January / February 2014 VCS Fresh Off The Vine Newsletter

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Fresh off the Vine
Jan-Feb
2014
This Issue
 Looking Ahead ................ 1
In 2013, Vineyard
Community Services
logged over 19,000
hours, from 303
active volunteers
F ACE BOOK : F O T V F O OD S HE L F
T WITTER: # F O T V BURNSVILLE
W EBSITE: WWW .VCSMN. ORG
 VOLUNTEER CORNER ........ 2
Tax deductible EIN: 46-1443346
 SENIOR SERVICES ........... 3
 BENEFIT CONCERT ........... 2
 FREE DENTAL PROGRAM .. 3
 FALL FIESTA .................... 3
 BECOME A SUSTAINER....... 4
Looking Ahead in 2014 Vineyard Community Services
(VCS) has just completed its first
year of operations as a newly
formed tax-exempt 501.c3 organization, focused on emergency relief. For the Fruit of
the Vine Food Shelf, this was
our seventh year. We have
grown from a neighborhood food
pantry to one of Minnesota’s
largest food shelves.
Meeting our mission statement
involves many moving parts and
volunteer staff hours. Last year
(2013) our total volunteer hours
came to 17,280 hours, from 303
active volunteers. This included
our intake registration, packaging, loading, warehousing, forklift operators, drivers, greeters,
hospitality, technology, delivery
and many other critical roles.
In 2013 we served 1,617,259
pounds of food to over 95,845
people of which, 40% or 37,690
are children under the age of 18
and 7,789 people are seniors
over the age of 59.
What made these accomplishments possible was the
funding and collaborative
support from a broad range
of our community partners.
We continue to look for ways to
serve more at-risk people, and
for opportunities to assist our
Neighbors to wholeness and
self-sufficiency from their current
crisis situation. This involves
crisis stabilizing programs like
hunger relief, emergency assistance or emergency dental care.
In 2013 our service metrics increased 22% in the volume of
food distributed, and 19% in the
numbers of people served!
What does not make sense is
that the capacity increased,
while our philanthropic donations
decreased when compared to
2012! This says a lot about our
great staff and volunteers!
To meet our sustainability goals,
which is to meet 100% of our
operating costs, VCS created the
Sustainers Club in 2013. During its first year the members
generated $21,692 in donations ... approximately 20% of
our goal. That’s a great start for
the initiative, and brings us that
much closer to our target.
Year
2013
2012
2011
2010
People
Served
95,845
82,779
82,196
69,857
ing factor, costing government,
healthcare, and people billions of
dollars each year, as well as lives
lost each year. According to the
Center for American Progress,
hunger costs the United States
at least $167.5 billion every
year.
The context of, and circumstances surrounding food injustice and insecurity varies, however a common denominator exists: inadequate access to sufficient quantities of healthy food.
While we address the issues of
securing food for families in need
we also want to address the issue of health by providing more
healthy choices.
We plan to do the following:
 Learn to distribute healthy,
nutritious food more efficiently.
 Build stability, and promote
self-sufficiency even more
effectively.
To accomplish this, we have determined to build greater collaborative partnerships, exWe Doing?
pand our technology, and inHouseTotal
vest in people resources that
Holds
Weight
have the compassionate heart
25,451 1,617,259
we expect … and in the proc21,477 1,322,125
ess, drive to move our organi19,635 1,144,314
zation to meet the community
17,404
996,845
goals we have set for VCS.
Food inequality remains a daunt-
How Are
 UPCOMING EVENTS ........... 4
Volunteer Corner ...
New Year’s Resolutions are often made with the
best of intentions and promptly dropped. Statistics show that about two weeks into the year onethird of those who make resolutions are close to
quitting. By March, 85 percent will have thrown
in the towel! What better way to keep that resolution to volunteer than to reassess exactly how
volunteering will benefit you? You may be surprised at some of the various benefits of volunteerism:
 You meet new people
 Good for your resume & college application
 Learn new skills
 Better your health
 Gain confidence and a sense of achievement
 Feel good by doing good!
 Establish yourself in your community
Volunteering … the Happiness Effect
Helping others kindles happiness, as many studies
have demonstrated. When researchers at the London School of Economics examined the relationship between volunteering and measures of hap-
Benefit Concert to End Hunger Last November 16th we enjoyed some great music
when Fruit of the Vine hosted a benefit concert
at Ansari’s Mediterranean Grill and Lounge in
Eagan, MN. Four stellar bands did the entertaining
from 1pm to 6pm … great turn out of support for
Fruit of the Vine. These four bands were:
 Corpse Reviver ... specializing in songs from
the Smith Anthology collection. Very cool to see
these modern musicians give new life to these
wonderful old songs.
 Pat Frederick and Steve “Stymie” Seamans
… from the Daisy Dillman Band. These men
are in the Country/Rock Hall of Fame … great
selection of songs, and they rocked the room.
 Kit Kildahl and Steve “Boom Boom” Vonderharr … a great mixture of blues guitar, blues
harmonica, and sweet vocals had most people
clapping along, while a few were up dancing.
 Jeff Ray and Hurricane Harold Trembly …
Blues musicians extraordinaire had everybody
grooving to their special brand of slide guitar and
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piness in a large group of American adults, they
found the more people volunteered, the happier
they were, according to a study in Social Science
and Medicine. Compared with people who never
volunteered, the odds of being “very happy” rose
7% among those who volunteer monthly and 12%
for people who volunteer every two to four weeks.
Among weekly volunteers, 16% felt very happy—a
hike in happiness comparable to having an income
of $75,000–$100,000 versus $20,000, say the
researchers. Giving time to religious organizations
had the greatest impact … taken from Harvard
Health Publications.
At Vineyard Community Service (VCS) we welcome individuals, families, and groups to volunteer with us. There’s a wide range of opportunities
for volunteers – including packaging, registration,
stocking, cart pushing, as well as administrative
duties. We are in need of volunteers during the
week as well as during our regular food distributions. The process of becoming a VCS volunteer is
simple. After orientation and training, all volunteers are supervised by the VCS leadership team
and staff. You can serve as you are able. Questions: call our Volunteer Coordinator at 952-5955980 or email to [email protected].
harmonica tunes. We wanted more from these
guys, but unfortunately we ran out of time.
All of these musicians are “World Class” and it was
something special to hear them play in support of
Fruit of the Vine. They believe in what FOTV is doing for our neighbors week after week, so please
support them by buying their CD’s or buying
online. Go see them perform in person. You will
not be disappointed!
Concert goers were the beneficiaries of some great
raffle items, including a TV. The sponsors for this
event included ... Summit Brewing, Surly Brewing,
Harriet Brewing, and Discount Liquors.
All proceeds went to support our Fruit of the
Vine Food Shelf Program. We hope to see
all of you at our next
benefit concert. Please
look for upcoming information on future events.
Free Dental Program
Senior Services Program ...
Each month, VCS hosts a
mobile dental clinic. We partner with the Minnesota Mobile Dental Program which
is a faith-based ministry on
wheels, delivering dental
care and treatment to our
neighbors in need. Free or
low-cost dental care is provided to low-income children and adults, the
homeless and migrant workers who lack insurance or a realistic way to pay for treatment.
The Fruit of the Vine Senior Services Program
is dedicated to providing services that enable area
seniors to remain independent and to continue
living in their own homes for as long as possible.
We are committed to providing nutritious food
support to seniors caught in the gaps of poverty.
We can assist our seniors with (i) monthly food,
(ii) screening and enrollment assistance to food
support (SNAP), (iii) assistance in other hunger
relief programs and (iv) resources focused on
our senior community.
The fully-equipped van parks at South Metro Vineyard Church, and is staffed by licensed dentists,
hygienists and dental assistants who volunteer
their time to provide professional dental care.
VCS volunteers provide hospitality care to the
neighbors who receive dental treatment. Since
November of 2012 we have served over 120 people with free dental care. The success of the program is due to the voluntary work of dedicated
dental professionals, volunteers like you, and gifts
from our community of supporters. If you would
like to help support this program, please see our
volunteering web page or make a donation
on our website. Thank you for your support!

Fruit of the Vine provides from 60 to 70
pounds of nutritious foods selected for
senior diets.

Additional nutrition supplements periodically
as the products are available.
Senior’s grocery pickup
times are Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday
from 1pm to 3pm, and
our normal Tuesday evenings from 6pm to 7:30
pm, and Saturdays from
9:30am to 11:30am.
Seniors can receive
groceries twice a month.
Fall Fiesta ...
October 30, 2013 was no regular Wednesday
night -- it was a night like no other. FOTV worked
together with volunteers from VKWednesday,
Thrive and La Vina -- to put on a wild night of
games, food, and fun. We invited all of our
Neighbors ... 140 to 160 people showed up.
Costumes were welcome but not required: some
great costumes were a bride, a Greek goddess,
Dr. Who, a princess, and a chicken … much fun.
For those who didn’t wear a costume, we had a
hair glam station and a face painting station.
Volunteers made tons of cookies and frosting so
that everyone could make wonderful cookie creations. Others put their energy and creativity to
work by making and manning our midway-style
game arcade. Among the fun new games our
Neighbors could play were: Angry Birds, Nerf
shooting, Minute To Win It, Junk in the Trunk, and
Pumpkin Bowling. The prettiest Bride topped the
lollipop tree. Popular, fun games making a return
included basketball, mini-golf, the mystery fishing
pond, and the always-busy inflatable jump house
slide. It was just such a great mix of ages – middle and high school students, moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas – working together and having
fun running the games and handing out candy to
our Neighbors … a true community event.
Dinner was hot dogs,
chips, and fruit. It was so
uplifting to see everyone
working and laughing
together, having tons of
fun all while offering our
community a safe and fun
Fall celebration.
May God bless all of
you and remind you of
the power we have in
the unity of Christ
Jesus … our hope.
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Upcoming Events/Opportunities
Become a Sustainer ...
March Minnesota FoodShare
The Vineyard Sustainers Club is a program to
help fund our operations through recurring donations from our local community … both companies
and individual contributors. This program has become a vital part of our existence, as many funding opportunities and relationships are either
changing their priorities and/or their available
funding in 2014.
Minnesota’s largest Fund and Food Drive
… Be the hero, FIGHT HUNGER!
February 12th … Dental Clinic
March 12th … Dental Clinic
April 12th … Dental Clinic
April 21 … Start building warehouse addition
May 3rd - Cinquo De Mayo! Come party with us!
Sustainers Club members can donate as low
as $10/month and cancel at any time.
May 19th FOTV Spring Swing Golf
Tournament … come join the fun at
Crystal Lake Golf Course
Become a Charter Member by going to our
website - www.vcsmn.org/club.
See our website for more Event Details
13798 Parkwood Drive
Burnsville, Minnesota 55337
www.vcsmn.org
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