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September is Hunger Action Month – a month where people all over America stand together with Feeding America and the nationwide network of food pantries to fight hunger. It’s a month to spread the word and take action on the hunger crisis, and dedicate ourselves to a solution. Will you join in?
There are a number of ways you can get involved: The Hunger Run on September 29th is the most important fundraiser we currently have underway because all proceeds will go to the Holiday Meals Program, helping us provide holiday dinner food items to Nevada County families in need for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Make a donation directly to this fund.
Interfaith Food Ministry is currently holding a Facebook fundraiser until the first week of October. Facebook fundraisers are a great way to get your friends and family involved to help raise money for IFM. Please share this link with your Facebook contacts to make a contribution. Every contribution makes an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support. 100% of funds raised go toward providing supplemental food to western Nevada County families experiencing hardship.
During the months of October through December, IFM will kick-off the Sponsor A Family campaign. We'll share more info about this in next month's newsletter. Stay tuned for more details on how to Sponsor A Family for the holidays.
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Volunteer Open House at IFM
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Last month IFM held it's very first Volunteer Open House. The open houses are an effort to bring in new volunteers to IFM and show off some of our latest fundraising events and projects. A big thanks to all the prospective new volunteers who attended and all current volunteers who were on staff to give tours and share IFM info with our guests. We have two more IFM Volunteer Open Houses scheduled this year. Please stay tuned for more info:
October 18th
December 3rd
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES CURRENTLY OPEN:
- Special Events volunteers for general fundraising events.
- Currently need 10-15 volunteers for the Hunger Run.
- Contact naomidd.ifm@gmail.com
Key Volunteer Positions Needed in Distribution:
- A Cal Fresh Volunteer is needed to assist clients with on-line applications for food stamps. Computer skills and comfortable with talking on the phone are required. Hands-on training provided. Either Steve or Phil does the initial outreach with the client, gathers names and phone numbers, and informs them they will receive a follow-up call. You will call the clients interested in applying for Cal Fresh and assist them through the process. 2-4 hours per week.
- A Food Procurement Volunteer is needed to assist Ray Moore, learning his routine and bargaining techniques and to learn about the 20/25 Goal. Computer skills are required. The Food Committee and the Executive Director have a monthly meeting and make decisions related to food procurement and track the food budget. The vast majority of the work related to procurement, ordering, inventorying and communication with vendors is handled directly by Ray Moore. We need to expand our Food Committee team! The volunteer would also focus on IFM's recent acceptance of the 20x25 Challenge related to procuring more locally produced food items.
- Drivers are needed. Volunteer drivers are one of the pillars on which IFM has been built. Drivers are asked to take two morning shifts per month, 7-9am(ish), picking up donated food from local grocery stores and bakeries and dropping it off at IFM. Recommend a truck/SUV/bigger car. A great job to do with a buddy!
- Facilities Management Volunteer to work closely with Phil and others in IFM leadership to manage a team of volunteers responsible for facility repairs/maintenance. There will be a schedule and checklist for the team to follow, and a process for reporting and resolving issues that come up.
Those interested, please contact philed.ifm@gmail.com.
Do You Know a College or High School Student Looking for an Internship for School Credit?
Tell them about our Internship Programs. We have programs set up with Sierra College and can work with any school or student on their specific project. Email philed.ifm@gmail.com
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Save the Date for Paulette's Spaghetti Dinner!
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Paulette's will once again host IFM's annual Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser and will take place on:
Friday October 25th, 2019 from 5-9 PM.
We need 20-30 Volunteers for this fundraiser.
Please contact naomidd.ifm@gmail.com
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IFM's New Video by G12 Productions
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Last month we had the pleasure of working with G12 Productions to produce a short documentary on Interfaith Food Ministry. Guy Hartman-Cocco and Jesse Green are the creative team behind G-12 Productions, who so generously donated their time, talent, and resources to provide us with a heart-warming short documentary about IFM's volunteer culture and the impact our services make on the lives of our clients.
We'll be sharing more personal stories from our clients, showing how IFM strives to provide a safe haven for accessing healthy, nutritious, quality food items. Just like the client shares in the video, IFM truly cares about meeting the client's needs; whether it be special dietary requests when at all possible, to providing birthday party supplies for families who don't have enough for special occasions. IFM stands behind their clients to help keep food on the table, no matter what.
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Food Access Saturday with United Way of Nevada County
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United Way of Nevada County and Interfaith Food Ministry team up for Food Access Saturday! Today- on September 14th from 10AM to 12PM, families who can't make it in during the week can access supplemental groceries at Interfaith Food Ministry 440 Henderson Grass Valley, CA 95945. This service is offered once a month for folks who can not make it in to pick up groceries during regular weekly distributions.
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United Way Meeting on Food Insecurity in Nevada County
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Last month United Way held a food-insecurity meeting with all the local agencies invested in combating hunger in Nevada County like IFM, Placer Food Bank, Food Bank of Nevada County, Gold Country Meals on Wheels, Nevada County Public Health, and Sierra Harvest to name a few.
Challenges like making sure kids get the food they need was a topic of interest, as well as reaching more seniors through collaborative efforts within the agencies. United Way plans to hold these meetings quarterly in efforts to provide more opportunities and better ways to serve the public experiencing food insecurity in Nevada County.
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Sierra Harvest Gleaning Program
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IFM has been working with a number of Sierra Harvest farmers to bring our clients an outstanding selection of produce donated from their Gleaning Program. Volunteers work between the months June through October, picking fruit that would otherwise go to waste from farms and home orchards, then deliver it to IFM for our clients.
Thanks again for all the generous contributions made possible through Sierra Harvest. If you're interested in volunteering as a gleaner for Sierra Harvest please contact Miriam Limov for more info at miriam@sierraharvest.org.
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Local Artist Ronnie Hart Holds Art Benefit For IFM
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Thank you SO much to Ronnie Hart and her MongeeArt Reception recently held at the Grass Valley Courtyard Suites. A great time was had by all and her Monster and Fantasy themed Artwork will continue to be displayed throughout the month of September. The word "Mongee" is how the artist's grandson says "Monster." Incredibly, 100% of the proceeds will come to IFM. A huge thanks to Ronnie and GV Courtyard Suites! Ronnie Hart local artist has been holding an art benefit for IFM for 4 years now. Please go to Grass Valley Courtyard Suites at
210 N. Auburn st. and buy Ronnie Hart's original locally made art while supporting a good cause.
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Donor Corner & Grants Updates
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Many companies offer loyalty programs from which Interfaith Food Ministry benefits, such as Amazon
Prime, SPD Market in Nevada City and Grass Valley, and Holiday Market in Penn Valley. It’s easy to support IFM through these programs. When shopping at SPD, 3% of your purchase amount is designated to the charity or school of your choice through their EScrip program. Holiday Market in Penn Valley, has a loyalty program called WOW points. WOW points are awarded to shoppers at each transaction through a rewards card that can be obtained from the market for free. These WOW points can be redeemed for the shopper or can be donated to a nonprofit for redemption. Amazon Prime reward program donates 0.5% of your Amazon purchase to your charity of choice is you shop through the smile.amazon.com website. All products are the same on both the smile website and the regular Amazon website. All these funds are automatically deposited into the IFM bank account giving us a sustaining source of revenue without a lot of overhead/marketing costs. A huge win/win!!
Donate when you shop at safeway during the September “Hunger Is…” Campaign. This September, both our local Safeway stores will be participate in the national Hunger Is…campaign as part of Hunger Awareness Month. Hunger Is raises awareness, engages volunteers and raises funds to support programs throughout our county focused on ensuring every child has access to a healthy breakfast. Funds will be collected from September 1 – 30, 2019 at both our Safeway stores in downtown Grass Valley and in Brunswick, to provide breakfast items such as oatmeal, milk, eggs, peanut butter, cereal and fruit to the children of our community. During 2018, IFM received $6,000 from this program! Please support Safeway and this program by shopping locally and donating to this worthy cause!!
IFM is awarded Emergency Food and Shelter Program grant of $14,700. 100% of it being spent on food. This is the first time IFM has received funding from this source and we will likely be eligible for the funding annually!
We have Nancy Baglietto, Executive Director/CEO of Hospitality House to thank for bring this funding opportunity to Nevada County agencies by serving on the Sacramento Regional EFSP Board. Hospitality House, Salvation Army and IFM each wrote grants for and were awarded EFSP funding.
The Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) is a federally-funded program administrated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The purpose of the EFSP is to supplement and expand the ongoing work of local social service organizations, both non-profit and governmental, to provide shelter, food and supportive services to individuals and families who have economic emergencies. Accordingly, EFSP funding is open to all organizations helping hungry and homeless people, as well as organizations that support those at risk of becoming hungry or homeless due to economic hardships (source: FEMA website).
The results are in from Grocery Outlet's Independence from Hunger fundraiser. A huge thanks to Grocery Outlet for once again raising a large sum of money and food for IFM. A total of 1052 grocery bags of food were donated, valued at $6312 and $5511 in cash donations that will be used to purchase staple items like milk and sliced bread.
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Rethink Your Drink with Nevada County Public Health
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Last month we had Shaun and Lynne from Nevada County Public Health at IFM on all three distribution days to promote the ReThink Your Drink Program for diabetes education along with some great examples to share with our clients. The class will help IFM gather client feedback about types of food items IFM should offer.
The strawberry pineapple lemonade was a popular sampler with everyone and it was fun to have the clients give their feedback. We look forward to offering more tastings in the future. Stay tuned for more great recipes with our distributions!
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