Thank you!

Great American Restaurants sent 14 staff members to help out at AFAC on Monday. They helped move many boxes from our storage containers to our main warehouse, loading and unloading, and sorting food to get ready for our client distribution. Thanks for your willingness to lift and haul!

P. Brennan’s Restaurant Day on Monday, April 9th was delicious! Thank you to everyone who dined at P. Brennan’s to support AFAC.

Our warehouse has 200 more reusable grocery bags on-hand thanks to Cardinal Bank!

Thank you to the many food drives for AFAC that occurred around Arlington this past week: Arlington Democrats, Battelle – Colonial Place Operations, Brownie Troop #2584 Food Drive at Giant, Calvary United Methodist Church, Girl Scout Troops #2975 and #6473, Grace Community Church (1,334 lbs!), Gunston Middle School, Our Savior Lutheran Church and School, and Windsor Plaza.

Tim Matlack, AFAC supporter and friend, answered the Leonsis Challenge at this year’s gala. Challenge winners got the treat of a lifetime: a date with Ted and the rest of the Caps in the Owner’s Box.

There are many ways that you can help AFAC “Serve Hope, One Person at a Time.” It is our pledge and commitment to you that we will respectfully use your gift for the purpose for which it was given. For more information on AFAC’s charitable giving options, please click here, or contact the Director of Development, Donald Coates: donald.coates@afac.org or 703-845-8486.

County Board Testimony: On Tuesday, March 20th, I (Charlie) spoke at the County Board meeting on the County Manager’s budget for fiscal year 2013. AFAC is requesting a $40,000 increase in the support provided by the county. Since the increase received in FY12 was one-time funding (to address the dramatic increase in our client numbers), the total increase requested in FY13 is $65,400.

Thank you to the many groups who have held successful food drives for us this past week: Conservation International (62 lbs), Brownie Troops #6046 (86 boxes of cookies) and #6561 (81 boxes of cookies), Central United Methodist Church (84 lbs), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (78 lbs), Emmanuel Presbyterian Church, George Mason University School of Public Poilcy (85 lbs), Girl Scout Troops #223, #4564, #6904 and #3951, Goodwin House (117 lbs), Jamestown Elementary School Cereal Drive (2791 lbs), Little Beginnings Child Development Center (96 lbs), Randolph Elementary School (31 lbs), St. Andrew Episcopal Church (86 lbs), St. Ann Catholic Church (573 lbs), and UVA Football (113 lbs).

Thank you to the Rotary Club for inviting me (Charlie) to your monthly meeting and raising $1650 to purchase cereal.

Thanks also to Brownie Troop #223 (Taylor Elementary School) who volunteered Wednesday afternoon to bag rice.

Many thanks to Arden Maybee for asking guests to bring donations to AFAC to celebrate her 5th birthday!

Ways to Support AFAC: There are many ways that you can help AFAC “Serve Hope, One Person at a Time.” It is our pledge and commitment to you that we will respectfully use your gift for the purpose for which it was given. For more information on AFAC’s charitable giving options, please click here, or contact the Director of Development, Donald Coates: donald.coates@afac.org or 703-845-8486.

Client Visits. Since the beginning of the fiscal year in July 2011, the average number of clients accessing AFAC’s services has steadily increased. The chart below demonstrates this increase.

Month	Average Visits/Week	Increase in Avg	Total Visits
July	1366		6,829
August	1450	+ 84	5,801
September	1457	+7	5,827
October	1558	+101	7,790
November	1562	+3	6,249
December	1590	+28	7,952
January	1625	+35	6,499
February	1655	+30	6,621
			53,142

Comparing the total number of Family Visits to the same time last year, there has been a 23% increase. Indeed, this increase has strained our food budget. With careful planning, we should be able to handle the current overage in the food budget from savings elsewhere, additional fund raising or a combination of both. This has also strained the volunteers who help at our morning distributions and the volunteers who must package more chicken and assemble more bags. We want to thank all of our volunteers for stepping up to help us handle this increased demand. Thank you all.

Celebration Success!AFAC would like to thank our friends who joined us at this year’s 2012 Benefit Reception, held at the Washington Golf & Country Club. The event focused on raising support for our food programs, while celebrating the successful conclusion of AFAC’s Permanent Home Campaign. Finishing the Campaign means that AFAC can devote all of its attention and resources to its sole mission – providing dignified access to nutritious groceries for our neighbors in need.

Plot Against Hunger:
Ball-Sellers House Garden: Volunteers are needed to help plant and maintain a new AFAC Plot Against Hunger garden at Arlington’s oldest house, the Ball-Sellers house (ca. 1760). The house is located in the Glen Carlyn neighborhood. You’ll be growing vegetables grown during the colonial period and harvesting them for AFAC clients. Some gardening experience preferred. Want to lend a hand? Contact coordinator Michael Polovina at mspolovina@verizon.net.
Westover Library. is seeking a knowledgeable garden coordinator to oversee the planning and planting of vegetable gardens around the building. The hope is for a project similar to the Central Library which has provided food for AFAC for 3 years now. Email Lynn Kristianson at kristn1951@yahoo.com if you are interested in getting your hands dirty.
Want to start a garden and grow your own vegetables? Gardening talks at Arlington Central Library will be held March – October on Wednesdays at 7 pm. All talks near the garden (tennis court side). Next talk – March 28: Seed starting. Best methods for starting seeds & seedlings: when, where, how? Free seeds!
Do you belong to a PTA, church, or community organization? Bring some Plot brochures and a box of our vegetable seeds to your next meeting, and ask your members to “grow a row” for AFAC this summer. Contact Puwen at puwen.lee@afac.org for details.

Partnership with Recoup

Partnership with Recoup

AFAC is excited to announce our partnership with Recoup.com as a featured non-profit on the deals-based website.
Here’s how it works: when someone purchases a deal, they have the opportunity to select AFAC to receive the donation portion of their purchase. Finding a great deal and supporting AFAC at the same time equals happy shopping!

Thank you!

Thanks to the Taylor Elementary School food drive challenge for collecting 700 lbs of food donations for AFAC!

Glebe School’s Girl Scout Troop 4803 bagging green peppers!

Thank you to the volunteers who came to bag chicken last Wednesday afternoon.

The Young Professionals collected 337 pounds of food donations and $132 during their Saturday food drive at Giant. Thanks for taking time on your Saturday to collect food for AFAC!

Bread Racks Impact Client Dignity

Many thanks to Lorraine for all she does to organize the bread!

A long-time volunteer sent a note of thanks to AFAC about another volunteer: “I noticed several changes…One of the main ones was the racks for bread in the client waiting area. A volunteer had come in before setup and arranged the bread on hand in these racks by type. This might seem a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but considering we used to pile bread mixed in boxes on tables, what a remarkable change from a dignity standpoint for our clients. Small changes like this are significant in their impact on the experience of our clients. Having been with AFAC for almost 22 years now, I am always amazed at the energy involved in keeping it as close to the initial vision as it can be, dignity for clients being one of the primary focus areas.”

Eagle Scout Collects 2,000lbs. Our thanks to Avery Bailey who has coordinated several grocery store food drives for AFAC as part of his Eagle Scout project. He has collected over 2,000 pounds of much-needed food for AFAC clients.

AFAC Around the World. John Heyer – Monday morning distribution volunteer traveled to the Panama Canal. Traveling soon? Please take your AFAC t-shirt with you and share your photo with communications@afac.org.

Update

Client Numbers Update. In the past 4 weeks AFAC’s client load has continued to increase to the point where we are now serving an average of 1625 families a week. To date we have had over 45,000 client visits since the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1, 2011) – an increase of over 24% above the same time last year. A portion of this year’s increase has been planned: the outreach to the low income senior living facilities in the County and the Backpack Buddies program. As we have opened these new distributions, new clients have been added that had not previously come to AFAC. Few of these individuals were able to get to AFAC on their own accord. Now that a distribution site in their building or school has opened, they have availed themselves of our service. The result has been an almost doubling of our initial expectations for these outreach services. At the same time, we have seen a continued increase in the number of families referred to us by Arlington County Department of Human Resources and the Shirlington Employment & Education Center. Currently, we are receiving new referrals of between 30 to 40 new families each month along with a significant number of renewals of existing families. These increases have been reflected in our food budget by increasing the amounts of dairy products and chicken that must be purchased each month. Nonetheless, we remain committed to AFAC’s tradition of serving all who come to us for help. Thank you for all your help as we try to navigate in these difficult waters.

Plot Against Hunger Kudo’s.

Congratulations to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and Clarendon Presbyterian Church for obtaining mini-gardening grants from Arlington County’s CHART (Community Health Action Response Team). These grants will be used to improve the Plots Against Hunger vegetable gardens at these two churches and will also provide classes in nutrition and gardening from Master Nutritionists and Gardeners of NOVA Cooperative Extension Service. 10 churches now participate in AFAC’s Plot Against Hunger program by growing fresh vegetables for our clients. Thank you to the Church of the Ascension for raising $2600 and designating it towards purchasing fresh produce! As part of the Church’s donation to AFAC, the church will purchase a $900 “sponsored load” (~10,000 lbs of fresh produce) from the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network next month, and members of the congregation will sort and bag the vegetables for AFAC clients. If your church or organization is interested in sponsoring or co-sponsoring a load of fresh produce and bagging the vegetables for AFAC clients, please contact Puwen:puwen.lee@afac.org.

Many thanks to the students, parents and teachers of Ashlawn Elementary for their “Share Your Love” food drive for AFAC.

Thank you to the 26 volunteers who helped distribute and assist clients in completing surveys.

Thanks to Pack 126 Den 2 of the Cub Scouts for bagging rice for us!

Cooking demonstration “Chef Sandra” made heart-shaped french toast in honor of the Valentine’s Day!

AFAC Around the World. Traveling soon? Please take your AFAC t-shirt with you and send us a photo!

Featured Volunteer – Joe Adcock. We are always glad to see Joe at AFAC. He has a wonderful light-hearted and caring spirit that makes him a favorite of staff, fellow volunteers and clients. Please read more from Joe’s perspective.

Calling employees or retirees of the World Bank. Have you volunteered or supported AFAC in some way? If yes, please contact joy.myers@afac.org for a World Bank-AFAC opportunity.

Ways to Support AFAC. There are many ways that you can help AFAC “Serve Hope, One Person at a Time.” It is our pledge and commitment to you that we will respectfully use your gift for the purpose for which it was given. For more information on AFAC’s charitable giving options, please click here, or contact our Director of Development, Donald Coates: donald.coates@afac.org or 703-845-8486.

Calling employees or retirees of the World Bank. Have you volunteered or supported AFAC in some way? If yes, please contact joy.myers@afac.org for a World Bank-AFAC opportunity.

Thanks!

USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan volunteers at AFAC
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack designated January 12, 2012 as the first United States Department of Agriculture Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service to recognize Dr. King’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Max Finberg, Director, USDA Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and 18 USDA staff volunteered at AFAC on Thursday, January 12th from 1-4pm. They helped bag fresh produce, rice and oatmeal for distribution to AFAC clients. View more photos here and read an article from The Washington Hispanic.

Thank you to the many volunteers who braved the cold weather on Sunday and Monday to collect 4,000+ lbs of food donations for AFAC’s MLK Weekend of Service. Thank you also to the Giant Grocery Stores who welcomed our volunteers and to all those who donated to AFAC.

The Debelins family put together 118 bags for our backpack buddies program as their Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service. Thank you for all your hard work!

Featured on NBC!

Featured on NBC – AFAC volunteer’s new Italian cookbook – with proceeds benefiting AFAC.
View AFAC volunteer Marilena Amoni’s January 4th NBC interview. The cookbook is a tribute to her father. Order copies online for $14.95 plus shipping and handling. Allow 8-10 days for printing and delivery. Proceeds go to AFAC and the American Cancer Society.

Fresh Winter Vegetables.
Thank you to the Montessori School of Northern Virginia and the Arlington Central Library for bringing in the last donations of vegetables and herbs before Jack Frost visited this week. The library garden’s early January harvest of broccoli, bok choy, kale, and collards was unprecedented! Thanks also to MAGNET (Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network) for a huge load of turnips, cabbage, and sweet potatoes.

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