WestChesterBuzz.com

Planes Moving and Storage is participating in its third annual “Fill the Truck” event to benefit Reach Out Lakota. They are hosting a semi-truck at their West Chester location, 9823 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, and are asking community members to donate food, clothing (new or gently-used) and personal care items to fill the truck.

Now through this Friday, people can bring items to the local business, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Or, they can make a donation online and Planes will purchase the item and load it onto the truck for them.

Visit www.fillthetruck.org/reachoutlakota for more information and to make an online donation.

Furthermore, the MidPointe Library System, which includes the West Chester Library, is once again offering its “Food for Fines” promotion, which allows library goers a chance to eliminate their overdue fees when they donate food.

The program, which runs through Dec. 31, will eliminate one dollar of outstanding fines for each non-perishable food item a patron donates.

“This program is a wonderful way for our users to eliminate their fines, while contributing to a worthy cause,” library director Anita Carroll said.

The MidPointe Library System will be distributing the contributions throughout their service area to multiple food pantries and charitable organizations including Reach Out Lakota, the EMA Food Pantry in Trenton and the Salvation Army of Middletown.

Do you own or work for a business in West Chester and/or Liberty Township that is giving back to the community this holiday season? Please share it by emailing akiefaber@westchesterbuzz.com.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: Fill the Truck, Food For Fines, Food For Fines West Chester Library, holiday drive West Chester, Planes Moving and Storage, Planes Moving and Storage Fill the Truck, Reach Out Lakota, Reach Out Lakota coat drive, Reach Out Lakota food drive, Reach Out Lakota holidays, West Chester Christmas, West Chester library events

Planes Moving and Storage is participating in its third annual “Fill the Truck” event to benefit Reach Out Lakota. They are hosting a semi-truck at their West Chester location, 9823 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, and are asking community members to donate food, clothing (new or gently-used) and personal care items to fill the truck.

Now through Dec. 21, people can bring items to the local busines, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Or, they can make a donation online and Planes will purchase the item and load it onto the truck for them.

Visit www.fillthetruck.org/reachoutlakota for more information and to make an online donation.

There are also other ways to give back through Reach Out Lakota this holiday season.

West Chester’s Tri-County Heating and Cooling is sponsoring the Spread the Warmth campaign to benefit Reach Out Lakota. The company is collecting new and gently-used coats and winter accessories for Reach Out Lakota through Dec. 15.

Tri-County Heating & Cooling will pick up any coats and accessories from homes they service until Dec. 15. People can also drop off coats and accessories at the following locations:

• Tri-County Heating & Cooling, 7110 Office Park Drive, West Chester, until Dec. 15
• West Chester Community Foundation, 5641 Union Centre Drive, West Chester, until Dec. 15
• Walmart, 8288 Cincinnati Dayton Road, West Chester, on Dec. 15 from 
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Reach Out Lakota, 6561 Station Road, West Chester.

Community members are being asked to donate gently-used winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves and mittens. All sizes of children’s and adult coats will be accepted.

Tri-County Heating and Cooling will donate $20 for each coat collected and$10 for each hat, scarf and pair of gloves collected, up to a maximum of $2,000. For more information on this campaign, visit www.tricountyheatingandcooling.com.

Furthermore, the MidPointe Library System, which includes the West Chester Library, is once again offering its “Food for Fines” promotion, which allows library goers a chance to eliminate their overdue fees when they donate food.

The program, which runs through Dec. 31, will eliminate one dollar of outstanding fines for each non-perishable food item a patron donates.

“This program is a wonderful way for our users to eliminate their fines, while contributing to a worthy cause,” library director Anita Carroll said.

The MidPointe Library System will be distributing the contributions throughout their service area to multiple food pantries and charitable organizations including Reach Out Lakota, the EMA Food Pantry in Trenton and the Salvation Army of Middletown.

Do you own or work for a business in West Chester and/or Liberty Township that is giving back to the community this holiday season? Please share it by emailing akiefaber@westchesterbuzz.com.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: Food For Fines, Food For Fines West Chester Library, holiday drive West Chester, Reach Out Lakota, Reach Out Lakota coat drive, Reach Out Lakota food drive, Reach Out Lakota holidays, West Chester Christmas, West Chester library events

The MidPointe Library System is once again offering its “Food for Fines” promotion, which allows library goers a chance to eliminate their overdue fees when they donate food.

The program, which runs through Dec. 31, will eliminate one dollar of outstanding fines for each non-perishable food item a patron donates.

“This program is a wonderful way for our users to eliminate their fines, while contributing to a worthy cause,” library director Anita Carroll said.

The MidPointe Library System will be distributing the contributions throughout their service area to multiple food pantries and charitable organizations including Reach Out Lakota, the EMA Food Pantry in Trenton and the Salvation Army of Middletown.

MidPointe first launched the Food For Fines program last year and the 2011 campaign resulted in almost $6,000 in forgiven fines and more than 7000 items donated to local charitable organizations.

“Food For Fines was huge last year and we are very excited MidPointe is offering this important project again,” EMA Food Pantry coordinator Debra Shane said.

The Food For Fines program is not the only way the library system will be giving back to the community this holiday season. The MidPointe Library West Chester Young Adult Board will be sponsoring a “giving tree” to benefit the Animal Friends Humane Society of Butler County. Patrons can find more information at the Youth Services Desk of the MidPointe Library West Chester or by calling 513-777-3131. The MidPointe Library System also hosts Toys for Tots drop boxes at all their locations through Dec. 16.

Posted in: Events, Library events, News |

Tags: Tags: Animal Friends Humane Society, Animal Friends Humane Society of Butler County, Children’s Desk of the West Chester Library, Food For Fines, Food For Fines West Chester Library, holiday drive West Chester, Reach Out Lakota, West Chester Christmas, West Chester library events, West Chester Library Teen Young Adult Board

Throughout January and February, the West Chester Library will be offering family storytimes every weekday that don’t require registration.

These programs will be held in the Children’s Program Room in the West Chester Library. The storytimes will last approximately 30 minutes. All ages are invited to attend.

For the next two months, the registration free storytimes will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Mondays, at 10 a.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 7 p.m. Wednesdays and at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays. Occasionally, 10 a.m. storytimes will take place on Saturday. There will also other storytimes for young children during both months that require registration.

For more information on storytimes, contact the library’s children’s desk at 513-777-3131.

The West Chester Library is located at 9363 Centre Pointe Drive.

For more library events, visit the West Chester Library events page on WestChesterBuzz.com or visit the library’s online community calendar.

Food for Fines recap: The Middletown Public Library System’s first Food For Fines program, which gave library users the opportunity to waive overdue fines in exchange for the donation of non-perishable items, resulted in $5,855.99 in waived fines and more than 7,000 items donated to local charitable organizations. The promotion took place between Nov. 1-Dec. 31.

Posted in: Events, Library events |

Tags: Tags: Food For Fines, Food For Fines West Chester Library, storytimes, storytimes West Chester, storytimes West Chester Library, West Chester Library, West Chester Library Children's Desk

This holiday season, the West Chester Library Teen Young Adult Board will be sponsoring a giving tree to benefit the Animal Friends Humane Society of Butler County.

Library patrons will be encouraged to participate in the charity drive, which begins Friday and ends Dec. 22.

For more information, contact the Children’s Desk of the West Chester Library or by calling 513-777-3131.

The Teen Young Adult Board members volunteer with multiple children’s programming events at the library and meet monthly to plan teen events. The group is open to students in seventh grade through high school.

Furthermore, the Middletown Public Library System will be sponsoring a “Food For Fines” program starting Monday and running through Dec. 31. For each non-perishable item a patron donates, one dollar of outstanding fines will be forgiven.

“This program is a wonderful way for our users to eliminate their fines, while contributing to a worthy cause,” Library Director Anita Carroll said.

The Middletown Public Library System will be distributing the contributions throughout their service area to multiple food pantries and charitable organizations. Among these is Reach Out Lakota, an organization that has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of families requiring assistance as the holiday season approaches.

“The Food For Fines program will provide much needed canned meats, canned fruits and cereal among other items to be distributed and consumed during the coming months. We are very grateful to library patrons and staff for their generosity,” said Lourdes A. Ward, executive director of Reach Out Lakota.

Canned goods, boxed mixes, toiletries and paper goods are all welcome donations. Donated items can be used for up to five dollars worth of fines. Fees for lost or damaged materials cannot be forgiven through this program.

The West Chester Library is located at 9363 Centre Pointe Drive.

For more library events, visit the West Chester Library events page on WestChesterBuzz.com or visit the library’s online community calendar.

Posted in: Events, Library events |

Tags: Tags: Animal Friends Humane Society, Animal Friends Humane Society of Butler County, Children’s Desk of the West Chester Library, Food For Fines, Food For Fines West Chester Library, holiday drive West Chester, Reach Out Lakota, West Chester Christmas, West Chester library events, West Chester Library Teen Young Adult Board