Support Oberlin Community Services during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

Beginning this Saturday and continuing through November 18, the Oberlin College Libraries will accept donations of food and other household items as payment for some unpaid library fines. Please read our flyer for complete information about the program but here's a quick summary:

• Up to $20 worth of fines accrued before and during Fall Break are eligible. If you have more recent fines, pay with cash, check, or OBIE Dollars and take advantage of your 1/2 off discount!
• Credit for donated items is based on a standardized price list for items particularly needed by Oberlin Community Services.
• Please try to come during the publicized hours, when we'll be sure to have enough staff to handle the donations and clear your fines speedily.

As the economy worsens, more people are left behind.

• Nearly 20 percent of all Oberlin residents live in poverty.
• More than half of public school children in Oberlin qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches because their families are poor.
• Unemployment in Lorain County is now 10.9 percent, well above the national average of 9.3 percent. 

Oberlin Community Services assists our neighbors throughout southern Lorain with food, housing, utilities, clothes, transportation, medicine, counseling, and much more. This year the staff met with more than 100 clients each month, a quarter of whom had never needed assistance before. They rely entirely on donations, so even if you don't owe any fines, please consider a donation.