By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
United Dairy Farmers in Bellevue will donate more than 400 gallons of milk to the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky to keep its guests supplied through the winter months.
The donation will be made in 20 gallon increments each week through the end of March. Shelter staff picked up the first donation Friday afternoon.
Executive Director Kim Webb (right) and Ed Knochelmann of the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky picked up the first donation of milk from the Bellevue United Dairy Farmers location Friday. UDF will donate 400 gallons of milk to the shelter over the winter months (photos by Mark Hansel).
“This is a tremendous donation, and we are so grateful and thankful for this very generous contribution from United Dairy Farmers,” said ESNKY Executive Director Kim Webb. “Milk is one of the most-requested, yet least-donated items for homeless shelters and food pantries. Milk is one of the basics in most people’s lives, but not everyone has access to a warm bed, a hot meal and a glass of milk on a cold winter night.
ESNKY is a non-profit organization that assists individuals in their recovery from homelessness.
ESNKY, which is located at 634 Scott Street in Covington, continues to be the only emergency cold shelter in Northern Kentucky. Since the shelter began operating in the winter of 2008, no homeless individuals have died from exposure to cold weather.
“We believe homelessness is an emergency and that shelter is a basic necessity for human beings,” Webb said. “We believe that only when this basic necessity is provided, do human beings have the ability to recover from homelessness.”
The shelter provides sleeping rooms, facilities for basic hygiene (shower/laundry), food provisions, nursing care, and support groups, working to take the homeless off the street and to find permanent housing for these individuals.
“We believe homelessness is an emergency and that shelter is a basic necessity for human beings. We believe that only when this basic necessity is provided, do human beings have the ability to recover from homelessness,” Kim Webb, executive director, Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky
“There is a saying that you are only one paycheck away from homelessness and we do have individuals in the shelter that have gone through our summer program and even in our winter program to whom that applies,” Webb said. “Some people are also one crisis away and that could be an economic or medical issue and they begin a downward spiral and wind up homeless.”
It costs about $17 per night to house an individual at the shelter.
Webb said ESNKY always has a need for shift volunteers and monetary contributions from donors to help pay the cost of utilities.
The shelter just opened for the winter Nov. 1 and is already near capacity. As cold weather sets in, the need for shelter among the homeless will only increase.
Volunteers prepare, donate, and serve the nightly meal and provide other services to the shelter’s guests. Last winter, ESNKY served 477 guests at its shelter – an average of 72 men and women a night, while volunteer hours and donations generated an estimated $90,000 of service.
“Part of education about homelessness is that a small percentage of the homeless are the people holding that sign,” Webb said. “A larger percentage are people living in their car or living on the street and they don’t have the resources to stay in or pay for permanent housing. Some of our guests do suffer from mental illness or have addiction issues and we continue to be the only shelter that takes in individuals with active addiction.”
The shelter also needs food, personal care products and clothing, particularly winter items, as the cold weather nears.
At an average retail cost of $2.50 per gallon, the 400 gallons donated is estimated at $1,000, but Webb said the value to shelter guests is much greater.
“A consistent milk donation is something that we’ve never had,” Webb said. “It provides a great dietary benefit that our guests are going to be able to have every week throughout the winter and we’re happy to have UDF as part of our shelter family.”
United Dairy Farmers acknowledged the donation, but declined further comment.
For information on how to volunteer or make a donation to the shelter, click here, or call (859) 291-4555.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
