Dear Friends of Twelve Baskets,

What a year 2022 has been. Throughout 2021 and 2022 we set and reset goals for Twelve Baskets. Our faith and prayers kept us going and our biggest goal set was to purchase the building nextdoor.

In October we completed the purchase of the property at 10330 Portage Rd, along with having a new roof put on three weeks later. The company we chose were wonderful to work with, they quoted a fair price and then discounted it as their part in helping us, along with a 20 year guarantee. Their work was superb. We feel very blessed because the previous owner and the roofing company stuck to their word for three years on the price. Without them, we would never have been able to reach this milestone. The building is in rough shape, but structurally sound.

Three Reasons for purchasing the building:
• The purchase the property insures that we have a place for our clients to park
• A place to house our three vans (no more theft of catalytic converters)
• Expansion of the Free Store.

Immediate Goals for the Building:
• Expand the Free Store from 960 sq ft to 2700 sq ft.
• Install two new ceiling heaters, we currently don’t have any heat in the new space
• Improve the wiring and add more lighting.
• Install new exterior doors and overhead doors
We are currently looking for Volunteers and Donations for these projects.

Pantry Improvements received in 2022:
• New heavy duty carts for moving boxes around
• New 3 door stainless steel freezer and a 2 door refrigerator (mainly for eggs)
• New stainless steel tables on wheels,
• Two new overhead doors
• Purchased a used van to replace our oldest van
• New pallet jack
• New security system
The first four items were directly donated. The last three were in our budget.

Special Service Provided for the Pantry
• A local church has volunteered to supply 25 families that live in Selinon Apartments on Centre Ave in Portage with food delivery once a month. These families must meet certain qualifications to receive this service.

Special Services Provided at the Free Store:
• If a client is in need of something large that we do not have room for at the Store (such as a Queen Mattress & Box Spring), we put their name in a book along with their phone number. When someone calls and wants to donate that item, we connect client with the donor and vice versa.

Services That Twelve Baskets Provides:
• All families served with food my shop twice a month. We are open the 1st & 3rd Fridays and the 2nd & 4th Saturdays. Clients may pick their own 2 days.
• All families who shop the Free Store may shop whenever we are open. Every Tuesday and the 2nd & 4th Fridays and the 1st & 3rd Saturdays.
• We are continuing to help local pantries with our surplus. The Free Store shares its surplus with other Free Stores in SW Michigan along with some special assistance to the homeless population. Other organizations that receive our surplus are Restored Souls, Animal Rescue, Humane Society, St Joe County Emergency Rescue, and Amanda’s House.

External Ways of Earning Extra Funds:
• Our annual Plant Sale in June was a huge success, thanks to the local greenhouse that donated all the plants and local businesses that donated our door prizes … 100 % of sales went directly to the pantry.
• Grants and private company donations were very good this year, as were the three churches that so faithfully donate throughout the year. Every donation is appreciated beyond words. We would not exist if these donations did not come in.

Other donations:
• Our snow plowing was a total donation, as was the 10 yards of mulch to make the front of the two buildings look nice. Five guys from a local men’s group showed up to spread the mulch. Wow, 45 minutes later the place looked fantastic.

This year we have had some major expenses, especially with our outdoor refrigeration & freezer units. Our vans and the big box truck are old, so there are always expenses that go along with that.

Our numbers have grown almost 100% this year and fortunately the local grocery stores have been able to provide the food needed to maintain our current quantity of items for distribution. In the past we have had challenges with people outside of our area showing up for distribution, so we changed our policy. The last hour of each distribution is now open to those from outside our area. This has made a huge difference and seems to be working very well for everyone.

Twelve Baskets feels very blessed with everything that has happened over this past year. We cannot thank everyone enough for all that you (they) do.

TwelveBaskets10330@gmail.com … Twelve-Basket.org … facebook.com/twelvebasketsmi … 269-532-4912