talent in programs of spiritual development, youth ministry, adult education, pastoral care, and social service outreach. St. Patrick’s has an excellent elementary school, founded in 1906, which today educates approximately 400 children in pre-school through eighth grade. Students at the school represent the full ethnic, linguistic, religious, and economic diversity of the people of Lawrence. St. Patrick’s parishioners focus much attention on the social needs of the City of Lawrence. A wonderful city, Lawrence faces very significant challenges economically, socially, academically, and spiritually. Certain problems in Lawrence — including poverty, hunger, drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, the breakdown of families, and violence — can sometimes seem so enormous as to be insurmountable. It is this type of adversity that serves as the foundation for the people and supporters of St. Patrick’s to have created the Cor Unum Meal Center and Labels Are For Jars projects. In the midst of the darkness experienced by many in Lawrence, St. Patrick’s is a bright light. At St. Patrick’s, it is believed that deep challenges should be viewed with hope as opportunities for a better future. To learn more about St. Patrick’s, please go to the parish’s extensive website, saintpatrickparish.com |