October 2016 - Click below to see the full newsletter.
Starbucks Employees Take Action to
Reduce Waste and Feed the Hungry
The employees at the Starbucks in the Eastgate Shopping Center in South Riding Virginia aren’t just serving up Grande Iced Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiatos, they are serving up a helping hand to the local community. Every Wednesday morning, volunteers from the Dulles South Food Pantry stop by there to pick up fresh bakery items to distribute to Pantry guests later that day.
Since the program began four months ago, Starbucks has donated over eighty pounds of food to the Pantry. The items being donated range from bagels to banana bread to croissants. “These are a real treat for our guests. People struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table appreciate having fresh baked goods in addition to the canned food normally distributed by the Pantry”, explains Charlene Jones, Pantry President. The program began when employees, led by Jessie Johnson, saw good food going in the trash. With the support of store manager, Maria James and district manager, Evie Szafirska, Johnson contacted the Dulles South Food Pantry to see if the food could be used.
They set up a system where the store saves food that can no longer be sold, but is still fresh and delicious, for Pantry volunteers to pick-up and distribute to the hungry in the area. Johnson explains that “It was a team effort. All of the employees in the store noticed the waste and wanted to do something about it.” Johnson and her colleagues felt that it would be a great opportunity to give to hungry people rather than putting the food in the trash. “It has helped employee morale to know that the food is going to help others and it feels good to be a part of it”, says Johnson.
The employees plan to continue this program and work with the Pantry into the future. Jones is thrilled because as she explains, “The Pantry relies on the support of local businesses and the generosity of our community to provide fresh and nourishing food for our guests. We are extremely grateful for the support given to us by Starbucks and the initiative of its employees to reach out to us.”
How You Are Helping
In September 2016, the Pantry
Received 159 guest visits at 4 distributions
Served 422 family members from 97 households
Distributed 12,425 pounds of food
Had 91 volunteers serve over 456 hours
*Note: Open 3rd Saturdays, see below!
*Note: In October and November we will also be open on the 3rd Saturday of the month from 10am-11:30am to accept your non-perishable donations at the Pantry!
Board Highlights
The board is pleased to announce that the Pantry is now participating in Feeding America's Partner Pickup Program. In August, we started getting store donations from the local South Riding Food Lion, and this month we began receiving donations from the Dulles Landing Walmart. In one week alone we have received more than 1500 pounds of food that would have otherwise been discarded. We are so pleased with this partnership and are grateful to Food Lion and Walmart.
We can always use your recycled plastic grocery bags without tears or holes. We use these for our guests at each distribution. We can also use your empty egg cartons. We have a local farmer who is generously donating eggs to us and we need the cartons for our guests. Feel free to drop in any of our collection bins.
Make a Difference
We are thankful for all of the individuals and organizations who donated to the pantry this month. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, please see the Donate section of our website or click the Donate button below.
Shop with Amazon Smiles
Looking for an easy way to help the Pantry? Do you like to shop online? Then shop Amazon using the Amazon Smiles program. Click the logo below to use our Amazon Smiles link and 0.5% of your purchases will be donated to DSFP every time you shop!
Silver: 100 Women Strong, Cardinal Bank, CEW Project and Development Services, and Wells Fargo.
To see a list of our faith, community, and other business sponsors, please see the sponsor tab on our website. For information on becoming a business sponsor, see our business sponsor tab.
ALL HANDS ON DECK!
Volunteer Needs:
Please see the volunteer tab on our website or the volunteer button at the bottom of this newsletter for current volunteer opportunities and the volunteer training schedule. Check back often as new positions are added regularly! We currently have several critical needs for permanent volunteers. If you can help with any of the positions below, please email info@dsfp.org.
Kitchen Manager – Volunteer(s) needed to commit to helping every Wednesday (or every other Wednesday if we can find two people interested) from 10am – 12pm to manage the produce and perishable items in the kitchen to prepare for distribution that day. Time commitment – approximately 4-10 hours per month. This job sometimes requires lifting heavy items.
Marketing Coordinator – Work with the Executive Officers and the Pantry Board to oversee the Pantry’s marketing activities, including the newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, website content, signage, outreach, and local print media and press releases. The ideal person would have a marketing background and have an eye for editing and content writing. This would be a great opportunity for a stay-at-home parent wishing to help the community and keep their resume current. The majority of this job can be done at home on your own time schedule. Training provided. Time commitment – approximately 15-20 hours per month.
Volunteer Spotlight:
This month we'd like to recognize the Scott Family. Dulles South Food Pantry is thrilled to have the support of Donna Scott and her hard-working sons, Jeremy and Charles. After completing training in February, they immediately joined the Driving Volunteer cadre and began single-handedly helping us to maintain our inventory shifts between the Pantry and our off-site storage location. Many, many trips of crates back and forth as well as endless re-organizing and sending inventory counts have made them an invaluable part of our Operations team. Thanks so much, Scott Family, for jumping in and filling a need for us and helping share the load (literally!) of feeding our neighbors. We are so blessed to have you!
Food Drive Stars:
Thanks to Mid-Atlantic Pro Golfer's Association and the Dominion Center for Behavioral Health! These groups raised over 100 lbs last month!
We can always use local Grocery Store Gift Cards to purchase milk, eggs, and in-season produce.
For our donation times and drop off locations, see our donation page.
Save-the-Date:
Nov 12th - Scouting for Food
Nov 19th - 8:00 am - Board of Directors Meeting
(8:00-8:15am - Public input taken)
Nov 19th - 9:30 - 10:15 am - Volunteer Training
Nov 21st - 7:45 - 8:30 pm Volunteer Training
Jan 28th - 10:00 - 10:45 am Volunteer Training
Reminder:
The pantry is unable to accept expired or damaged food!
Coupons:
We can use your unexpired coupons and clippings! Please put them in a plastic baggie and drop at any of our drop off locations.
