A MESSAGE FROM
MARJORIE VANESKAHIAN BURR, ACO CEO
What you don’t know about Brenda…
Dear Friends,
Brenda is your neighbor, though you may not know her. You probably pass her daily on your street or her children go to school with yours. She looks like all your other neighbors. Her kids seem fine. They probably smile and wave.
What you don’t know about Brenda will hurt your heart. She spends one morning a week in line for free groceries from a local non-profit food pantry, hiding -behind sunglasses and a face mask. She spends late nights on her computer desperately in search of employment. The past due notices on her utilities stack up in the mail on her kitchen counter. While COVID-19 began her downward spiral in 2020, this year has not been better. You haven’t seen her tears or the fear in her eyes because she hides it well.
Brenda’s name has been changed, but she is one of more than 1000 families in your community who applied for assistance since January of this year. She is one of 600 families who’ve received rental assistance, one of 250 families who receive free food each week, and one of 300 others who we have helped pay their past due utilities. She is one of many moms and dads who have found their way to ALL COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
In the past 15 months, ACO has seen the need increase 4X as Collin County families saw the worst of income loss, faced homelessness for the first time, and experienced hunger like never before. All while they struggled to protect their health, and simply survive.
Because of YOU and YOUR NEIGHBORS, and your generous support, ACO has been able to provide critical services and financial support. But it’s not over. It’s not time to sit back and say “we did it.” The impact from COVID-19 is slow to recede. And there were so many families who faced desperate struggles long before COVID and counted on ACO to guide them and offer counsel and resources. Until poverty ends in Collin County, our job continues. And we ask for your support as we enter a critical time for our communities and begin our annual summertime campaign, “GIVE WHERE YOU LIVE.”
TODAY, we ask for you to help your neighbors, give with your heart and donate online to ACOcares.org with our secure website, or mail your financial gift to ACO, 801 E. MAIN, ALLEN TX 75002. THANK YOU, on behalf of Brenda, your neighbors, and the ACO Board of Directors and Staff.
Sincerely,
MARJORIE VANESKAHIAN BURR, ACO CEO
ONE MORE THING…
ACO was blessed with many generous donations throughout 2020 during the COVID impact on our community. Thank you! However, as life begins to return to “normal” we all get busy, and we forget that the need is greater now than it was last year. There are so many families who have not yet recovered, not yet found sustainable employment, not caught up on their bills. At the same time, ACO’s financial gifts and donations are critically low. Donations have slowed and we must have consistent funding to maintain our mission and help families in crisis. PLEASE GIVE WHERE YOU LIVE, WE NEED YOU!