We at the Community Assistance Program (CAP) were privileged to again provide help and hope to our neighbors needing assistance. We are also very grateful for all the donors and supporters who trust us to care on their behalf.
Most of our programs remained consistent in both processes and number of people helped. The two exceptions were the Thanksgiving Baskets and crisis assistance. The Thanksgiving Baskets program was originally designed to help only families with all the ingredients to prepare a meal. It was not intended for singles and couples because it’s difficult to correctly size a box and we believed other options were available. However, we had received a lot of requests over the last few years for these options. The good news this year was that IGA Market said its deli could prepare up to 150 individual dinner plates for us at a very reasonable price. That worked out to be a wonderful option for us and blessed many. We will likely continue providing that.
The Crisis Assistance program did have a slight increase in need requests. We assist with referrals for about one-third of the requests we receive because some needs fall outside of our capabilities, like rent or housing assistance. The highest need is utility shutoff avoidance. We were able to meet the needs this year; however, we have some concerns going
forward.
In June, we lost the Salvation Army funds that we administer due to their lack of funds. We’re not sure if they will resume. Funds from the donation option through the bills for both the city of Blaine and Birch Bay Water and Sewer District have dropped off.
This means we will draw on our reserves to keep helping at our current levels. In the new year, we will likely be encouraging neighbors to donate to us directly. We are not discouraged and we look forward to blessing many people in 2026. We are also very pleased to see Blaine and Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2 resurrect the community dinners and plan on promoting them.
