Fall 2012 Newsletter

Hope
Hunger’s
A publication of Weld Food Bank
Hungry Kids
Receive a Hot Meal
1 in 4 children in Weld County are
hungry, which means that summertime
is often difficult as these kids do not
have access to free and reduced school
breakfast and lunch.
We work with communities across
Weld County to identify these children
in need and feed them a hot meal
throughout the summer. In fact, in the
month of June our kitchen produced
close to 11,000 meals, delivered to kids
at 8 different Summer Feeding sites.
For example, we ran a Summer Feeding
site at the Carbon Valley Rec Center
in Frederick. The Rec Center provides
a summer camp program open to the
community Monday through Thursday.
The staff at the summer camp were
concerned that the children were not
receiving enough to eat and were often
eating a lunch of sodas and candy bars
from the vending machines.
Because we now have a commercial
kitchen we were able to provide a
healthy alternative in the form of a hot
meal to these kids. In fact, every day
one of our trucks would go to the site,
unload one of our heated cabinets,
and the staff at the camp was able to
remove meals from the cabinet and
serve as needed.
We are proud to be able to partner
with so many wonderful folks who
really care about hungry children in our
community!
Fall 2012
Weld Food Bank Receives $125,000
from Kraft to Purchase a Mobile
Food Pantry
We are so excited to announce this generous
gift from Kraft Foods because it will allow us
to fulfill our commitment of providing healthy,
fresh foods to residents in need by taking food
directly to the people. This type of distribution
is done through a Mobile Food Pantry unit which
is a converted refrigerated beverage truck that
can be used to deliver fresh produce, dairy
products, meat, bakery, and dry goods directly
to people in need. The food bank will work with
communities to pinpoint areas with the highest
need and then when the truck arrives at the site,
volunteers will help set up the food on tables so
clients are able to choose the items they need.
We know how necessary this truck is because we
see families every day in our community that do
not know where their next meal is coming from.
And despite the fact that we serve over 100
hunger-relief member agencies, there remain
areas of high need. Even in areas where we
have agency partners providing food assistance,
the agency may not have the capacity to safely
store fresh produce, dairy, and other perishable
items. And, there are additional barriers to food
access including agencies that have limited hours
of operation and hungry residents, particularly
in rural areas, who are not able to find adequate
transportation. As such, we are looking to start
deliveries in rural areas of Eastern Weld County
as well as the South West region of Weld.
Recently, the USDA reported that 86.9% of
people in Weld County have low access to food
and approximately 48,000 people are living in a
food desert. A food desert is defined as a lowincome region without ready access to healthy
and affordable foods. Our goal is to increase
access points to food by clients in those areas
that are unserved and under-served due to a
lack of food bank resources, local community
support, and agency resources. We plan to
make deliveries 6 times a week throughout the
4,000 square miles of Weld County. We estimate
distributing 42,000 lbs of food weekly to these
areas! The Mobile Food Pantry will also allow
us to give out additional fresh produce to those
who do not typically have access. Last year we
distributed over 2 million pounds of produce
and we are hopeful that we will be able to help
even more hungry people gain access to healthy
foods this year. We are committed to providing
healthy, fresh foods to our hungry neighbors
and the Mobile Pantry unit is just one more
way the food bank can work with partners and
volunteers throughout our community to make
nutritious food available to everyone.
Our mission:
To lead and engage our community
in the fight against hunger
1108 H Street
Greeley, CO 80631
Phone: (970) 356-2199
Board of Directors
Tim Croissant, President
New West Bank – President
Brian Franzen, Vice President
Organo Gold – Independent Distributor
Chalice Springfield, Treasurer
Sears Real Estate - Chief Executive Officer
Judy Richter, Secretary
University of Northern Colorado
Nursing Professor (Retired)
Dan Wilson, Immediate Past President
Ehrlich Family of Dealerships
Chief Financial Officer
Perry Bell
Destination Church and Ministries - Pastor
John Briggs, Past President
Weld County Court - Judge
Becky Hall
Trinity Energy Solutions – Vice President
Michelle Hesseltine
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Field Business Process Supervisor
Jan Martin
University of Northern Colorado
Nursing Professor (Retired)
Maria Sanchez
University of Northern Colorado
Interim Assistant Director of Veteran Services
Dave Squicquero
The Cleveland Clinic – Radiologist
Keith Thompson
Life Care Center of Greeley - Physician
Hillary Wagner
Atmos Energy - Senior Administrative Assistant
Staff
Angie Rivera - CSFP Distribution Coordinator
Bob Ledoux - CSFP Assistant
Bob O’Connor - Executive Director
Brandon Clark - Customer Service Representative
Danielle C. Bock - Food Sourcing and
Transportation Manager
Debbie Pfalzgraff - Administrative Assistant
Erika Westfall - Certification/IT Manager
Glenn Smithey - Driver
Gloria Picinini - Kitchen Manager
Jay Straight - Warehouse Manager
Jessica Barczewski - Agency Relations
Child Programs Manager
Jeannette Kolokoff - Development Assistant
John Pitman - Driver/Warehouse Assistant
Kathy Duemig - Kitchen Assistant
Kevin Mullin, CFRE - Director of Development
Melisa Esposti - Grants Manager
Paul Hayward - Driver
Rick Cruz - CSFP Assistant
Sarah Bray - Volunteer and Event Manager
Scott Westfall - Director of Operations
Selena Arredondo - Agency Food Coordinator
Stephanie Gausch - Development Manager
Victoria Schuster - Americorp Vista
Yolanda Cruz - Certification Specialist
Fax: (970) 356-2297
Email: [email protected]
www.weldfoodbank.org
Director’s Corner
We are pleased to announce that long-time staff member Bob
O’Connor has been selected as the new Executive Director. Following
the resignation and passing of Leona Martens, the Board of Directors
followed the Succession Plan that was in place and conducted a
nationwide search in order to identify the best candidate to serve as
Director.
“After a thorough national search, the board of Directors is confident
that we have identified the best candidate to serve as the new director,”
stated Jan Martin, PH.D., Chair of the Search Committee.
President of the Board Tim Croissant said, “Bob O’Connor has been a faithful, high-performing
staff member at the food bank for over 14 years. Though we knew that he would do a great job as
the Executive Director, it was important that we fulfill the community’s expectations by ensuring
that we did our due diligence by following our Succession Plan and interviewing other qualified
candidates.”
In my first official Director’s Corner, I would like to thank the search committee for all of their hard
work implementing and carrying out the succession plan. I am grateful and humbled to be the
candidate selected to lead this great organization. I look forward to working with our community
partners, providing healthy food and making a difference in the lives of our neighbors.
Nunn Agency Opens
Doors to Those in Need
Bob O’Connor
Executive Director
The Neighbor-to-Neighbor Sharehouse opened on July 14, 2011
and is a joint ministry of High Plains Harvest Church and Highland
Community Church, both of Ault. Pastor Mark Hotaling of High
Plains Harvest and Pastor Tim Falk of Highland Community both
desired to reach out to their neighbors by meeting basic needs,
such as food and clothing assistance, but also by providing a way
for neighbors to connect with and help each other. Thus, the
Sharehouse works as a free resource for citizens to come and find
household items, gently used clothing, and both perishable and
non-perishable food, all at no charge. Many who come looking
for food find themselves pitching in to help out as well.
Husband and wife Steven and Mercy Phipps enjoy coming to the Sharehouse. On one recent and
busier-than-expected day, Steven could be found helping to stock shelves at the last minute just
before opening. Says Steven, “It helps out a lot of people who can’t get to stores or don’t have
transportation. It does a lot of good for people who don’t have work and are just surviving day-today.”
The Sharehouse is staffed by a rotation of volunteers from High Plains Harvest & Highland
Community. Fernanda Powers, who coordinates the volunteer schedule, explains, “I enjoy helping
out at the Sharehouse because it gives me an opportunity, as a Christian, to feed the hungry
and clothe the naked, and to help with people’s physical needs, as Jesus commands in Matthew
chapter 25.”
The Sharehouse is located in the Nunn Town Hall building and is currently open every Saturday
morning from 9:00-11:00 a.m. and offers a selection of pantry items, fresh, and frozen foods to
anyone who is in need. All items are offered free of charge.
Interested in fighting hunger? Want to learn more about
how you can make a difference? Contact advocacy@
weldfoodbank.org to be included on our advocacy email
list or visit http://www.hungeractioncenter.org/ham.aspx
for more information on how you can take action.
Interested in becoming a newsletter
sponsor? As a sponsor your business
name and logo would go out to over
9,500 households. Contact Stephanie
Gausch for more details.
Weld Food Bank values its donors’ privacy. We never sell, rent, or barter our donor information. Annually we publish our supporters’ names
in our Annual Report. If you would like to opt out of having your name listed in our Annual Report or from being on our mailing list, please
contact Stephanie at [email protected] with your complete name, address and telephone number and ask to be removed.
Upcoming Events
September 2012 – Hunger Action Month
Hunger Action Month is your opportunity to
join a movement that has a real and lasting
impact on our efforts to feed more Weld
County residents than ever before. Whether
you choose to advocate, raise hunger
awareness, make a food donation, raise
funds, or volunteer – check our website
and find a way to get involved and make a
difference!
Friday, September 14th - Weld Food Bank
30th Anniversary Celebration
2012 is the 30th year of the Weld Food
Bank and we will be having a celebration in
September to recognize this milestone. The
event will be an 80’s throw back party with
a great 80’s band, food, face painting and
balloon art. Please join us in celebration
from 5-7pm at the food bank.
Saturday October 13th – Blue Jean Ball
Join us at 7pm in the Weld Food Bank
Warehouse to celebrate and appreciate our
food donors at the 7th Annual Blue Jean
Ball. The night will include food, drinks, and
dancing. We will unveil our Food Donors of
the Year and recognize the contributions of
our local farmers. The evening is a casual
affair and is open to the public, free of
charge.
Saturday October 27th - 9 Cares Colorado
Shares Food Drive
Help support our efforts by volunteering to
collect food at a local King Soopers! Or, stop
by any King Soopers location in Weld County
and drop off a food donation.
Saturday November 17th – Turkey Drive
Volunteers will be at King Soopers, Safeway,
and Walmart stores collecting turkeys and
other holiday food items. The food that is
collected will be distributed to our agencies
for holiday meals. Come help us make sure
everyone has enough to eat this holiday
season!
Beacon
of Hope
RV’s and Cars and
Trailers, Oh My!
You can now help feed the hungry in Weld
County by donating your used car, van,
truck, boat with a trailer, or recreational
vehicle to Weld Food Bank. We offer
you the opportunity to eliminate
the hassle of repairing, advertising
and selling your vehicle through a
professional and simple donation process.
We receive the proceeds and you receive the
tax deduction. It couldn’t be easier!
Simply call our toll free number at 1-855-932-2271 with the year, make, and model of
your vehicle, the general condition (running or not), the vehicle identification number,
and with title in hand. Or you can complete the vehicle donation form on our website
and we will handle the rest. Our friendly operators are glad to answer any questions
you may have. They will arrange a convenient time for free auto towing within 48 hours
and mail your required tax form documentation within four to six weeks.
Weld Food Bank has partnered with Melwood Charity Car Donation Center, a non-profit
agency, to manage and operate our vehicle donation program.
Volunteers Spend The Day
Collecting Food
This past June, 80 of our volunteers donated
their time to help us collect food at King
Soopers locations across Weld County as part
of the Summer 9 Cares Colorado Shares food
drive. They spent the day handing out flyers,
collecting donations, and thanking donors. It is
a great opportunity for folks who are not able to
volunteer during the week! This year, thanks to
those volunteers and our generous community,
we raised over $3,600 and collected almost 8,500
lbs of food.
As we embark on the holiday season, we have
two upcoming food drives in November, the Fall 9
Cares Colorado Shares drive and our Turkey Drive.
We collect holiday food items during this time that will ultimately go to our agencies
so they can provide holiday meals and baskets for those in need. We need plenty of
volunteers to make this happen, both individuals and groups! If you are interested please
contact Sarah at 970-356-2199 x307 and reserve your spot.
For the past year we were fortunate to have an Americorp Vista, Ellen Saribudak, work
at the food bank. Ellen was an amazing addition to our team and worked on a variety of
projects. She set up new programs in Leona’s Kitchen including prepared meals for our
Agency Partners, Cooking Matters classes for our clients, and cooking classes taught by
local chefs with proceeds going to our child programs. She was able to single-handedly
start a community garden and set up an Agency Reporting System so we can better track
the number of clients we serve. Ellen was an asset to the food bank and her hard work
and dedication to ending hunger will be missed. We wish her the best and know she
will continue to make a difference in the lives of others!.
Food Drives and Fundraisers
Cooking Classes
Starting this past spring, we began partnering with local restaurants and
chefs to offer cooking classes to the general community in Leona’s Kitchen.
With the help of our generous restaurant partners, the $50 registration
fee supports our kids programs. We are offering 2 classes a month and
have already raised almost $5,000 to provide meals to hungry kids. Keep
checking our website because classes are added as they are scheduled!
Please join us in thanking participating restaurants and chefs including:
Rumi’s House of Kabob, The Tavern at St. Michael’s Square, Chef Aaron
Essig from UNC Catering, and Chef Darci Hata from Frontier House.
Stamp Out Hunger
This past May our local Postal Carriers participated in the Nation’s largest food drive, Stamp Out
Hunger. Participating mail carriers picked up donated food items at your mailbox and we were
able to beat last year’s record by bringing in over 35,500 lbs of food! We would like to thank all
of the donors and volunteers who collected food at grocery store locations, and the National
Association of Letter Carriers for making this year such a success!
Eighth Annual Eaton Community Event /Kiwanis Car Show
It was another great year as we partnered with New West Bank in Eaton and the Kiwanis Club of
the Rockies. Community members and car aficionados gathered to enjoy a great meal prepared in
the Halliburton Tailgating Truck and to view amazing vintage cars. Thanks to everyone’s support,
we were able to raise over $12,000!!
Dine Out for Hunger
Thank you to all the restaurants who participated in Dine Out for
Hunger this past April! The restaurants below agreed to donate a
portion of their sales to the food bank on April 26th. Thanks to the
generosity of the restaurants and the diners, this year we were able
to raise more money than ever. Please support these donors year
round: The Buzz Coffee, BlackJack Pizza, Cables Pub and Grill, Coyote’s
Southwestern Grill, D.P. Dough, Fonta’s Pizza Restaurant, Kenny’s
Steak House, Kersey Pizza, Palomino Mexican Restaurant, Roma Pizza
(8th Ave), Rumi’s House of Kabob, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant,
Taste of Philly, Tavola, The Tavern at St. Michael’s Square, The “NEW”
Plantation, and both Greeley Wing Shack locations.
Corporate Food Challenge
Once again we brought community minded businesses together
to compete against each other in the 8th Annual Corporate Food
Challenge. The companies compete in a variety of categories and this
year we were able to raise over $15,000, collect 5,000 lbs of food,
and volunteers donated almost 70 hours to the food bank. This year’s
winners included: Largest Food Contribution – JBS, Largest Financial
Contribution – Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Most Volunteer
Hours – Select Energy Services, and Largest Combined Food &
Financial Contribution – Greeley Chamber of Commerce.
10th Annual Stone Soup
It was amazing to celebrate the 10th year of our premiere
fundraising event. The evening was the most successful Stone Soup
we have hosted, with over 340 guests in attendance. They were
treated to an exciting evening which included dinner, dancing, and a
live auction. Thanks to the generosity of our donors we were able to
raise $129,000 which will now go to help feed our hungry neighbors.
We look forward to doing it again next year!
Leave a lasting legacy to the food bank with
an estate gift. Contact Kevin Mullin, CFRE, at
970-356-2199 x 304 to discuss how to remember
the food bank in your will or estate plan.
Please support these
business donors who
contributed financially to
the food bank between
March 15th and July 15th.
PAMPERED CHEF
WEISS JEWELERS, INC.
SEARS REAL ESTATE
ROCHE CONSTRUCTORS, INC.
KERSEY PIZZA
The “NEW” PLANTATION
LANDMARK BUILDERS, INC
WELD FAMILY CLINIC OF CHIROPRACTIC
COYOTE’S SOUTHWESTERN GRILL
SPEEDWAY AUTO WRECKING
ANDERSON & WHITNEY
BLACKJACK PIZZA
WM. MOORE JEWELERS
WELD COUNTY APPLIANCE
KENNY’S STEAK HOUSE
CABLES GRILL
BRATTON’S OFFICE EQUIPMENT
BUXMAN DAIRY AND FARMS
STUCCO RITE, INC
NEW WEST BANK
DANA ORTHODONTICS
CHIMNEY PARK RESTAURANT AND BAR
CACHE BANK AND TRUST
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
FONTA’S RESTAURANT
PHIL’S PRO AUTO SERVICE
ROMA’S RESTAURANT
NATURAL GROCERS BY VITAMIN COTTAGE
The Tavern at St. Michael’s Square
TASTE OF PHILLY
The BUZZ COFFEE AND GELATO SHOP
CONTEMPORY Cafe
LAMAR CONSTRUCTION
ESSENTIALLY BARE
EXODUS MOVING & STORAGE
FLAMINGO’S LIQUOR LLC
LINCOLN PARK EMPORIUM
MARIPOSA PLANTS
METRO BROKER OFFICES OF GREELEY
RUESCH, BIDDLE, LARSON & RATLIFF, CPAS, LLC
STELLA & DOT BY LISA KLETT
BANK OF THE WEST
MOUNTAIN STATES WOOD RECYCLERS
NEW EXPRESSION HOMES
INJOY PRODUCTIONS, INC.
CM PAINTING
TAVOLA
RUMI’S HOUSE OF KABOB
CANNABIS CARE WELLNESS CENTER
HAPPY LIFE GARDENS
KRISTI’S KREATIONS, LLC
EINSTEIN BROTHERS BAGELS
PURIFOY Chevrolet
WESTRIDGE ANIMAL HOSPITAL
D & J SERVICES, INC.
DP DOUGH-GREELEY
SEW DOWNTOWN
AULT BOOKKEEPING, LLC
7-ELEVEN
TGI FRIDAY’S WORLD BARTENDER
CHAMPIONSHIP
EZ PAWN
WING SHACK ENTERPRISES, INC.
Thank you to everyone
who has donated,
volunteered or served as
an advocate for Weld
Food Bank.