WESTON, Wis. (WSAU) - A quarter here, a nickel there... it can add up. A program at an area hospital has collected enough spare change to help feed needy families in some of the most poverty stricken areas of the world.
It’s called Spare Change to Sponsor a Child, and spare change is collected from people having a meal at the Bread Basket dining area at St. Clare’s Hospital in Weston.
Spokesman Tom Weaver says a record amount of money was raised this year for a specific area. “This program in particular, the funds have been earmarked to support the efforts of Sister Corita Ortiz, and she runs a food package program which is in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Santiago, so it provides basic things like rice, beans, spaghetti to families who live in this particular area.”
The collected change along with matching dollars from an anonymous donor totalled $2,500 this year, and over $8,000 in the past three years.
Weaver says that money goes a long ways towards fighting hunger in the Santiago region. “We understand that this donation to them can support their program for about a year for a number of families. We know it might seem (like) a small effort, but when you add it together, it goes for a great cause.”
The Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother have been working with multiple food aid programs in the Caribbean region since 1960. Today they are serving in the Dominican Republic and on the islands of St. Lucia, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago.