Person-to-Person Makes a Difference

Ron, Lisa, Diane, Stacy, and Sabina of CVI/BGI Darien office spent the morning of September 12th volunteering at Person-to-Person organization located in Darien, Connecticut. The Darien team met with Janet King, Director of Volunteers who took us on a tour of the facility and gave an overview of the programs and their mission. We assisted the volunteers in the clothing area- sorting, hanging, organizing, moving some heavy boxes (thanks to Ron), which came from donations.

Person-To-Person, started in 1968, it is a volunteer-driven, community-supported agency which, through a sharing of goods and talents, responds to individuals and families who lack basic necessities or resources to improve their lives. More than 90% of all donations go directly to programs.

P2P serves 27,000 people in the surrounding community. Families schedule monthly appointments to come in to shop for clothing and food. They are given 30 minutes to shop in the clothing store. In the food pantry, the clients are provided a list of nutritional foods and are able to make selections based on the number of people in their families.

From the outset Person-to-Person began by helping and educating. The efforts to help began with food and clothing and grew to include financial assistance for emergencies, summer camps for children while their parents worked and college scholarships to help break the cycle of poverty.

We were very impressed with Person-To-Person’s mission and have signed up to assist in their holiday gift program for the client’s children on December 11th.
By Diane Frate