Thursday, April 24, 2014

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

The National Association of Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is coming up on Saturday, May 10, 2014.

During this nationwide, one-day food drive, postal workers collect nonperishable food that people place in bags next to their mailboxes. Post offices across the country distribute the food they collect to local food banks and food pantries in their communities.

There is information and resources available for Stamp Out Hunger on the NALC website:
http://www.nalc.org/commun/foodrive/

This is a great opportunity for our ending hunger network to collect needed food resources. We encourage you to promote Stamp Out Hunger in your community!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Panel members! Discussion Leaders! Pictures!

We're highlighting YOUR work at our Agency Conferences!



Our partners are doing outstanding work all around the state to address hunger and hunger-related issues in their communities. This work begins with distributing food but often doesn't end there!

Good Shepherd Food Bank's Agency Services Team will be asking YOU for help at our Agency Conferences to bring your proven ideas, strategies and best practices to panel discussions and peer conversations. We will have panels related to topics you said were important to you:
  • identifying community partners and getting their support
  • creative fundraising strategies
  • efficient ways to move more food to more people
  • accessing more nutritious food for your consumers. 
We will have networking and small group discussions on subjects that you suggest: 
  • data collection
  • reaching elders and the homebound
  • building a board of directors
  • expanding a program's hours or relocating to another site
  • getting a 501c3
  • how to write a compelling grant proposal.
These are only a few of the ideas we came up with - but we want more ideas from you! 


Overall, these conferences will celebrate the impact your program and our collective network of programs make in our communities and state every day. 


We want pictures of you, your program, your volunteers, your donors, your food drive organizers, anyone and everyone who supports your program.  Do you have a creative storage or food display idea? A special outreach program? A cooperative transportation model?  We will have a slide show that will highlight and lift up our partner agencies and our network as a whole.  Please send any pictures you have by email to Tia Harris at tharris@gsfb.org


Say "yes!" and join us!



Monday, May 5, at our Auburn warehouse (register)
Monday, May 12, at Jeff's Catering, 15 Littlefield Way, Brewer (register)
Monday, May 19, at Holy Rosary Parish Center, Caribou (register)

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Agency Conference Registration is Open!

Registration for our Network Agency Conferences is open!  We are holding regional conferences in three sites to better serve you and make it easier for more people from your program to attend!  Each day will open with a continental breakfast and resource fair at 8:30 am, we'll have workshops, lunch together and activities that concentrate on your unique needs and strategies to allow you to serve the growing demands in your community.  We will have panel discussions and peer conversations to exchange ideas and offer support to one another as we strengthen our network of partners.

Monday, May 5, at our Auburn warehouse (register)
Monday, May 12, at Jeff's Catering, 15 Littlefield Way, Brewer (register)
Monday, May 19, at Holy Rosary Parish Center, Caribou (register)

Registration is $10 each for the first two participants from your agency, and free for those coming beyond that. All people must be registered so we can plan our room set-ups and the number of lunches we need.

Please join us!!

Mini-Grants for Summer Food Service Program Sponsors!

Good Shepherd Food Bank is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for Summer Food Service Program Sponsors looking to increase the number of meals served at open sites in their communities. We are looking to support innovative ideas or tried-and-true best practices to enhance summer meal access by reimbursing costs not covered by the USDA.
Mini Grants will be available to sponsors for:
  • Food costs associated with providing higher quality, more kid-friendly meals with an emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables
  • Transportation costs associated with serving multiple sites or providing busing options for participants
  • Outreach costs for enhanced marketing and advertising to eligible families
  • Staffing and/or enrichment costs associated with providing regular activities and engaging participating children 

Not sure if your community will have meal sites available for low income children this summer? Learn more about this USDA reimbursed program here or call Child Hunger Manager, Shannon Coffin at 207.782.3554. 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Maine Senior Farm Share News!

The Maine Senior Farm Share program has been funded for 2014.  The website Get Real Get Maine anticipates that its participating farmers will start the sign-up process by the end of the month of April (about a month later than other years).  In the meantime, the website offers some income guidelines and other information on the program that can be posted or placed in a brochure for distribution at your program.
GSFB Network is a blog for partner agencies of Good Shepherd Food Bank focused on feeding Maine's hungry.