IN THIS ISSUE Volunteer of the Year ................. 2 AFB in 4th of July Parade ........... 2 New Donation Information ......... 3 How You Can Help ................... 4 Committed to providing nutritious food at no cost to low-income residents of the City of Alameda ANNUAL N E W SLE T TER 2 0 1 3 FAREWELL TO HANK LEEPER After two years as executive director of the Alameda Food Bank, Hank Leeper is embarking on a new adventure in Colorado with his wife, Nan. We are grateful for Hank’s steady leadership, dedication, and commitment to our com- munity and the Alameda Food Bank. Over Hank’s tenure, he has applied his operations and logistics know-how to streamlining operations at AFB. While Hank leaves some rather big shoes to fill, he leaves us well positioned for the upcoming transition. We wish Hank the best in his next leg of the journey! GROW SOME, KEEP SOME, AND GIVE SOME AWAY Alameda Backyard Growers is one of the many community partners that helps the Alameda Food Bank ensure that no one in our island city goes hungry. This innovative group is the brainchild of founders Amanda Bruemmer and Janice Edwards, who created the Alameda Backyard Growers in 2010. Amanda and Janice met at a networking event in San Francisco where they discovered that they both lived in Alameda and shared a desire to give back to our community. Their idea focused on Alamedans growing fruits and vegetables in their yards, on their patios, or on their balconies, who after feeding their families and friends, could give what was left over to their neighbors in need. This group supports AFB through two programs—Project Pick and Grow A Row. Through Project Pick, fruit from established trees across Alameda is harvested and donated to AFB for distribution. You can coordinate with Alameda Backyard Growers to receive assistance with delivery of your picked fruit or even have someone from the group harvest your fruit for you and deliver it to the Food Bank. Through Grow a Row, members contribute by planting an extra row of produce in their gardens continued on P3
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IN THIS ISSUEVolunteer of the Year ................. 2
AFB in 4th of July Parade ........... 2
New Donation Information ......... 3
How You Can Help ................... 4
Committed to providing nutritious food at no cost to low-income residents of the City of Alameda
ANNUAL NEWSLETTER 2013
FAREWELL TO HANK LEEPERAfter two years as executive director of the Alameda Food Bank, Hank Leeper is embarking on a new adventure in Colorado with his wife, Nan. We are grateful for Hank’s steady leadership, dedication, and commitment to our com-munity and the Alameda Food Bank.
Over Hank’s tenure, he has applied his operations and logistics know-how to streamlining operations at AFB. While Hank leaves some rather big shoes to fill, he leaves us well positioned for the upcoming transition. We wish Hank the best in his next leg of the journey!
GROW SOME, KEEP SOME, AND GIVE SOME AWAYAlameda Backyard Growers is one of the many community partners that helps the Alameda Food Bank ensure that no one in our island city goes hungry. This innovative group is the brainchild of founders Amanda Bruemmer and Janice Edwards, who created the Alameda Backyard Growers in 2010. Amanda and Janice met at a networking event in San Francisco where they discovered that they both lived in Alameda and shared a desire to give back to our community. Their idea focused on Alamedans growing fruits and vegetables in their yards, on their patios, or on their balconies, who after feeding their families and friends, could give what was left over to their neighbors in need.
This group supports AFB through two programs—Project Pick and Grow A Row. Through Project Pick, fruit from established trees across Alameda is harvested and donated to AFB for distribution. You can coordinate with Alameda Backyard Growers to receive assistance with delivery of your picked fruit or even have someone from the group harvest your fruit for you and deliver it to the Food Bank. Through Grow a Row, members contribute by planting an extra row of produce in their gardens
continued on P3
LIKE US ON FACEBOOKAlameda Food Bank is on Facebook. We are committed to keeping you in the loop with AFB news and happenings and Facebook is one more way we can stay connected. Like our page on Facebook and you’ll get regular Food Bank updates. You can also help us by building our community of supporters. AFB has just over a few hundred “fans” to date and we’d like to reach 500 likes by the end of the year. If you’re on Facebook, please like our page and then spread the word to your Alameda friends, family, and neighbors. You can find us at: FACEBOOK.COM/ALAMEDAFOODBANK
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VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR: JEROME SZYMCAKCongratulations to Jerome Szymcak, AFB’s 2013 Volunteer of the Year. Jerome was recognized for his outstanding volunteer service at this year’s Volunteer Appreciation Event by board president, Anna Crane.
A key member of the Fundraising Committee, Jerome conducted an in-depth, private foundation grant search when our grants initiative was in its in-fancy. He wrote the grant proposals that began our successful relationships with the Bernard Osher and Evelyn and Wal-ter Haas Foundation, and he contines to nurture those relationships to this day.
Jerome is one of our four designated shoppers at the Alameda County Community Food Bank. He’s dropped-off and picked-up donation barrels, picked-up donated groceries at Safeway, Trader Joe’s, the Alameda Natural Grocery, the Alameda Farmers’ Market and the Jack London Farmers’ Market. He is our ambassador around town, explaining our cause to all who will listen and garnering their support in the process.
Our thanks go out to Jerome and all of our volunteers, whose hard work makes a real difference in our community.
AFB VANS ARE SUPERHEROESYou may have noticed one of our two vans out and about in the community and wondered if we were now in the food delivery business…not so. Rest assured, our vans are working hard to serve Alameda’s hungry. Every year these vans cover a lot of ground, traveling many miles and carrying countless pounds of food.
Our vans keep us fast and nimble, allowing us to pick up scheduled and spur-of-the-moment donations from local grocery stores, as well as making trips to the greater Alameda County food bank. These hard-working vans deliver food to distribution sites, as well as shuttle collection barrels to and from the many Alameda businesses and organizations which serve as food collection sites. Please visit our website for a complete listing of sites: WWW.ALAMEDAFOODBANK.ORG/CONTRIBUTION.HTML
NEW ADDITIONS TO AFB BOARD
Welcome to new board members, Brooks Wong and Troy Gilbert, pictured here with Marissa McDonald. In addition to their duties on the board of directors, both Brooks and Troy make time in their busy schedules to volunteer with food distribution at AFB.
ANNUAL NEWSLETTER
Samantha Kahn —Editor
Amy Raffle —WriterSteve Sokil—Writer, Editor
Jen Barnette Nelson—Graphic Designer
The Alameda Food Bank is a registered 501C3 non-profit organization.
All donations are tax deductible. WWW.ALAMEDAFOODBANK.ORG
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MAKING EVERY DOLLAR COUNT It’s obvious that food donations are important to a food bank, but did you ever wonder why AFB needs cash donations or what we do with them? AFB uses your cash donation to make sure we can fight hunger throughout the year by purchasing food during times when food donations are lower than anticipated. We are also able to round out our pantry by purchasing fresh chicken, ground beef/turkey and other items for our Enhanced Protein Distribution Program. Finally, we are able to take advantage of purchasing staple items in bulk at prices only available to food banks, much cheaper than prices for the general public. Our purchasing power means your cash donation stretches that much further.
Donating online is increasingly popular among our donors and in addition to being incredibly convenient and secure, it helps keep our administrative costs down. Due to the automation of processing online donations, very little staff time is required. Of course, all contributions, in whatever form they come—food, volunteering, in-kind services, and even money—are a critical part of our success. We couldn’t do it without you.
Thank you for 35 years of support! You are the main ingredient in fulfilling our mission of providing nutritious food to low income residents. We will continue our work to end hunger in our Alameda with your help.
GIVE SOME AWAYcontinued from P1to donate to AFB. Considering “growing a row” for the Food Bank? Contact Alameda Backyard Growers, as members even share seeds and seedlings for the Grow a Row program.
Alameda Backyard Growers has become an important source of fresh fruit and vegetables for the Food Bank. This group of growing enthusiasts donates more than 2,500 pounds of produce annually. The abundance of fresh produce is not only locally grown in backyards across Alameda, but also represents a reduction of wasted, unharvested food in our community.
Thanks to everyone at Alameda Backyard Growers! In addition to supporting AFB, Alameda Backyard Growers provides important community education and networking for Alameda gardeners.
To learn more about this innovative group, please visit: WWW.ALAMEDABACKYARDGROWERS.ORG, EMAIL: [email protected], OR PHONE: 510-239-7425.
Brooks Wong Troy Gilbert
Post Office Box 2167Alameda, CA 94501
NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE
PA IDALAMEDA, CAPERMIT NO. 46
HOW YOU CAN HELPNOVEMBER 16 26TH ANNUAL SCOUTING FOR FOOD DRIVE Alameda Boy Scouts will be collecting non-perishable items for the Alameda Food Bank on Saturday, November 16. You can participate by leaving a bag of non-perishable items on your doorstep or at the curb that Saturday morning. Donations may also be dropped off that day at our pantry located at 1900 Thau Way.
SCOUTING FOR FOOD DONATION HOURS: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 9:30 AM—1:30 PM
MID-OCTOBER—DECEMBER WE’RE IN NEED OF HOLIDAY TURKEYS Please help AFB in our quest to collect 1,000 frozen turkeys from mid-October through December. Keep an eye out for those turkey specials in your local grocery store! Donated turkeys may be dropped off at our pantry located at 1900 Thau Way.
