Day 2 - New Hampshire - New Hampshire Food Bank

Day one and day two down! We have now visited two very different organizations and had two very different service experiences. It is time for a toast! Cheers to Volunteerism (sense a shameless plug here? Well, you would be correct! Join us at the Hi-Hat in Providence, RI on Thursday, January 7^th from 6:30 – 10 pm for the Cheers for Volunteers event)! But, seriously, we wanted to mark the beginning of our journey (a day late is better than nothing at all). And, although I thought it would befit our trip, Tim wouldn’t allow me to break a champagne bottle against the bumper. So raise a glass, either proverbial or actual, and dedicate your salutation to the organizations and people who are working to make the world a better place. Bravo, guys and gals! You are appreciated and admired to the “nth “ degree. Please, never lose sight of the amazing work you are doing and all that you have accomplished. You are making a difference everyday.

Speaking of making a difference – the organization we visited today puts an enormous dent in hunger felt by people all across New Hampshire. The NH Food Bank (www.nhfoodbank.org) is the only non-profit food distribution center in NH, and reaches around 100,000 individuals through approximately 400 member agencies (soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless shelters, and elderly and children's programs). The organization’s distribution map was staggering – using Manchester as a center point, black lines representing their drop points shot across the map, creating an immense multi-multi-multi-pointed star with legs of varying length. Some reach just a few miles; others span the length of the state.

Last year alone, the NH Food Bank moved 5.8 million (yes, that reads MILLION) pounds of food. And they did it all from their current 18,000 sqft facility (they will be moving to a larger facility later this year) with only 14 staff members. Though, they do get a bundle of support from volunteers – last year, upwards of 17,000 hours were logged by volunteers. The sheer magnitude of the volunteer contribution at this facility is incredible.

Not only does the NH Food Bank distribute food, it has created and implemented a number of programs that creatively address the issue of hunger and poverty within the Granite state. Take the Fresh Rescue, for instance. Working in partnership with Shaw’s Markets, the NH Food Bank rescues fresh, but not sold meat, fish, and poultry that would otherwise be disposed of by the stores. Last year, the food bank was able to salvage almost 300,000 lbs of meat, which was later distributed to member agencies, used in the Operation Frontline program (a cooking, nutrition, and financial planning program that empowers individuals to make healthy food and financial choices), and prepared into nutritional cuisine by our culinary students for distribution by agencies. Speaking of the culinary students, the NH Food Bank also offers the Recipe for Success Program, an eight-week course that offers unemployed or under-employed individuals the opportunity to gain experience working in a commercial kitchen (housed within the NH Food Bank facility). In turn, the nutritious meals cooked by the students in the program are served to children at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club. Anyone else in absolute awe about how we just covered a number of tactics to fight poverty and hunger. And I haven't even touched on the Production Garden (the food bank grew around 3,000 lbs of produce last year). I was rocked back on my heels taking in all this information.

At the end of the day, the guys in the Recipe for Success kitchen furnished us with a meal of chicken piccatta. I am getting ahead of myself a bit, but I had to share, because it was damn good.

For our part, Tim and I (with the help of Deborah Sprague, host of Volunteers in Action on Concord TV and champion of iParticipateNH!) built bags for the Backpack Program, which, once a month, provides qualifying children and their families the necessary ingredients to create a healthy weekend meal. The January bags included shelf stable milk, granola bars, pineapple, peas, canned chicken, and chicken Alfredo pasta. Additionally, the bags include some form of family activity relating to the menu. The Backpack program is funded by grants furnished by companies (among other sources), some of which were unable to continue funding this year due to the economic environment, forcing the food bank to scramble for resources to cover this program. “The companies get to pick which schools are included in their grant, meaning the funding they give only covers those particular organizations,” someone explained. “So when we lose a grant, we lose resources for particular schools and the students who receive the backpacks there. The really sad part is that some of the children that have been receiving the backpacks over the course of a number of years are now in danger of not getting one.”

There are so many volunteer opportunities at the NH Food Bank in a really diverse array of areas. If you live in NH, but are too far away from the facility to make volunteering there feasible, the food bank will put you in touch with one of their member agencies in your area, allowing you to help fight hunger in your region of the state. If you are unable to donate your time, please donate goods or funds – money donated has the potential to go a lot further than strictly goods, given the food bank’s purchasing power allows them to stretch a dollar much further then you or I could do on our own. If you decide to donate goods, please check the food bank website for the monthly food requests (they ask for particular items each month, allowing them to anticipate donations and tailor menus). And please check out their yearly fundraiser, The International Fantasy Hair Competition, the couture show of the hair world – it sounds like an amazing event for a great cause.

If you would like more information on volunteering at the NH Food Bank, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Nicole, at 603-669-9725 or nphillips@nhfoodbank.org.

NH Food Bank

62 West Brook Street, Manchester NH 03101
Phone: 603-669-9725
Fax: 603-669-0270

A big thank you to everyone at the NH Food Bank for having us visit and volunteer while in NH. Special thanks to: Nikki (for being a wonderful and gracious host), Beth (for contacting the media in the area and just being generally awesome), Jason (for providing witty banter and friendly ribbing), Jordan (for pointing out how much better our canvas (we will get to this later) will be if we get everyone who signs it to indicate where they are from - great suggestion!), and Melanie (for welcoming us to volunteer at the food bank and joining us on Volunteers in Action).

Additional thanks go out to Deborah Sprague, host of Volunteers in Action and wonder woman of iParticipateNH. Your support and guidance have been invaluable in the planning an execution of our journey. Thank you, thank you, thank you!