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Friday, April 29, 2011
Food Lifeline Advocacy Update: Tough Decisions Still Remain
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
From FRAC: New USDA Report Shows ARRA (Economic Recovery Act) SNAP Benefit Boost Improved Food Security
New USDA Report Shows ARRA (Economic Recovery Act) SNAP Benefit Boost Improved Food Security
A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service finds that the boost to SNAP (food stamp) benefits included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and effective beginning in April 2009 improved the food security of low-income households. The report, authored by Mark Nord and Mark Prell, found that from late 2008 (pre-ARRA) to late 2009 (post-ARRA):
“This report shows that, in the midst of one of the worst recessions this country has ever seen, SNAP kept very large numbers of families from going hungry,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center. “SNAP performed as it was intended to – it expanded to meet rising need, and the increased benefits helped millions afford enough nutrition for their households.”
- Food insecurity decreased among low-income households. Household food insecurity fell by 2.2 percentage points, with very low food security (households in the worst circumstances) falling by 2 percentage points over the same time period.
- Low-income households increased their spending on food. Food expenditures increased by 5.4 percent among low-income households.
- Food spending increased more among SNAP participants than non-participants. This closed a gap in food spending that had persisted since at least 2001.
“Given the fact that food insecurity fell, it’s clear that improvements to SNAP made a difference for low-income families by reducing hunger in their households,” continued Weill. “The report means two things: First, more adequate SNAP benefits are important to maintain for the long run. And second, recent proposals in Congress, including the House Republican budget, that would dramatically weaken SNAP must be rejected. A stronger SNAP program leads to lower food insecurity for seniors, children, and adult workers. Congress must keep the program strong so it can continue to be our nation’s first defense against hunger.”
Visit USDA’s website to read the summary and the full report.
About Us: The Food Research and Action Center (www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and undernutrition. Visit our Web site (www.frac.org) to learn more.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Recipes for Success - Milk Money
Got Milk? Not long ago, Bellingham Food Bank always ran out of milk early into each distribution. We had been relying solely on donated milk from grocery stores. The amount of milk we received varied greatly, but it was never enough. Finally, one of the volunteers who staffs the “dairy station” said she could not stand to tell all but the first few families that visited each day that we did not have enough milk. “Either get more milk or find another spot for me to volunteer. It’s no fun telling families that we don’t have enough milk for them.”
The volunteer inspired Bellingham Food Bank to create and launch its Milk Money program. Milk Money is a simple to implement and replicable. It was too much for us to find any donor who could buy enough milk for the food bank to meet the demand. But, when we looked at how much it might cost to ensure each family could get ½ gallon of milk each time they visited, the monthly cost didn’t seem as intimidating.
Essentially, Milk Money is a sponsorship program. We determined that if we had $750 each month, we could buy the milk we needed. The food bank began to solicit a dozen sponsors that we believed had the capacity to raise $750 in a month. We knew that if we could get 12 sponsors, one for each month, we could close the milk gap. Churches, local businesses, civic clubs and others were told of the program. We told each sponsor that we not only wanted them to sponsor a month, but to sponsor that month each year. They would “own” the month and would know the impact they were making. If successful, their contribution would purchase all the milk the food bank would need to give each family ½ gallon per visit.
Milk Money has been very successful. We now have more than one dozen sponsors and are buying more milk than ever before.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
AHNC Update on Senate Budget Impact
Senate Budget Impact 4-14-2011
4-14-2011
The Senate Ways and Means Chair released their budget late Tuesday, outlining $4.8 billion in cuts. As with the House budget, although minimal funding was preserved, the proposed cuts will have a sharp impact on anti-hunger programs for our state.
We expect there to be amendments, and ultimately the House and the Senate will need to conference in order to finalize the budget. The end of the regular session is slated for April 24th; we’ve got a lot of work to do before then!
Call to Action:
Call your Senators and ask them to support the preservation of School Funding in the proposed Senate budget and to support increased funding to Maternity Support Services to the House level.
Legislative Hotline: 1.800.562.6000
Here is what we know about the Senate budget impacts on hunger relief:
Maternity Support Services
The Senate budget outlines $14 million in cuts to MSS; a 35 percent reduction that will impact women receiving the services and the clinics offering them.
The Governor’s budget cut MSS by 50%, and the House budget cut the program by 25%.
State Food Assistance Program
The Senate budget includes a $16 million cut in the second year, reducing benefits to 50% for recipients. A lawsuit has been filed, until it is resolved the state is prevented from reducing SFA. There is proviso language attached that would allow the benefit if and when the lawsuit is resolved.
The Governor’s budget eliminated benefits for SFA (reduction of $60m.) The House budget calls for a $30m cut, which would result in SFA benefit levels at half the federal level, but no changes to eligibility guidelines.
School Food Services
The Senate budget would cut School Food Services by $6.381 million. This includes $318,000 in additional funding cuts to School Food Services over the House cut by removing the remainder of the state funds in the School Food Service budget (along with the $6 m in lunch reimbursement previously used as federal match) before the Ed Reform funding was transferred into the School Food Service Section 506 in the supplemental budgets. These funds were specifically allocated through proviso to summer meal reimbursement ($100,000 per year) and additional breakfast reimbursement ($59,000 per year). The latter funds were added in 2004 when the school breakfast mandate was strengthened.
The House budget proposed cuts to School Food Services by $6m for the biennium by eliminating the state reimbursement funds for school lunch.
Farmers Market Nutrition Program
The Senate budget spread the funding for the WIC Farmer’s Market Nutritional Program across both years of the biennium to allow the program to continue with federal funds.
WSDA Emergency Food Assistance Programs
The WSDA food assistance programs (including EFAP and TEFAP) are funded at $10.6 million in both the Senate and House budgets.
WIC
Funding for WIC would be reduced by $800,000 for pass through to local WIC providers. The DOH will work with local providers to ensure that no federal funds are lost as state general fund is no longer provided and is replaced with state level federal funds.
Farm to School
The Senate proposed no cuts to Farm to School. The House budget proposed eliminating State general fund support for the WSDA’s international and domestic marketing programs, including Farm to School.
More changes to the budget will come as it is finalized, and will keep you up-to-date as information becomes available.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Washington State’s Online Benefits Portal is LIVE!
Washington State’s Online Benefits Portal is LIVE!
The goal of Washington Connection is to link Washington State residents with vital services and benefits. Please help us to that end by learning more about the online portal. Consider checking out the Tutorial on the Washington Connection website OR register now for a training in your area. Additionally, please help spread the word about the portal by sharing this training information with your colleagues!
There will be a Washington Connection booth set up at our annual conference so you will have an opportunity to learn more and ask questions.
What you can expect from training:
I. Orientation: Washington Connection website functionality and capabilities
II. Community Partnership: Learn about how to become a partner of Washington Connection
III. Break (opportunity to exit if your needs have been met)
IV. Community Services Division (CSD) Program Overview
V. Networking: Opportunity to get to know other providers in your community and receive information on the Mobile Community Services Office
Monday, April 11, 2011
Recipes for Success - Best Practices of a Rescue Mission Food Kitchen
BEST PRACTICES OF A RESCUE MISSION KITCHEN©
Food Services revised 3-8-2011
By Russell MacKenzie, Director of Food Services & Food Services Training School, Union Gospel Mission, 1224 East Trent Avenue, Spokane, WA 99220 509-532-3816 russell.mackenzie@ugmspokane.org
Cooking with Donated Food
• Cook by the food triangle of protein, starch and vegetable.
• Cook by the food matching charts. We recommend Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page (New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996), 426 pages, ISBN 0-471-28785-7. It contains many food matching charts.
• Cook by the seasons.
• Use leftovers to make soup and casseroles.
• Use the freshest greens now so they don’t spoil while you’re serving older ones today.
• Sort, sort, sort. “Pan for mold,” to locate useable pieces.
Making Healthy Meals
• Healthy meals consist of whole grains, lean meats, fruits and vegetables, and include dairy.
• Include a protein, starch and vegetable.
• Include a salad bar and soup if possible.
• Recovery populations need sugar, especially recovering alcoholics, because their body craves the sugar it used to get from alcohol.
Food Safety
• Learn and practice professional sanitation.
• Cleanliness, barriers, temperatures, danger zone, cross contamination, bleach bucket, changing cutting boards and knives.
• Three compartment sink: wash/rinse/sanitize.
• Require kitchen workers to take the Spokane Regional Health District Food Handler card class and test online and print the certificate. www.srhd.org/links/food/asp
Storage Practices
• Enforce safe storage practices.
• FIFO, first in first out.
• Store everything off the floor, use milk crates if necessary.
• Never store raw meat above other foods.
• Keep the coolers, freezers and pantry locked when you are not using them.
• Get a metal locking cabinet for spices and expensive pieces of equipment such as your knives and the electric knife sharpener.
• Buy a pair of freezer gloves and designate a coat dedicated to freezer use.
• Use Metro style adjustable wire rack shelving.
Kitchen & Cooking Practices
• Establish a professional standard to settle all questions about cooking and kitchen practices. We recommend the college textbook Professional Cooking, 6th edition, by Wayne Gisslen (Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons, 2007) 1056 pages, ISBN 139780471633744.
• Post tomorrow’s menu in the kitchen with corresponding prep sheets. Prep tomorrow’s food today.
• Use proper thawing, cooling and hot holding techniques.
• Wash raw produce in several changes of cold water until thoroughly clean before serving.
• Make a few late plates or sack lunches for emergencies.
• Teach professional knife skills.
• Use the standard calculations for hotel pan serving capacities.
• Require all cooks to carry a thermometer and pen or sharpie.
• Give food away freely. The more you give the more you will receive.
• Store knives pointed up on a magnetic knife bar on the wall.
• Invest in a good electric knife sharpener. We recommend the Waring Professional Knife Sharpener, model WKS800.
• Use laundry bags on a metal frame to contain kitchen towels, aprons and uniforms, and launder in house.
• Provide uniforms, aprons and nametags as budget allows.
• Buy used bar towels from Alsco American Linen.
• Provide latex, nitrile or plastic food service gloves.
• Use a professional knife bag like a real chef.
• Use informational videos to educate cooks.
Dining Room & Serving Practices
• Open and close the serving window on time.
• Record the number of meals served.
• Post the meal period schedule in the dining room.
• Post the menu in the dining room.
• Note allergens on the menu board. The main allergens are fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, eggs and dairy.
• Hold hot food on the serving line at 140 degrees using a steam table or chafing dishes.
• Hold cold food on the serving line at 40 degrees or below by surrounding the container with ice up to the level of the food. Use wells in a steam table, a chafing dish filled with ice or nestle the food bowl into an ice bowl.
• Use a sneeze guard to cover the food if it’s available.
• Servers spooning out food should wash their hands first, then wear food service gloves.
• Include soup and salad bar if possible.
• Do not give out “to go” meals.
• Clear the dining room after each meal period. Do not allow loitering.
• Do not feel obligated to provide perfect five star service like a hotel. Things can be less than perfect at a rescue mission.
• Use plastic cafeteria trays instead of porcelain dishes.
• Some addicts steal spoons for drug use so be vigilant.
Business Practices
• Ask for a written budget and track monthly expenses on an Excel spreadsheet.
• Network with other agencies who feed the poor to exchange food and ideas.
• Post a written work schedule so everyone knows their shifts in advance, and you confirm that all shifts are covered.
• Draft an overall purpose statement and post it in the department.
• Draft a set of core values and post it in the department.
• Post the list of ten basic job skills required by all employers.
• Install a bulletin board where food handler cards and forklift certifications are posted.
• Install a bulletin board where all job positions are posted with names, so the lines of leadership are clearly defined.
• Buy bulk spices at Winco Foods, including ground pepper.
• Buy salt & pepper shakers at the Dollar Store.
• Buy used bar towels at the linen supply company and launder them in house.
• Provide an office supply station for your kitchen crew that supplies paper, pencils, tape, scissors and a stapler.
• Buy a tool bag and keep a set of basic hand tools in the office. Allow everyone free access, but require them to be returned. Include a hammer, rubber mallet, pliers, screw drivers, wrenches, tape measure, utility knife, duct tape, masking tape and a utility knife.
• Buy a box cutter to help flatten cardboard.
• Make a set of three ring binders to contain memos, policies, recipes, invoices, etc.
• Use clipboards. Install hooks on the wall to hang them.
• Use annual performance reviews, just like a real business.
• Schedule some uninterrupted office time for yourself. Let everyone know that you require this to complete the paperwork necessary to run the operation in a businesslike manner.
• Provide a first aid kit and keep it stocked. Lock it in your office so supplies do not get pilfered.
• Maintain a key inventory page where you record who has custody of every key that was issued.
• Maintain a staff list with correct home and cell phone numbers, addresses and emails.
• Learn Microsoft Outlook on your computer to help manage your schedule.
• Photograph your work and start a scrapbook.
Christian Practices
• Be generous and thankful.
• Treat everyone with respect, including homeless guests. Remember that every person deserves to fair, friendly treatment. Show them at least as much hospitality and good manners as you would any stranger not homeless and not at a mission, say at a grocery store for instance.
• Remember that people staying at a rescue mission may have had a harder life than you, so give them a little slack and show some understanding.
• Expect the unexpected. Homeless populations can be chaotic at times. Stay calm and re-establish control in the kitchen. Send personnel on a time out if necessary.
Prohibited Food – Do Not Serve
• The general rule is that if you wouldn’t eat it yourself, discard it.
• Meat, such as donated deer or game, not processed by a USDA approved butcher.
• Home processed food, including canning and freezing.
• Home cooked food. Donations cooked at a commercial church kitchen are ok, but not home cooked pot luck dishes brought to church. If you don’t know the source, don’t use it.
• Food from opened or broken packages.
• Food that’s not labeled.
• Food from badly dented or rusty cans.
• Sprouts.
• Raw dairy.
• Melon with broken rind.
• Food with pest infestation, such as wormy apples.
• Food with visible discolored spots that can’t be cut out.
• To avoid offending donors, thank them for thinking of us, then sort the food later, discarding unfit items.
• Tell donors who call before bringing their items that we can generally use them. Spoiled food can be composted and traded as pig feed to get value from farmers.
Managing Volunteers
• Volunteers should be screened. Be aware of who has access to your residents. Do background checks.
• Volunteers should be scheduled. No drop-ins.
• Provide training.
• Include emergency training procedures such as fire extinguisher, fire exits, hazardous materials, personal protective equipment, and location of the first aid kit.
• Practice accountability. If the volunteer is not helpful, assign them useful menial tasks or send them to another department. For example, wash all the legs of the dining room chairs, sanitize all the shelves in the cooler or break down cardboard. If they refuse menial tasks, politely ask them to leave.
• Encourage youth groups to participate, but require chaperones to stay with minors during the entire work period. Provide a brief training talk to help them understand proper behavior and safe food handling practices. Kids go home and tell about the good work you do.
• Do not tolerate rudeness or sarcasm towards mission residents.
• Work to instill a culture of team work.
• Make use of training videos.
Number of Meals Served
• Record the number of meals served.
• Do not forget to include sack lunches and all other ancillary meals provided, such as food provided for special events offsite.
• Note any trends up or down, and keep the Board of Directors informed.
• Budgets should be commensurate with meals served. If meals served are up 15% over last year, it’s reasonable to ask for a budget increase.
• Union Gospel Mission had an increase of about 1% from 2009 to 2010.
© Copyright 2011, Union Gospel Mission, Spokane, WA 99220
Recipes for Success - Milk Money
Milk Money is a program started by the Bellingham Food Bank. Here are the basics of the program:
Got milk? Not everyone does.
Bellingham Food Bank receives thousands of visits each month. 35% of our clients are children, and fresh milk is an essential ingredient for growing healthy bones and teeth. Each month we purchase milk from locally-owned dairies. They support Bellingham Food Bank by giving us a great price. But we still need help securing the amount of milk needed by food bank families.
A little effort by a lot of people will help provide milk to Bellingham’s hungry kids.
We are looking for at least one Milk Money sponsor each month that will raise $750 or more for milk purchases. This is a great opportunity for church congregations, businesses and other groups to pick a month and collect donations for our Milk Money program.
Milk Money fundraisers are incredibly rewarding and are a great way for your group to make a huge difference in the lives of Bellingham’s hungry families. Contact us today and learn how you can help.
More details:
- BFB buys milk at $.70/ half gallon
- $750/month is a sponsor level, although it costs more than that per month
- Been doing it for about 3 years
- Just buy 2% milk
Friday, April 8, 2011
Share Our Strength Mini-Grants for Summer Meals Programs in Washington
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Summer Meal Programs in King County that are interested in applying for mini-grants for start up or expansion of a program should contact the following person at United Way of King County immediately.
Couponing for Food Banks - blog post by Good Cheer Food Bank
Below is a repost from the Good Cheer Food Bank blog about their new best practice of couponing for their food bank.
There are many suggesting that the recession that officially started in December 2007 officially came to an end in June 2009. However, if anything we are seeing more and more people access the food banks across this country of ours.
The rising cost of utilities and increased co-pays for health insurance are stretching family budgets and many that have never used the food banks are doing so. Many working families are not fully employed; they’re not earning wages to afford nutritious food. Employment is not a guarantee against hunger.
Complicating matters even more for the food banks has been the emergence of a new type of store that competes with the food banks for surplus food.
The Good Cheer food bank has always prided itself on being unique and creative. Using the thrifts stores to generate the funds to buy the food is a novel idea and one that more food banks should explore. The points system and grocery store atmosphere at Good Cheer is empowering to our clients.
Rather than picking up a bag of food the client picks the food items their family needs for the month. There is a pride issue about coming to a food bank; having to admit to your family that you’re not making ends meet. We try to make that transition easier.
Creative shopping is helping the Good Cheer Food Bank rise above many of these issues and we’re a better organization because of it!
The story begins with Ula Lewis. Remember that saying about the actions of a few changing the world?
Ula who is a coupon shopper had a discussion, awhile back, with Damien Cortez the Good Cheer Food Bank Coordinator. Ula was getting some of her food for free and asked Damien if the food bank could use it! Damien saw the value of what she was doing and started giving Ula some funds; Good Cheer could use the savings and free food always comes in handy!
This is where the idea of creative shopping comes into play, it is “thinking outside of the box” as Damien would say. “We were dealing with a tough recession and some of our food resources were going elsewhere; our logistics needed to be rearranged” says Damien.
The creative buying program of using coupons continued to grow. Ula and friends would go to grocery stores with their coupons, purchase merchandise, stand in line to checkout and then do it again and again. The reason for doing the shopping over and over was because there were coupon limits.
Ula began to develop relationships with the store managers and this provided the food bank with a real bonus, coupons with no limits. She would make sure that she would not deplete any one store of their supply of product through her use of the coupons and I think this helped in her relationship building. Now they have a checker that works specifically with her or an associate to streamline the process!
Ula found that she could work with the store managers and they could bring in extra coupon or rebate merchandise for the food bank. Bob Drennen the store manager at Albertsons in Oak Harbor says that coupon programs are a “win-win” situation since the individual stores receive money back from the manufacturer on coupons that are used. The stores essentially receive full value. Coupons are a way of enticing people to come to their stores and in times like these a way for the store to help the community.
Coupons are wonderful tools that many of us don’t take advantage of. The use of food stamps and coupons can dramatically increase the amount of food that you can buy. There is a need to teach people how to shop differently; if you don’t need a coupon item now just put it in the pantry.
Here are a few of the stores that work with Good Cheer; Haggens Food And Drug in Burlington, QFC in Everett, Albertsons in Oak Harbor and Saars Market Place Foods in Oak Harbor. We are finding that we are saving 75% off of the retail price on average.
Coupons can have a major impact on local food banks; at Good Cheer 25-35% of our food comes from the use of coupons and rebates.
There a number of benefits that are derived from couponing. We can preview the sources and look for those items that are the healthiest for our clients. Saving money through the use of coupons and rebates have affected other parts of our operation; the savings allow us to have more flexibility and gives us the ability to make choices when filling holes.
We can have certain staples on hand at all times. Having cooking oil, mayonnaise, mustard and catsup are important since they are part of the food preparation.
Like Damien says “Food banks need to think outside of the box. Instead of waiting for the food to come to them they need to be creative.”
The success story that we are having has opened up help from the community; they bring us coupons! Being creative and making things work encourages community participation.
Here is a last thought. Good Cheer and you can donate expired coupons to military families through American Legion Post 141. They are allowed to use expired coupons up to 1 year after the expiration date on base and at the commissaries abroad. Every coupon that we don’t use goes to the American Legion and is sent to Germany. The one thing that we hate to do is to throw away an expired coupon and now we NEVER have to!
Good Clipping and Cheer!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
April News from Volunteer Today
Check out these helpful resources on volunteer management from Volunteer Today.
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Monday, April 4, 2011
Learn More About Washington Connection
Washington Connection is a brand new online way to connect your clients to other services, and it does the screening process for you!EFAP Lead Agencies will be receiving marketing materials to use for communication about this great tool mid-April.
Washington Connection is a web-based universal application/benefit portal that makes it easier for low-income families and individuals to apply for and access a variety of vital services and benefits. Through Washington Connection, residents can easily and securely learn about and apply for food, cash, and medical assistance; child care subsidies; long-term care services and support; and drug and alcohol treatment.
Want to learn more about Washington Connection? Check out the online tutorial OR register for one of our upcoming regional community meetings.
Community Meeting Agenda
I. Orientation: Washington Connection website functionality and capabilities
II. Community Partnership: Learn about how to become a partner of Community Services Division
III. Break (opportunity to exit if your needs have been met)
IV. Community Services Division (CSD) Program Overview
V. Networking: Opportunity to get to know other providers in your community and receive information on the Mobile Community Services Office
Scheduled Regional Meetings
Please select the county region where you would like to attend a meeting. The counties included in each region are listed below. Scroll down or click on a region link below to jump to a list of scheduled meetings for that region. Register for a meeting using any of the Click here to register links.
Region 2: Island, King, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom
Other Learning Opportunities
There is also an opportunity to learn more about Washington Connection at the following conferences:
- Washington State Coalition for the Homeless Conference
May 11-13, 2011; Kennewick, WA - Building Assets, Strengthening Communities Conference
June 21-22, 2011; Yakima, WA - Washington Food Coalition Conference
September 15-16, 2011; Wenatchee, WA
Region 1 Meetings
- Colville CSO, April 18, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
1100 South Main St, Colville, WA 99114 - Newport CSO, April 19, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
1600 West First St, Newport, WA 99156 - Northeast Community Center Spokane, April 20, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
4001 N. Cook Spokane, WA 99207 - Clarkston CSO, April 21, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
525 5th St, Clarkston, WA 99403 - Omak CSO, April 27, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
130 S Main, Omak, WA 98841 - Yakima CSO, May 2, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
1002 N. 16th Ave, 2nd Floor Conf. Room #5, Yakima, WA 98909 - Moses Lake CSO, May 3, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
1620 S Pioneer Way, Moses Lake, WA 98837 - Wenatchee CSO, May 10, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
805 S Mission St, Wenatchee, WA 98801 - Memorial Hall, May 11, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
511 Park, Davenport, WA 99122 - Ellensburg CSO, May 12, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
100 E. Jackson Ave, Ste 300, 2nd Floor Conf. Room, Ellensburg, WA 98926 - Walla Walla CSO, May 16, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
416 East Main St, Walla Walla, WA 99362 - Sunnyside CSO, May 17, 2011,9:00am-Noon
2010 Yakima Valley Hwy, Large Conf. Room, Sunnyside, WA 98944 - Wapato CSO, May 18, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
102 N Wapato Ave, Karen WhiteKiller Room, Wapato, WA 98951 - Kennewick CSO, May 23, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
1120 N. Edison St, Large Conf. Room, Kennewick, WA 99336
Region 2 Meetings
- Rainier CSO (Central King County), May 5, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
3600 S Graham St, Seattle, WA 98118 - Everett CSO, May 13, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
840 N Broadway St, Ste 200, Everett, WA 98201 - Mt Vernon CSO, June 1, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
930 E College Way, Ste 100, Mt Vernon, WA 98273 - North Seattle Community College (North King County), June 2, 2011, 9:00am-Noon, 9600 College Way N, Seattle, WA 98103
- Bellevue Community College (King Eastside), June 14, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
300 Landerholm Circle SE, Bellevue, WA 98007 (N Building, Room 201) - Highline Community College (South King County), June 17, 2011, 9:00am-Noon, 2400 S 240th St, Des Moines, WA 98198
Region 3 Meetings
- Forks CSO, April 13, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
421 5th Ave SW, Forks, WA 98331 - Port Angeles CSO, April 14, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
201 W First St, Port Angeles, WA 98362 - Port Townsend CSO, April 15, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
915 Sheridan, Port Townsend, WA 98368 - North Mason Co. Resource Center, April 25, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
23554 NE State Route 3 Door B, Belfair, WA 98528 - Shelton CSO, May 20, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
2505 Olympic Hwy N, Ste 440, Shelton, WA 98584 - Olympia CSO Nisqually Room, May 26, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
6860 Capitol Blvd S, Tumwater,WA 98501 - Pierce North CSO, May 31, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
1949 S State St, Tacoma, WA 98405 - Bremerton CSO, June 16, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
4710 Auto Center Blvd, Bremerton, WA 98312 - Columbia River CSO, June 20, 2011, 1:00pm-4:00pm
5411 East Mill Plain Blvd, Ste 1, Vancouver, WA 98661 - Kelso CSO Columbia Conf. Room, June 21, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
711 Vine St, Kelso, WA - Chehalis CSO, June 22, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
151 Hampe Way NE, Ste C3-6, Chehalis, WA 98532 - Long Beach CSO, June 27, 2011, 1:00pm-5:00pm
2601 Pacific Ave N, Long Beach, WA 98631 - South Bend CSO, June 28, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
307 E Robert Bush Dr, South Bend, WA 98586 - WorkSource of Grays Harbor, June 29, 2011, 9:00am-Noon
511 W Heron, Aberdeen, WA 98520
Questions?
Please direct all questions to:
Sarah Cotton Rajski
Training Specialist
Building Changes | 2014 East Madison, Suite 200 | Seattle, WA 98122
206.805.6123
Friday, April 1, 2011
Exciting Updates from Auburn Food Bank
February/March 2011
Many of us recently sat at breakfast for ACAP Child & Family Services and listened to those adorable children sing. (As always, I have a hard time just sitting – so I take notes!) One of the songs was: “Lean On Me” with the line: “we all need someone to lean on…” Come on, sing it with me! Okay – forget that part! But think about those words… we ALL need someone…and YOU, again, have been that “someone!”
Miss Auburn Scholarship Pageant uses their intermission time to host a drive for the food bank! Patrons are encouraged to vote for their favorite contestant - $1.00 per vote – with the contestant winning $250.00 and The People Choice Award – and the food bank receiving your donation! It’s always an honor to speak on behalf of the food bank – but I can’t sing and dance like former Director, Jack Laverty did – so I was very pleased that the pageant asked Jack to sing the song just before intermission!
I was invited to a meeting at the Puyallup Fair with ValPak of Washington. The reason given was: “a potential fundraiser if you are interested.” One, running a non-profit, can never turn down that opportunity! Five food bank directors in the room were told that our programs had been chosen for the Spring Fair “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” food drive and Food Network Star, Sandra Lee, (a Sumner native), would be the featured guest, doing all she can to make this a success!
Not only is the Saturday event a huge county wide food drive, but FRIDAY night, April 15, will be “Cocktails for a Cause”…where a limited number of you can purchase tickets to have Sandra Lee share with you her signature cocktails and enjoy incredible food from some local restaurants! PLEASE see the attachments and let me know if you are interested in tickets to the cocktail event on April 15! (We need reservations for this event.)
The All School Food Drive kicked off and the results were amazing! Auburn Riverside High School beat out long standing winners, Auburn Mountainview High School, Olympic Middle School (repeat winner) and Hazelwood Elementary (repeat winner) were the top schools in the challenge to see which school could bring in more food or money per capita. The REAL winners were the clients of the food bank who have already been recipients of that food – having gone straight to our counters once the weights and counts were all in! This year, 53,607 pounds and $13,270 was just slightly under last year’s totals of: 51,680 pounds and $16,873 – which is even more incredible when you think about our economy this year! Partnering businesses that helped support the food drive were a new thing this year and definitely added a new dimension and lots of fun!
An event that always brings home the need for safety – Women’s Self Defense Class – with donations by the participants coming to the food bank raised a record $1200 from the largest class, to date, of 34 women! The instructors hope is to teach women how to be aware and learn a few moves to help them get away from an attacker. These monies are placed is a designated account to be used for domestic violence victims. The money was put to very good use – just a month later. Here is the email I sent to the participants:
Last Thursday, I received a call from a 19 year old with an 8 month old daughter – recently placed at a hotel to get her out of a domestic violence situation that happened the night before.
As I answered the phone, she said: “I have one hour, can you help me?” What she had was one hour before having to leave the hotel. She wanted resources to help her with a few more nights so she could get help to get out of town.
Long story short – we took her to her apartment to remove her belongings – which fit into 2 duffel bags. She made a phone call home to California and then decided that was her best choice --- get home to her friends (who were her family). All she had here was the abuser and the neighbor man who lived next door and watched him hit her.
I took a chance on checking out the bus fees and found that only $145.00 was needed to get her and her baby on the next bus leaving that very night. I bought the ticket and connected back to the Cities DV Advocates and got her a ride into the bus station.
TODAY – answering the phone after hours – a woman is hysterical. She was raped earlier this week by the father of her boyfriend, been to the hospital and released…….all she had was her car and her most precious belongings in it. The car breaks down as she is driving but she manages to get it off the road. A phone call to a brother in Gig Harbor, arranges for a taxi and hotel for last night. She calls 211 and asks for emergency help – and gets our phone number. She apologizes for calling a food bank “you can’t help me – they gave me the wrong number.” I get her to calm down and ask what her needs are.
We take her to her car to get her belongings – the axle is broken – the car isn’t going anywhere. We return to her hotel – talking with her as we go. We give her all the resources we know. I go back into the lobby of the hotel with her to send her back to her room and turn to leave. The attendant signals for me to wait a minute – then proceeds to let me know – she has only been paid through tomorrow at 11:00 AM.
This is where YOU come in ---- if it weren’t for the monies that you donated through the Women’s Self Defense class – I would not have had the money to send a scared little girl and her baby, out of state to family…..or money to provide for this woman to get a couple more nights of security at a safe hotel where she can use a phone and a computer to get the help she is going to need in the future.
Money and resources are tight right now – more and more people need our help just for food. If I wouldn’t have had this money sitting in our DV Account – that you gave us – I couldn’t have helped these victims.
THANK YOU – thank you - I can’t tell you enough – what you have done to help yourself by taking this class – has further touched the lives of 3 others…..
(and today – March 31 – another need arose, and a mother and young son – were moved from there home – using these funds!)
*****
We had an incredible honor, in that Pick-Quick Restaurant gave us a check and 75 pounds of cheese!
King County Housing Authority replaced all the lighting throughout the building to energy efficient! They really make the lobby look nicer with new fixtures, as well as the offices are bright and the lighting is easier on the eyes!
One of our vans was involved in an accident – totalling it – but just like always happens here – something comes through to “fix” our needs! A van was traded in to Valley Pontiac – just the van we needed! Trading the settlement for the damaged van, we are on our way again, with an incredible “new” van!
The yearly Boy Scouts food drive brought some 3300 pounds of food in and all the help needed to get it sorted and put away!
As you can see – “we all need someone to lean on…” and this food bank – continually – leans on YOU and YOU continually say: “it’s okay, lean on us, we’ll carry your load, we’ll help you along…”
This month marks my 5 year anniversary in this job…a job I came to with much reluctance. I owe a debt of gratitude to Lorianne Claudon, Cy Van Selus, Mayor Pete Lewis, my family, and even former director, Jack Laverty – for not listening to me give them every reason in the book why someone else needed to take this job. While it was difficult to leave a job I had had for 30 years – and loved – I’ve never had a day of regret once I set foot through this door. The challenges are sometimes overwhelming, the need so great. You providing the resources and the people served are the reason I can continue! Thank you!
In your service,
Debbie Christian
Executive Director
The Auburn Food Bank....
....giving Hope to Face Tomorrow
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