You're never too young to be a hunger fighter
Meet Hailey. She's an 8th grade Girl Scout with a compassionate and generous heart and for those in our community who are hungry. On January 8th, she organized a cookie rally for over 200 younger Girl Scouts to learn about how to sell Girl Scout cookies. Hailey added something more to the cookie rally, too. She asked the Girl Scouts to bring wholesome food for the Food Shuttle's BackPack Buddies program!
Watch this video to hear more about the food drive from Hailey:
We were so thrilled to hear about Hailey's venture to make sure that kids in the community are not going hungry over the weekend. A Food Shuttle truck even made it out to the January 8th rally where 1,317 pounds of food were donated from Girl Scouts all over the area!
The 2010 Cary Area 19 Girl Scout Cookie Rally was hosted by Girl Scout Troop 328 and select other Teen scouts. Girl Scout Cookie sales continue through March 14th.
Mid-week Crew Call and winter weather plan
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Farm and Garden
Crew-Call
Once again we are going to have a mid-week crew call for those of you out there who cannot do weekends. If the weather permits we’d love to have you out on Thursday!
VOLUNTEER TIME & EVENTS:
- Thursday, Jan 28th from 3:00-5:30pm at Mayview neighborhood in Raleigh. We will be working on the irrigation system there and preparing the beds for more rain and snow. Please come out and join us if you are able. See below for the winter weather plan first! (Click here for directions)
- Though the work has slowed down, Amanda is still working with community members out in the gardens and would love your help during the week if you’re free. Please email Amanda (email above) if you want to join and for directions.
- Fridays 4-5pm - Mayview
**WINTER WEATHER PLAN**
Please note that with the winter weather we might have to cancel crew calls and volunteer times at the last minute. Often the ground is too wet or frozen from previous weather, even if it is nice outside at the time of the crew call. If you are interested in coming to an event and note bad weather please call the Food Shuttle (919.250.0043) an hour before the scheduled time to confirm that we are still going out if you have not heard from us at that point.
LOCAVORE LUNCH – Every Wednesday!
Every Wednesday at noon we are holding local agricultural discussion groups at Farmhouse Pizza, 3011 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh. We will be serving a pizza made using some (hopefully soon to be all) local ingredients from NCSU's Farmers' Market. Please RSVP to Steve (steven.p.horton@gmail.com) so he knows many pizzas to have made. If you can contribute, he is asking for a $5 donation... if you can't afford the cost we’ll gladly cover you in return for good conversation! A portion of the proceeds will go to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. This week's topic will be social networking. We will discuss which local agriculture groups you can join up with to find out about events that may interest you.
GARDEN SUPPLIES:
We are still in need of hand-tool donations. We gladly accept new and/or lightly used equipment. Thanks to all who have responded.
New Volunteer?
If you have not filled out a volunteer form or have a friend who is interested in helping out please email Janet at RGSJRS@aol.com.
Hope to see you all out there!
Katherine, Sun, & Amanda
Taking Bites of Tex-Mex Skillet and Guacamole!
My name is Rebecca Holmes, and I will be the class manager for the Operation Frontline class at Loaves and Fishes this winter. As an NCSU Nutrition Science student I have become more involved with community nutrition and health programming. I am excited about this chance to get involved, and to have the opportunity to fulfill a graduation requirement at IFFS. The youth who participate in the Power of Eating Right will learn the basics about the food pyramid, and get to help prepare fun recipes that correspond to the lesson of each week. The first week the youth were introduced to each group of the food pyramid, then made a Tex-Mex Skillet that included each food group. The children were just as excited, as I was to be involved in the class. It was really refreshing to have such a smooth running first class. Megan, our nutrition instructor, gave the youth an excellent first lesson. She outlined each food group of mypyramid, and the children jumped in to provide the benefits of eating a variety of different foods. They already knew that we get protein and iron from eating meats and beans, and that we get calcium from drinking milk. After the lesson, and a short game to emphasize the importance of exercise, it was time to cook! Our chef, Susan, was excellent with the children. They were involved the full time: from cutting, to cooking, cleaning, and then of course eating. I didn’t see anyone standing around for more than a minute before they were thrown back in to the food making frenzy. Matt from the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle helped the children make guacamole, and they all seemed a little apprehensive about eating it. Later, while I was still in the kitchen I heard one of the children say, “I want some more of that green stuff, you know the guacamole”. I thought that was great because I remember refusing to try guacamole as a child. At the beginning of the lesson, Matt asked the children to take a “courtesy bite” of each recipe that we prepare. Dana from Loaves and Fishes also gave them a little pep talk about how important it is to try different foods. While the youth were eating Dana from Loaves and Fishes rejoined the group to see how the lesson went. I heard one of the youth tell her that she had to at least have one “courtesy bite” of the food they had prepared. Below is the recipe we used in class for you to try at home.
Stay tuned for next weeks update from the Loaves and Fishes Power of Eating Right OFL team.
Tex-Mex Skillet
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs of lean ground turkey
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cans of corn
- 2 cans of black beans
- 1 jar of salsa
- ½ cup water
- 4 teaspoons of taco seasoning
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- 12 6-inch flour tortillas
Extras we added: shredded lettuce, low-fat sour cream, and jalapeno
Directions-
- Brown Meat, once fully cooked drain liquid.
- Add Garlic and mix.
- Add beans and Corn, mix.
- Add Water and Seasoning and let simmer for 5min.
- Add salsa, mix.
- Serve in tortillas and top with cheese and additional toppings, or Add cheese and serve with chips.
Chefs Tips:
Chef Susan taught how to cut tomatoes properly in sections, smash garlic with the knife before you mince it, and something new to me was to slam the bottom of the head of lettuce so its easier to get the stalk out.
Julia's 1st food recovery experience
Hello Food Shuttle’s blog readers! My name is Julia and I am a new intern for the Food Shuttle this semester with the communications department (Jason and CeCe). Friday was my first official day on the job and I started my experience by riding in one of the recovery trucks with two of Food Shuttle’s faithful volunteers – Jack and Jerry. The two of them were kind enough to let me join in on their weekly Friday route to four Harris Teeters, a Lowes Foods, Starbucks, KFC and the Fresh Market in the North Raleigh area. As a first time “food recoverer” I was not sure what I was getting myself into. What I realized from the beginning is that this is a very dedicated group of individuals who go out on these recovery runs. The morning begins at 8 AM and you can be out on the road until almost 1 or 2 in the afternoon! And you’re not just driving around picking up food - you have to drive to each store and go in and take a shopping cart or two (or three or four!) full of all sorts of left over food that these stores can’t sell, but is just perfectly fine to eat. Once you get back out to the truck, you have to sort it between breads, produce, meats and whatever else you may have received, and then pack it all into boxes and weigh the items. With the stores that are very generous, this sorting and packing process can take quite some time. Then, when you get back to the Food Shuttle’s warehouse, you may even have to unload the entire truck and store all of the food!
After almost 6 hours of that one can imagine that you get tired, especially during the extreme summer heat or the winter’s cold and rainy weather (as it was this morning). I, however, found myself in great company and the time flew by! Jack and Jerry are two of the most talkative and friendly people I have met, which is perfect for me, because I am a communication major at NC State – aka, I love to interact with and talk to people. We found that the three of us have a lot in common, despite the major age difference. We all love music, art, the theater, and to travel, especially in Europe. We even found a common love for Swedish food! Jerry grew up in a mostly Swedish neighborhood in Chicago, Jack traveled to Gothenburg to purchase a Volvo, and I am half-Swedish so I travel there quite often. Needless to say, despite all of the hard work, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the truck and can’t wait to see what else is in store for me this semester!
Crew Call Jan 25th in Raleigh and Jan 30th in Durham!
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Farm and Garden
Crew-Call
Two exciting events this coming week. First, we’re shaking it up a bit and having a crew call on Monday (no crew call Saturday) at Neighbor to Neighbor. Looks like the weather is supposed to be warm and sunny and we’d like to get the beds prepped before it gets cold again. We’re also looking for volunteers to help with a garden event at CAARE in Durham on Saturday, Jan 30th. Pleases see below for more information.
VOLUNTEER TIME & EVENTS:
- Monday, Jan 25th from 2:00-5:30pm at Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) in Raleigh. We will be re-doing the beds and prepping them for spring planting. Please come out after work or earlier if you can! Neighbor to Neighbor is located at 1200 S. Blount Street, Raleigh, 27601.
- Saturday, Jan 30th from 9am-12:30pm we’re hosting a youth service day at CAARE in Durham. We will be working with close to 100 kids to prepare beds for a garden at the CAARE organization. Starting with this event, the Food Shuttle will be helping participants in the CAARE programs to establish and maintain their garden. We’re looking for volunteers to help out this day and might need you on things other than the garden as well. If you are available please let Amanda know (NutritionCoord@foodshuttle.org). Please check out the CAARE website http://caareinc.org/ for more information on this great organization that IFFS works with.
- Though the work has slowed down, Amanda is still working with community members out in the gardens and would love your help during the week if you’re free. Please email Amanda (email above) if you want to join and for directions.
- Wednesdays & Fridays 4-5pm - Mayview
LOCAVORE LUNCH – Every Wednesday!
Every Wednesday at noon we are holding local agricultural discussion groups at Farmhouse Pizza, 3011 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh. We will be serving a pizza made using some (hopefully soon to be all) local ingredients from NCSU's Farmers' Market. Please RSVP to Steve (steven.p.horton@gmail.com) so he knows many pizzas to have made. If you can contribute, he is asking for a $5 donation... if you can't afford the cost we’ll gladly cover you in return for good conversation! A portion of the proceeds will go to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.
GARDEN SUPPLIES:
We are still in need of hand-tool donations. We gladly accept new and/or lightly used equipment. Thanks to all who have responded.
New Volunteer?
If you have not filled out a volunteer form or have a friend who is interested in helping out please email Janet at RGSJRS@aol.com.
Hope to see you all out there!
Katherine, Sun, & Amanda
Guest Bloggin' for AHA!
We've been guest blogging this month for our friends Advocates for Health in Action. Check it out here. In honor of our first guest blogging spot, we made a new Food Dude Video. If you loved him in "Where's Riley?", you'll go bonkers for "Energy Boost". Enjoy it below. Do us a favor and go ahead and pass this link around to your friends and family. We're building the framework for an Oscar nomination for 2011 and we need to get some buzz going.
MLK Day of Service 2010
Since we opened our Durham Service Center (DSC) in The Shops at Northgate in September '09, folks have embraced the Food Shuttle's expansion and commitment to serve the Durham community! We're thrilled to have support from the community as we fight hunger together in 2010 and the years to come.
Monday was an incredible day at the Durham Service Center as we honored Martin Luther King, Jr. by making it a day on instead of a day off. We were thankful to have Triangle United Way present, and altogether about 70 volunteers were in and out of the DSC! The volunteers packed and delivered 400 grocery bags of fruit and veggies for seniors, and packed about 300 BackPack Buddies bags with food!
Not only that, but 10 food drives were held in the area for BackPack Buddies! Groups brought in bag after bag filled with nutritious food for kids in the BackPack Buddies program who are at risk of going hungry on weekends because they are on free or reduced lunches at school. A special thanks to Jon Parker who organized the food drives for the day! The food drive brought in 4,500 pounds of food!
We are so grateful for the volunteers who came out on MLK Day of Service! The energy in the building was thrilling and the volunteers were eager to join with the Food Shuttle to help folks who are hungry. Take a look at the video below for a quick recap on the day's activities.
Stay tuned on the Durham blog as we post more video content from the event in the upcoming weeks! View all the photos from the event on our Facebook page.
MLK Day of Service in Durham
Yesterday was not only a wonderful day of service in Raleigh at the Food Shuttle, but it was an exciting day at our Durham Service Center, too! The 70+ volunteers were unbelievable yesterday helping pack 150 grocery bags for seniors, and another group of volunteers conducted 10 food drives across the Greater Triangle for BackPack Buddies! After the food from the drive came in, volunteers helped sort and pack about 300 BackPacks! 2010 is going to be an exciting year in Durham. Let Jerome know if you'd like to join the Food Shuttle in fighting hunger in Durham by sending him an email to DurhamCoord@foodshuttle.org Watch this video to get a glimpse of the excitement surrounding the day of service yesterday in Durham.
MLK Day of Service
Our friends from the Jewish Community Relations Council came out to pack and deliver grocery bags for seniors today in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr Day. Here are a few pictures of them in action, and a short clip of Rabbi Eric with two special helpers. Grocery bags of fresh fruits and vegetables delivered right to the door of seniors is one way we fight hunger and we couldn't do it without volunteers. Click here to get involved involved today.
And be sure to check us out on twitter for more MLK Day of Service Action!