Martin Luther King Jr. Day is upon us, and it's a time to reflect upon the legacy left by Dr. King and serving those in need. If you can, please take a moment to serve by helping us feed our neighbors in need. Grab a few extra groceries and drop off at our pantry M-F, 9am-5pm at 636 Old Post Road or simply shop our Amazon Wish List and send directly to us at bit.ly/oh-amazon-pantry-wish-list. Thank you!

We love seeing holiday decorations still sparkling in January! And we hope that the festive wooden cutouts created by Fairfield Country Day School​ alum Alex Staikos '19 back in December are still up! 15 year old Alex entered the Fairfield Parks and Recreation​ 2019 Christmas House Decorating Contest and WON! He started over the summer by hand-making all of the wooden cutouts and creating the entire display. What drive and creativity! And with his big heart, he donated the proceeds from those who visited the display to Operation Hope to help our neighbors in need. This is Alex's second year doing the display for Operation Hope. It began as a project to bring cheer to the younger kids on his family's street and has now grown into a larger sharing of Christmas cheer for all ages. Alex, thank you, and we can’t wait to see what you add to your amazing display next year!

We are honored to announce that Operation Hope recently received a grant of $13,600 from United Illuminating/Southern Connecticut Gas/Connecticut Natural Gas under Connecticut’s Neighborhood Assistance Act Tax Credit Program. Operation Hope will use the funding for energy efficient HVAC and roofs for some of the affordable housing units we own and operate.

Fairfield teens Grace Kenney and Vicky Sgaglione created "Birdhouses for the Homeless" to spread awareness and help solve one of the problems Fairfield County faces, homelessness. Recently, the girls, and little sister Maeve Kenney, donated $250 to Operation Hope, from proceeds raised by selling birdhouses at a Christmas bazaar. Any amount helps us end hunger and end homelessness, and we are deeply grateful for the time, talent and treasure Grace, Vicky and Maeve share to help our neighbors in need.

We are the fortunate recipient of quite a few recent food drives however our neighbors in need still have to put food on the table and especially through the holidays. We are looking for some very basic food items to help stock our Food Pantry and feed over 800 local families and individuals! With just a few clicks, buy items to fill our Food Pantry shelves and ship directly to us - no need to go to the store and drop off non-perishables to us, simply visit our Food Pantry wish list at bit.ly/oh-amazon-pantry-wish-list! There's an option to select our address (636 Old Post Rd, Fairfield) at check out. Or, feel free to take the list below and shop in store, dropping off items to us at 636 Old Post Road, M-F 9am-5pm. Thank you!

We recognize that it can be a challenge to decide which worthy organization you’d like to support at this time of year. What we can tell you is that when you invest in Operation Hope you are investing in our vision – that everyone deserves supportive relationships, hope for the future and a place to call home. Please click here to donate online to ensure that we can continue to help those who need us the most – your neighbors in need.

Hope for the Holidays, Operation Hope's annual volunteer-run program where local organizations, schools, families and individuals "adopt" families and individuals which we serve, is a wrap for 2019! We are in awe and deeply appreciative of this year's tremendous response from the community. 102 "sponsors" and gift purchasers adopted 43 families and 68 adult individuals, showering them with holiday gifts, clothing, basic necessities and gift cards based on "wish lists."

Hello from the holiday cookie fairies! A huge thank you to the Fairfield Ludlowe High School 9th grade Girl Scout troop (30151) for organizing a cookie collection for our Food Pantry clients! Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, The Great Gingerbread House Project, families from Holland Hill, Sherman Elementary, Fairfield Woods, Fairfield Ludlowe High School & Fairfield Warde High School donated and assembled 120 dozen cookies on Saturday. Your kindness means so much to those receiving these special holiday packages, thank you for sweetening their holidays!

Sneaker drive! Please consider donating your gently used sneakers for the Soup Kitchen guests at the Bridgeport Islamic Community Center (former United Congregational Church, Bridgeport). There are over 80 requests for clean, gently used sneakers for men, women and children. Please drop off at 877 Park Avenue, Bridgeport by December 12! Thank you for helping our neighbors in need!

It's Cyber Monday! If you're shopping on Amazon, it's super easy to support Operation Hope! Simply click here or go to smile.amazon.com and select "Operation Hope of Fairfield Inc" as your charity of choice. 0.5% of eligible purchases will be donated to help us end hunger and end homelessness right here at home. And please use this link to shop throughout the holiday season! Every little bit counts! Thank you!