Because of you, more children will start the school day ready to learn, without the pang of hunger as a distraction. Our Back-to-School campaign reminds us that along with pencils and paper, children need a daily supply of food to take on new concepts, run on playgrounds, and socialize more successfully.
Our Community Health and Agriculture Education teams have collaborated to develop the new Food Shuttle Academy, an online learning platform with free, self-paced lessons on health, nutrition, agriculture, and more!
Our Spring Match challenge, made possible by generous funders, including SOLV Energy and the Mead Family Foundation, exceeded the $105,000 goal, raising an additional $70,000 to erase hunger!
Love, Tito’s has a heart for community gardens and increasing access to fresh, healthy foods. Their philanthropic Love, Tito’s Block to Block program, reconnects neighborhoods and creates community gardens and farms throughout the United States. Our hearts are in full bloom knowing that our Camden Street Garden will be the next beneficiary of Block to Block, allowing neighbors with mobility challenges to access our many activities more easily.
Family Dinner Night and the Cut the Bag Kick-off Event!
Thursday, April 22 at Earth Fare
Earth Fare will no longer carry plastic bags at the grocery store starting Thursday, April 22. Instead, when you bring in a reusable bag, Earth Fare will donate $.05 to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle! So, cut the bag habit and join Inter-Faith Food Shuttle at the kick-off this Thursday at Earth Fare from 4pm-8pm.Food Shuttle staff will be at Earth Fare with fun nutrition games and container planting for the kids! Plus, Kids eat free with the purchase of one meal for $3.99!
A Freelance Writer, Chef and Motivational speaker. Susan has taught three OFL classes with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle: Two Power of Eating Right classes at Loaves and Fishes and one Step up to Eating Right Class at the Raleigh YWCA. Learn more about Susan and volunteering with our Operation Frontline classes in the video below:
Not only is Susan a faithful Inter-Faith Food Shuttle volunteer, but she wrote an article in Midtown Magazine earlier this year highlighting our Farm and Community Gardens Project! Read Susan's article in Midtown Magazine here!
"There are many reasons why people may need assistance at one time or another. In fact, most people would just like some assistance, not to be cared for.
Helping during the MLK Day of Service this year lead me to remember a time when I too needed assistance. It has been almost eleven years since Hurricane Floyd destroyed parts of Eastern North Carolina. My daughter and I had only been in Rocky Mount for just over a month when it Floyd struck the area. The devastation left was quite remarkable. People would ask what we needed, but for some reason could not understand the one simple word I would say…. “Everything”.
I was a full-time student and single mother, dealing with a chronic illness and the word everything included simple everyday items, such as food. We received some assistance, but it was often a lengthy wait and many times not enough. After the hurricane, my daughter had to attend a new school, where she was identified as a child affected/displaced by the hurricane and made privy to an amazing ministry at her school. This school had its very own pantry, from which it helped its needy students. They blessed us with much needed food, during a time when I was not sure how we were going to eat for the next month.
Volunteering at the Food Shuttle's MLK Day of Service as I helped place food in those BackPacks, I was reminded of a time I had forgotten from the Hurricane. Tears formed in my eyes, and my heart was lightened and enlightened. It was very rewarding to know that I was a part of something so grand."
I know that Thanksgiving comes after Easter in the calender year, but I did not realize that it comes this early. The past month has brought me an overwhelming amount of support to be thankful for. It all started at Longview School where I did a seed tray demonstration for Mr. Patrick Faulkner's horticulture class. A week or so later our Farm Manager, Sun Butler, said to me that Mr. Faulkner was going to have a visit from Will Allen of Growing Power and that he may need some help setting up the event. To this I exclaimed "No way!" and Sun gave me a hearty "Way."
So it began, the scramble to acquire materials in three weeks time. Some materials we already had, such as wooden pallets from Bland Landscaping and coffee chaff from Larry's Beans. Other materials I had to get for either very cheap, or free; and anyone that knows me knows that I usually opt for free.
Just prior to becoming full-time staff at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle I had helped get a greenhouse up at Spence's Farm in Chapel Hill. I knew that the farm had composted horse manure (worms love it!) and possibly some hay that I could use. After coaxing my better half into an inquiry with her program director I was given the go ahead on everything I needed. YES! Things were falling into place.
I knew the possibility existed that Mr. Allen would be visiting our newest community garden at Alliance Medical Ministries. Once again we relied on our friends at Bland Landscaping to come till up a few rows and provide us with some compost and fruit trees. Luckily I had some help from the Wake County BGC Teen Center to get some compost spread in the garden. We had received a few flats of plants for the garden from Campbell Road Nursery which is just a stones throw away from the IFFS Farm. If you're ever at the farm you should not throw stones at them, but pay them a visit. Several familiar faces from the IFFS volunteer roster came on Saturday morning to help prep beds and plant the garden, but we also had some new faces from the Raleigh Community Gardens and Triangle Area Homesteaders Meetup groups. These two groups have been helping us canvass and raise community awareness about our garden in the area around Alliance Medical Ministries.
What I did not know was the possibility that Mr. Allen would be paying a visit to the farm and needless to say things were a bit hectic at the farm. Thank goodness for Caroline MacNair! She had her farm manager, Johnny Hassell, and his staff lend us a hand the morning that Mr. Allen would be arriving at the farm for a steak dinner. It's amazing what can be done by a focused group in a few hours time. The farm looked wonderful.
I'd like to thank the Raleigh branch of the USDA's Risk Management Agency. RMA's Ron Brown helped escort Mr. Allen around town. I also have to thank all of the Food Shuttle staff that helped pull this together, especially Chef Terri, who stayed up past her bedtime to prepare and serve delicious food at the event. I may have left some people out, but my point is that it takes a lot of partners to make an event a success. I look forward to developing stronger relationships with the aforementioned groups and hope to create new relationships with our next exciting event! Now its time for my nap.
The following is a blog from NC State student Holly Starks. It is the 3rd in a series of 6 posts she will be writing chronicling her experience as a Nutrition Instructor for a OFL Class she is teaching. If you haven’t already, read the 1st Week and 2nd Week. Holly is teaching OFL as part of a Service Learning Class that has teamed up North Carolina State Students with the Inter Faith Food Shuttle’s OFL/Nutrition Program. Through this partnership, the Food Shuttle and NC State hope to engage students in service learning and community nutrition while expanding the reach of its OFL program.
Our second OFL Side by Side class met this past Tuesday for their third lesson, which focused on healthy eating choices while eating out and choosing snack options. The parents learned how to use the information on nutrition facts labels when buying food products while the kids were able to make their own healthy trail mix. As instructors, we emphasized the benefits of making their own healthy snacks at home such as the trail mix the kids made, but we also recognized that there will be times when their family decides to eat out. We provided several suggestions for making healthier choices such as choosing options that have more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, choosing grilled or baked options over fried, and choosing healthier drinks like water, milk, or juice instead of soda. We also pointed out that fast foods and restaurants tend to put high amounts of fat in their food, especially the types of fats that we consider “bad for you.” As a class we talked about the three different types of fats and encouraged the families to choose options that contain more unsaturated fats such as cooking with oils instead of butter and margarine, and incorporating fish, nuts, or seeds into their meals.
The cooking lesson also emphasized healthier cooking options and substitutions for when the families cook at home. For our recipes this week we made baked chicken fingers and sweet potato fries. Both of these recipes were a great way to show alternate cooking methods that can make a meal healthier. Instead of these recipes being fried, both were baked in the oven, which greatly reduced the amount of fat and calories. Using sweet potato fries was also a way to bring in more nutrients to the meal as opposed to using baked potatoes, which do not have as many vitamins.
Both the kids and parents enjoyed mixing the ingredients for the recipes as the parents helped mix the spices to flavor the fries and the kids helped mix the breading for the chicken fingers. After the fries and chicken fingers came out of the oven, everyone gathered around, anxious to try the new recipes. Both the parents and kids expressed that the recipes were delicious, as the kids especially liked the chicken fingers. Many of them expressed that they were surprised the recipes were so good because they were slightly hesitant about liking the substitutions. I think the recipes were a great way to also show the families that foods that they may typically like to eat out, can also be prepared at home in a healthier way. This recipe is also great for kids because chicken fingers tend to be at the top of their favorite foods. Join us next week to see what new recipes the families will make, and check out the recipe for the chicken fingers below. We encourage you to try them!
Baked Chicken Fingers
serves 8
Ingredients
2 ½ pounds boneless chicken breasts
¼ cup nonfat plain yogurt
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
non-stick cooking spray
2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 ½ cups low-sodium tomato sauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 400o F.
Cut chicken breasts into 1” wide strips.
*Measure and combine the yogurt, water, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Add chicken strips to yogurt mixture and toss together until chicken is well-coated.
*Measure and put grated Parmesan and bread crumbs into a large plastic bag.
Lightly coat a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
Add 3 to 4 chicken strips at a time to the plastic bag, seal bag, and have child shake the chicken inside the bag until it’s well coated. Be sure to keep the bag sealed so the ingredients don’t fall out when shaken.
*Place the chicken strips on the baking sheet about ½ inch apart, in a single layer, making sure not to overcrowd.
Spray chicken strips with cooking spray, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Repeat steps 8 and 9 if you don’t have enough room on the baking sheet to cook all the chicken strips at once.
10. Warm tomato sauce in a small saucepan over low heat, place in a small serving bowl, and serve as a dipping sauce for the chicken fingers.
*Kids friendly steps*
-Also try adding ¼ teaspoon of the following seasonings to the yogurt mix: cayenne pepper, dried thyme, dried oregano, garlic powder, or paprika
This week (April 18-24) is National Volunteer Appreciation Week when we celebrate our deeply appreciated volunteers. We can’t tell you how much you mean to the Food Shuttle. Whether we see you once a week, once a month or once a year, you are vital to our existence! Without your support, the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle would grind to a halt and even more of our neighbors here in the Triangle would go to bed hungry. You are our heroes!
Thank you from the staff and all the people you feed!
Emily Zartman, Volunteer Coordinator
Stay tuned on the blog this week learn more about our hunger fighting volunteers and how you can join us in driving hunger from our community!
Do you remember Melissa and her fight against hunger by losing weight for the Food Shuttle and the Pound For Pound Challenge? Her story about how she's using social media to promote this process was recently picked up by NBC 17, and morning anchor Sharon Tazewell came in to interview Melissa! The story and video has been aired on NBC 17 and is now up and available to view in case you missed it!Click here to see the video! Watch Melissa and Sharon's conversation about Melissa's passion for the Food Shuttle and see her give Sharon a tour of the Food Shuttle and teach her a little bit about what we do!
Also, don't forget! You still have time to pledge for Melissa and the Pound for Pound Challenge by clicking here.
On Tuesday, U.S. Foodservice held its annual Food Show with all sorts of samples, cooking demos and freebies. People came to the Show all day to taste test new foods that may wind up in a restaurant or grocery story and U.S. Foodservice chefs were on deck preparing food throughout the event. Plus, it even had a circus theme - The Greatest Food Show on Earth!
Not only does U.S. Foodservice put on an awesome event, but the company has been a long time supporter of the Food Shuttle. Remember Turkey Take Out last year? That event wouldn't have been possible without U.S. Foodservice providing the turkeys to provide a Thanksgiving meal to hungry families in the Greater Triangle!
We're so thankful for a partnership with U.S. Foodservice and for its dedication to drive hunger from our community! At the Food Show on Tuesday, we recovered over 24,000 pounds of food to distribute to pantries, agencies and shelters in the community! Take a look at the video below to see the Food Dude's visit to the Food Show.
Chef Terri and recent Culinary Job Training Program grad, Robert Lucas, also took a few moments in between prepping food and tasting samples to talk about CJTP! Watch the video below:
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and Logan’s Trading Company teamed up again at their Spring Fling last weekend! Chef Terri was there for a cooking demo, teaching everyone how to use their fresh herbs and vegetables for cooking. Whether or not you were there in person to smell the delicious aromas, Chef Terri gave us her secret, and it is now here for you as a RIPE RECIPE:
Primavera Pancakes with Radish Butter
Primavera Pancakes
Serving Suggestion: You can make these small and serve at a cocktail party or make them larger and serve as a side dish for a spring dinner!
Ingredients:
1 c white wheat flour
1 egg
½ c ricotta cheese
2 c non-fat evaporated milk
½ c peas, if fresh- blanched; if frozen- thaw
½ c sugar snap peas, blanched and sliced
½ c snow peas, blanched and sliced
¼ c carrots, grated
¼ c green onions, sliced
2 tbsp fresh herbs (your choice), chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Mix egg, milk, and ricotta cheese. Add flour and stir to just combine. Fold in vegetables. Season to taste with herbs, salt and pepper.
Heat griddle. Spray with Pam spray or a small amount of oil. Scoop out about a tablespoon of pancake batter onto griddle. When cooked on bottom and edges, flip and cook the other side. Remove to plate and keep warm while you cook the remaining batter.
Radish Butter
Ingredients:
1 bunch radishes, grated
1 stick butter, softened
Directions:
Mix butter with radishes.
Top each pancake with a small dab of radish butter. Garnish with more of the herbs.
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If this great springtime dish has inspired you to start your own fresh vegetable and herb garden, don't forget that you can still donate your extra homegrown produce to the Plant a Row for the Hungry program! Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and Logan’s Trading Company are both PAR drop-off locations!
Who: The Law Family. Father, Tom Law. Son, Dr. Michael Law. Daughter-in-law, Kile Law.
Tom Law
What: After retiring from 30 years of being a pastor at St. Paul’s Christian Church in Raleigh, Tom Law decided to fulfill his second calling in life: to become a Food Recovery volunteer driver for the Food Shuttle. As a Food recovery truck driver, Tom would collect healthy perishable food donations from grocery stores and wholesale retailers and drop it back off at the Food Shuttle to be redistributed to organizations in the area that feed the needy.
When: Driving the Glenwood Route every Wednesday morning.
How Long: For 3 years, from 2005 to 2007. The only reason he's no longer volunteering is a bad knee, which kept him from climbing in and out of the truck.
Why: By driving a Food Shuttle truck and delivering food to people who need it most, Tom saw his faith being put into action. It was wild and good, and God, I miss it," Law said of his days as a volunteer driver. Learn more Tom's life story in this article by the N&O from last year.
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Dr. Michael and Kile Law
What: Michael's father introduced him to the Food Shuttle when he started volunteering. He and his wife now support the Food Shuttle through their medical day spa that they co-own in Raleigh, Blue Water Spa. At Blue Water Spa they hold canned food drives, and all of the donations support the BackPack Buddies Program!
When: All year long
How Long: Since November of 2008. 42,000 Pounds of food have been donated to date thanks to Blue Water Spa and its clients! Recently, Blue Water Spa has become the Inaugural BackPack Buddies Adopt-a-School Sponsor!
Why: A year after his father has stopped driving, Dr. Law began supporting the Food Shuttle through food drives for BackPack Buddies. It became his turn to take over the family role of supporting the Food Shuttle!
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The BackPack Buddies Program
BackPack Buddies Program provides food for school children on free or reduced lunches who might not otherwise have anything to eat over the weekends. Each backpack contains six meals of canned meats and stews, packaged noodles, 100% juice boxes, shelf-stable milk, healthy snacks, breakfast items, and canned fruit. Currently, over 800 backpacks are packed every week to go out to these children by the weekend. You can understand why we appreciate the Laws and their continuous food donations with 800 bags and mouths to feed every week!
Watch this video below to see how easy it is to donate food for BackPack Buddies while receiving a discount at Blue Water Spa!
