AFAC's Blog

April 24, 2009

Hello, all.

Like at the holiday season, many groups are working to support AFAC in a variety of ways. Please be sure to read all the way to the end. There are lots of fun events coming up!

Client Count: The client count for the week ending April 18, 2009 totals 1,192 families, which consist of 2,147 adults and 1,280 children. There are currently 2,131 active referrals. One year ago, for the week ending April 19, 2008, the client count was 814. Two years ago, for the week ending April 21, 2007 was 700.

June 4th – We’re gearing up for our celebration to support the Permanent Home Campaign. Don’t miss a lovely evening of music, good food and a spectacular silent auction at the Washington Golf and Country Club on June 4th. Visit our website (www.afac.org) for details and to view sponsorship opportunities and to purchase tickets. For more information contact Melissa Kalner at mkalner77@gmail.com. For questions about sponsorship, contact afacbeth@aol.com. We hope to see you there!

It’s Still Feinstein Time Again! Philanthropist Alan Feinstein has renewed his matching grant opportunity. Each year, Mr. Feinstein puts up $1 million of his own money and matches what’s raised at food pantries all over America. The more money we can raise for this challenge means more that we collect later. Please consider a gift to AFAC between now and April 30th. Those funds will qualify for the match. Simply note ‘Feinstein’ on your check to AFAC or designate it as such if you donate online.

New Volunteer Opportunities: The Volunteer Department is looking for weekday volunteers! We especially need distribution and warehouse volunteers on Thursdays and Fridays. We’re also creating two new volunteer jobs – Loading Dock Assistants and Weekend Supervisors. Loading dock assistants will help weigh in food donations and assist our drivers as they=2 0unload the food they bring in daily allowing the drivers to get back on the road faster. We’d like help on the loading dock weekday mornings and Saturdays from 11-1. Weekend Supervisors are needed to supervise and assist the many groups that want to volunteer at AFAC. Supervisors shifts will be from noon – 4 on Saturdays and Sundays. Please contact the volunteer department at volunteer4afac@aol.com if you are interested in any of these positions.

Community Shred Is Tomorrow, April 25th – “Shred for Bread” is a spring cleaning of your financial and other personal papers for a good cause! On Saturday, April 25th, at Little Falls Presbyterian Church (6025 Little Falls Rd., near Nottingham School), ProShred, a professional shredding company, is generously donating their time and service to shred your personal papers in a safe and secure way—right there on the spot!! No need to remove staples or paper clips, they’ll shred as is. With identity theft on the rise, shredding personal papers is a must these days. In return for their services, a donation of food for AFAC will be gladly accepted. (Come early – the truck is only staying until it is full!) You’ll get rid of your clutter and help AFAC at the same time! On that same day, Little Falls Presbyterian Church is hosting a yard sale to raise money for their youth mission trips. This event is from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. See you there…..

Peace Concert – The Claremont Immersion Elementary School’s World Wide Helpers Club will be holding a concert to benefit AFAC. The Peace Concert will be held on Friday, May 1st at Gunston Middle School from 6 – 9 in the evening. This event will feature a variety of musical performances, in addition to narrations that discuss the current hunger crisis. They are asking that participants pay $10.00 to attend, or $5.00 with a food donation. Half of the money raised, as well as all of the food collected, will be donated to A.F.A.C.

DANCERS CARE! Dancers have big hearts – and you can help them help AFAC. Thanks to Candy Braeden, who started everything with her “Tap Jam,” the Center Dance Company is serving as a collecting site for contributions of food and clothing. The DANCERS CARE drive will continue through May 1, 2009. The Center Dance Company is at 3443 Carlin Springs Rd. in Falls Church.

Wine Tasting – Join us at Our Savior Luthe ran Church as we enjoy, taste and compare several lovely wines. Proceeds benefit AFAC and the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. This was a fun event last year, and I’m sure this year’s will be too. The Tasting is May 16, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The price is $35 per person, and $25 for designated drivers. To make your reservations, call 703.892.4846. Our Savior is at 825 S. Taylor St.

Whole Foods, Mom and AFAC – Whole Foods Market Arlington is helping you show your Mom you care about her and the community. Surprise your Mom or loved one with either a rainbow mix of colorful tulips and/or a pink potted hydrangea flower for only $14.99. For each floral purchase you make, Whole Foods Market will donate $4.00 to AFAC. To place your Mother’s Day floral order, please visit http://www.lovewhereyoushop.net. This is a pre-order form. All payments will be made at the sotr on your pickup date. The online program begins Monday, April 27th, and runs through Tuesday, May 5th.

4th Annual Arlington Science Focus School 5k Race – This race and 1k fun run/walk on Saturday May 2, 2009 is also a food drive for AFAC. Participants are asked to bring one non-perishable food item on race day to support AFAC. You can get a registration form from the school’s website, http://www.asfsonline.org.

Letter Carrier’s Food Drive – This major foo d drive is Saturday, May 9, 2009. To volunteer, send a note to volunteer4afac@aol.com. We need your help that day. Please also spread the word in your neighborhood about this drive!

Summer Food Drives – We are just now planning a program of food drives in June. Help us keep our pantry stocked over the summer. If you can help coordinate a food drive, please contact Magda Jaskot, our Food Drive Coordinator, at afacMagda@aol.com

Thank you for all you do for AFAC. We need and appreciate your support.

Christine

Christine Lucas
AFAC Executive Director
703.845.8486
afacChristine@aol.com

Distributing Food at AFAC Last Saturday

By Lynn Newbill

I volunteered at AFAC last Saturday morning with Single Volunteers of DC, and helped serve more than 160 families. That’s more than double the number of families we were serving just 6 months ago on an average Saturday morning!

It was a good distribution day – we had fresh produce for the first time in months! It was lovely to be able to tell the clients they could select four (!!!) fresh produce items, and to have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to choose from! We had apples, kiwi, grapes, a few boxes of strawberries and raspberries. There were lots and lots of green beans and sweet potatoes, as well as carrots, squash, yucca, and other vegetable items. That part was very exciting, both to the clients and to the volunteers!

We had a huge number of questionable bananas, starting to age gracefully. They wouldn’t last until Monday, so we were able to let people take as much as they wanted. You might think people would turn down bananas that are beginning to show brown spots, but that wasn’t the case. Those bananas flew off the “Gratis” (free to take) shelves! Lots of folks bake or cook with over-ripe bananas, using them as flavoring or as a meal stretcher. Others ate them on their way out the door. There were lots of banana peels in the dumpster that morning! For some AFAC clients this may have been their primary meal for the day.

We were also pleasantly surprised to find that we had enough boxed cereal to distribute one per family. I don’t recall the last time our Saturday distribution included boxed cereal. It just hasn’t been available. The good fortune of this Saturday clients meant that boxed cereal probably wouldn’t be available for weekday clients, because Saturday distribution distributed much of the available stock.

The shelves of “choice” or “miscellaneous” food items were reasonably well supplied when we started. These are items that don’t fall into a specific category distributed by AFAC, generally those little extras that fill bellies and meet cravings, such as box mixes, ramen noodles, rice, jello, spices, etc. Each family was able to select two “choice” items, of which one could be a bag of corn flour, a very desirable product! After about the first two hours, we realized we weren’t able to re-stock as the shelves emptied. The miscellaneous items were mostly gone.

The good news is that the AFAC warehouse is partially stocked with canned goods from the American Institute of Architects Canstruction event a few weeks back. Judging from the floor space taken up by the donation crates of those donated foods, AFAC probably has canned food stocks to carry through for perhaps 8 weeks of distributions, until the donations from the Postal Carrier’s Canned Goods Drive come in and are sorted during the second week of May.

For those of you reading this blog, next time you get to a grocery store, please consider purchasing a few items for AFAC – just about any food items you would use in your own cooking on a day-to-day basis is needed by AFAC clients!

Also, please remember AFAC on Saturday, May 9th, when the Postal Carriers have their canned food drive. If everyone would donate just a few cans each, AFAC could fill its warehouse and continue to support clients for many weeks to come!

Please give what you are able! Any and all food items you donate are appreciated and necessary.

HELLO!

Whole Food Market Arlington is proud to offer our Mother’s Day Share the Love Program. Our store has partnered with the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) in an effort to share the love with our community this Mother’s Day. Surprise your Mom or love one with either a rainbow mix of colorful tulips and / or a pink potted hydrangea flower for only $14.99! For each floral purchase you make, Whole Food Market Arlington will donate $4.00 to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC).

To place you Mother’s Day flora order, please visit http://www.lovewhereyoushop.net.
Please keep in mind this is a preorder from. All payments will be made at the store on your pickup date. Our online program begins Monday, April 27th and runs through Tuesday, May 5th.

We hope you will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to help support your community while wishing your loved ones a Happy Mother’s Day.

April 17, 2009

Hello, all.

Like at the holiday season, many groups are working to support AFAC in a variety of ways. Please be sure to read all the way to the end. There are lots of fun events coming up!

Client Count: The client count for the week ending April 11, 2009 totals 1,144 families, which are comprised of 2,035 adults and 1,208 children. There are currently 2,119 active referrals. One year ago, for the week ending April 12, 2008, the client count was 851. Two years ago, for the week ending April 14, 2007, the client count was 647.

Rocklands Food Drive – Bring your food donations to Rocklands on Washington Blvd. tomorrow from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

June 4th – We’re gearing up for our celebration to support the Permanent Home Campaign. Don’t miss a lovely evening of music, good food and a spectacular silent auction at the Washington Golf and Country Club on June 4th. Visit our website (www.afac.org) for deta ils and to view sponsorship opportunities and to purchase tickets. For more information contact Melissa Kalner at mkalner77@gmail.com. For questions about sponsorship, contact afacbeth@aol.com. We hope to see you there!”

It’s Still Feinstein Time Again! Philanthropist Alan Feinstein has renewed his matching grant opportunity. Each year, Mr. Feinstein puts up $1 million of his own money and matches what’s raised at food pantries all over America. The more money we can raise for this challenge means more that we collect later. Please consider a gift to AFAC between now and April 30th. Those funds will qualify for the match. Simply note ‘Feinstein’ on your check to AFAC or designate it as such if you donate online.

New Volunteer Opportunities: The Volunteer Department is looking for weekday volunteers! We especially need distribution and warehouse volunteers on Thursdays and Fridays. We’re also creating two new volunteer jobs – Loading Dock Assistants and=2 0Weekend Supervisors. Loading dock assistants will help weigh in food donations and assist our drivers as they unload the food they bring in daily allowing the drivers to get back on the road faster. We’d like help on the loading dock weekday mornings and Saturdays from 11-1. Weekend Supervisors are needed to supervise and assist the many groups that want to volunteer at AFAC. Supervisors shifts will be from noon – 4 on Saturdays and Sundays. Please contact the volunteer department at volunteer4afac@aol.com if you are interested in any of these positions.

Gardeners: Spring is just around the corner! If you are starting tomato, pepper, or other seedings for your own garden, please consider starting an extra dozen for AFAC’s Plant a Row for the Hungry program. We will be distributing these in May to both clients who have garden space and local gardeners who are planting an extra row. Free seeds are available. Contact Puwen at afacPuwen@aol.com for more information.

Parents Group – We are starting a group of parents who would serve as our contacts at Arlington schools. If you would like to join our new group, please contact me.

Community Shred – “Shred for Bread” is a spring cleaning of your financial and other personal papers for a good cause! On Saturday, April 25th, at Little Falls Presbyterian Church (6025 Little Falls Rd., near Nottingham School), ProShred, a professional shredding company, is generously donating their time and service to shred your personal papers in a safe and secure way—right there on the spot!! No need to remove staples or paper clips, they’ll shred as is. With identity theft on the rise, shredding personal papers is a must these days. In return for their services, a donation of food for AFAC will be gladly accepted. (Come early – the truck is only staying until it is full!) You’ll get rid of your clutter and help AFAC at the same time! On that same day, Little Falls Presbyterian Church is hosting a yard sale to raise money for their youth mission trips. This event is from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. See you there…..

Peace Concert – The Claremont Immersion Elementary School’s World Wide Helpers Club will be holding a concert to benefit AFAC. The Peace Concert will be held on Friday, May 1st at Gunston Middle School ;from 6 – 9 in the evening. This event will feature a variety of musical performances, in addition to narrations that discuss the current hunger crisis. We are asking that participants pay $10.00 to attend, or $5.00 with a food donation. Half of the money raised, as well as all of the food collected, will be donated to A.F.A.C.

DANCERS CARE! Dancers have big hearts – and you can help them help AFAC. Thanks to Candy Braeden, who started everything with her “Tap Jam,” the Center Dance Company is serving as a collecting site for contributions of food and clothing. The DANCERS CARE drive will continue through May 1, 2009. The Center Dance Company is at 3443 Carlin Springs Rd. in Falls Church.

Wine Tasting – Join us at Our Savior Lutheran Church as we enjoy, taste and compare several lovely wines. Proceeds benefit AFAC and the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. This was a fun event last year, and I’m sure this year’s will be too. The Tasting is May 16, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The price is $35 per person, and $25 for designated drivers. To make your reservations, call 703.892.4846. Our Savior is at 825 S. Taylor St.

Thanks again for all your support of AFAC. Your support is very much needed and appreciated!

Christine

Hello, all.

I thought I’d start this week’s note with the thank you. I usually put one at the end of the note, and I don’t want anyone to miss it. Thanks again for all your support of AFAC. Your support is very much needed and appreciated!

Like at the holiday season, many groups are working to support AFAC in a variety of ways. Please be sure to read all the way to the end. There are lots of events coming up!

Client Count: The client count for the week ending April 4, 2009 totals 1,194 families, which are comprised of 2,153 adults and 1,287 children. There are currently 2,207 active referrals. One year ago, for the week ending 4/5/08, the client count was 839. Two years ago, for the week ending 4/7/07, the client count was 627. Note that the client count is very near the 1,200 mark again.

June 4th – We’re gearing up for our celebration to support the Permanent Home Campaign. Don’t miss a lovely evening of music, good food and a spectacular silent auction at the Washington Golf and Country Club on June 4th. Visit our website (www.afac.org) for details and to view sponsorship opportunities and to purchase tickets. For more information contact Melissa Kalner at mkalner77@gmail.com. For questions about sponsorship, contact afacbeth@aol.com. We hope to see you there!”

It’s Feinstein Time Again! Philanthropist Alan Feinstein has renewed his matching grant opportunity. Each year, Mr. Feinstein puts up $1 million of his own money and matches what’s raised at food pantries all over America. The more money we can raise for this challenge means more that we collect later. Please consider a gift to AFAC between now and April 30th. Those funds will qualify for the match. Simply note ‘Feinstein’ on your check to AFAC or designate it as such if you donate online.

New Volunteer Opportunities: The Volunteer Department is looking for weekday volunteers! We especially need distribution and warehouse volunteers on Thursdays and Fridays. We’re also creating two new volunteer jobs – Loading Dock Assistants and Weekend Supervisors. Loading dock assistants will help weigh in food donations and assist our drivers as they unload the food they bring in daily allowing the drivers to get back on the road faster. We’d like help on the loading dock weekday mornings and Saturdays from 11-1. Weekend Supervisors are needed to supervise and assist the many groups that want to volunteer at AFAC. Supervisors shifts will be from noon – 4 on Saturdays and Sundays. Please contact the volunteer department at volunteer4afac@aol.com if you are interested in any of these positions.

Gardeners: Spring is just around the corner! If you are starting tomato, pepper, or other seedings for your own garden, please consider starting an extra dozen for AFAC’s Plant a Row for the Hungry program. We will be distributing these in May to both clients who have garden space and local gardeners who are planting an extra row. Free seeds are available. Contact Puwen at afacPuwen@aol.com for more information.

Canstruction – Canstruction 2009 was a very successful event. Thanks to the many volunteers who helped get the cans into and out of Ballston Mall. This year’s yield: 20,475 pountd of food!

Food Drives – Please consider having a food drive for AFAC. We really need the food, and it is an easy way to help. Just contact our food drive coordinator, Magda Jaskot, at afacMagda@aol.com.

Parents Group – We are starting a group of parents who would serve as our contacts at Arlington schools. If you would like to join our new group, please contact me.

Community Shred – “Shred for Bread” is a spring cleaning of your financial and other personal papers for a good cause! On Saturday, April 25th, at Little Falls Presbyterian Church (6025 Little Falls Rd., near Nottingham School), ProShred, a professional shredding company, is generously donating their time and service to shred your personal papers in a safe and secure way—right there on the spot!! No need to remove staples or paper clips, they’ll shred as is. With identity theft on the rise, shredding personal papers is a must these days. In return for their services, a donation of food for AFAC will be gladly accepted. (Come early – the truck is only staying until it is full!) You’ll get rid of your clutter and help AFAC at the same time! On that same day, Little Falls Presbyterian Church is hosting a yard sale to raise money for their youth mission trips. This event is from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. See you there…..

Peace Concert – The Claremont Immersion Elementary School’s World Wide Helpers Club will be holding a concert to benefit AFAC. The Peace Concert will be held on Friday, May 1st at Gunston Middle School ;from 6 – 9 in the evening. This event will feature a variety of musical performances, in addition to narrations that discuss the current hunger crisis. We are asking that participants pay $10.00 to attend, or $5.00 with a food donation. Half of the money raised, as well as all of the food collected, will be donated to A.F.A.C.

DANCERS CARE! Dancers have big hearts – and you can help them help AFAC. Thanks to Candy Braeden, who started everything with her “Tap Jam,” the Center Dance Company is serving as a collecting site for contributions of food and clothing. The DANCERS CARE drive will continue through May 1, 2009. The Center Dance Company is at 3443 Carlin Springs Rd. in Falls Church.

Wine Tasting – Join us at Our Savior Lutheran Church as we enjoy, taste and compare several lovely wines. Proceeds benefit AFAC and the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. This was a fun event last year, and I’m sure this year’s will be too. The Tasting is May 16, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The price is $35 per person, and $25 for designated drivers. To make your reservations, call 703.892.4846. Our Savior is at 825 S. Taylor St.

Thanks again for all your support of AFAC. Your support is very much needed and appreciated!

Christine

Hello, all.

Client Count: The client count for the week ending March 28, 2009 totals 1,165 families, which are comprised of 2,042 adults and 1,268 children. There are currently 2,390 active referrals. One year ago, the client count was 858. Two years ago, the client count was 670.

It’s Feinstein Time Again! Philanthropist Alan Feinstein has renewed his matching grant opportunity. Each year, Mr. Feinstein puts up $1 million of his own money and matches what’s raised at food pantries all over America. The more money we can raise for this challenge means more that we collect later. Please consider a gift to AFAC between now and April 30th. Those funds will qualify for the match. Simply note ‘Feinstein’ on your check to AFAC or designate it as such if you donate online.

Gardeners: Spring is just around the corner! If you are starting tomato, pepper, or other seedings for your own garden, please consider starting an extra dozen for AFAC’s Plant a Row for the Hungry program. We will be distributing these in May to both clients who have garden space and local gardeners who are planting an extra row. Free seeds are available. Contact Puwen at afacPuwen@aol.com for more information.

Community Shred – “Shred for Bread” is a spring cleaning of your financial and other personal papers for a good cause! On Saturday, April 25th, at Little Falls Presbyterian Church (6025 Little Falls Rd., near Nottingham School), ProShred, a professional shredding company, is generously donating their time and service to shred your personal papers in a safe and secure way—right there on the spot!! No need to remove staples or paper clips, they’ll shred as is. With identity theft on the rise, shredding personal papers is a must these days. In return for their services, a donation of food for AFAC will be gladly accepted. (Come early – the truck is only staying until it is full!) You’ll get rid of your clutter and help AFAC at the same time! On that same day, Little Falls Presbyterian Church is hosting a yard sale to raise money for their youth mission trips. This event is from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. See you there.

Parents Group – Our Parents Group is growing. These parents serve as our contacts at Arlington schools. If you would like to join our new group, please contact me.
Peace Concert – The Claremont Immersion Elementary School’s World Wide Helpers Club will be holding a concert to benefit AFAC. The Peace Concert will be held on Friday, May 1st at Gunston Middle School; from 6 – 9 in the evening.

This event will feature a variety of musical performances, in addition to narrations that discuss the current hunger crisis. We are asking that participants pay $10.00 to attend, or $5.00 with a food donation. Half of the money raised, as well as all of the food collected, will be donated to A.F.A.C.

DANCERS CARE! Dancers have big hearts – and you can help them help AFAC. Thanks to Candy Braeden, who started everything with her “Tap Jam,” the Center Dance Company is serving as a collecting site for contributions of food and clothing. The DANCERS CARE drive will continue through May 1, 2009. The Center Dance Company is at 3443 Carlin Springs Rd. in Falls Church.

I hope you all enjoy getting this weekly update from AFAC. If you know someone else who might enjoy it, please pass their name on to me. If you would like to be removed from this list, please just let me know.

Thanks again for all your support of AFAC. Your support is very much needed and appreciated!

Christine

More and more families in Arlington need our help, so we need your help! Please consider a gift to AFAC now!

2007 Winner of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce Best Business Award
AFAC is featured in the 2007 Washington Area Catalogue for Philanthropy

Christine L. Lucas
Executive Director
Arlington Food Assistance Center
2708 S. Nelson St.
Arlington, VA 22206
703.845.8486
afacchristine@aol.com
http://www.afacinfo.org