Georgia Mountain Food Bank - "Feeding Hope" - 2022 Fall Newsletter

Feeding

hope

Fall 2022

IN THIS ISSUE Kay’s Reflections Georgia Legal Food Frenzy Page 2

Empty Bowl 2022 Page 3

Partner Agency Spotlight Page 4

www.gamountainfoodbank.org

Kay’s reflections Kay Blackstock, Executive Director

You hear us say it all the time. We are Growing the Love. And over the next couple years, you will see that Georgia Mountain Food Bank will literally grow to spread more love across our five-county service area. We have set a bold goal: Georgia Mountain Food Bank will have an annual distribution of 6 million meals by June 30, 2027.

Kay Blackstock, Executive Director

Georgia Mountain Food Bank 2022-2023 Board of directors Brian Bailey, MBA, CFRE Major Gifts Officer/The Medical Center Foundation Joy Banks VP of Operations/OnSite Property Solutions Julie Knight-Brown Nutrition Director/Lumpkin County Schools Justin Burruss Audit Supervisor/Rushton & Company Steven Ellis Owner/Ellis & Company Carli Jones Agritourism Director/Jaemore Farms Cheryl Jones Nutrition Director/Hall County Schools Cindy Jones Nutrition Director/Union County Schools Kas Lawson Legal Counsel/Northeast Georgia Health System Lori Lebow, M.D. Ophthalmologist/Gainesville Eye Associates Kayla Loudermilk Marketing and Business Development Coordinator/My Georgia Credit Union Tate O’Rouke Business Development Manager/Jackson EMC John Pace CFO/Norton Agency Casey Ramsey Director of Emergency Management/Hall County Government Scott Richardson Nutrition Director/Dawson County Schools Lauren Samples Partner/Tillman, Baily & Associates Felix Santiago HR Business Partner/Ames Taping Tools Rene Saterfield Financial Advisor, Edward Jones George Wangeman Member/Gainesville City Council Suzanne Willis Owner/Willis Properties

We have arrived at this goal because in response to the pandemic, Georgia Mountain Food Bank distributed 4.8 million meals in fiscal year 2020 and 5.7 million in fiscal year 2021— an increase of 20%!

The Food Bank also distributed 1.3 million pounds of fresh produce in fiscal year 2021— an increase of 39% from the previous fiscal year.

Through this process, it became clear that our existing Food Bank, named the Boomershine Family Logistic Center, needed to be expanded in order to adequately accommodate the growing need. We have been fortunate to receive partial government support to grow our facility. Our goal with this grant funding is as follows: ◆

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Schematic of New Warehouse Addition

Construction of a 10,000 square foot addition and a parking lot. The 10,000 square foot addition will include 7,500 square feet of ambient space for dry storage and a 2,500 square foot refrigerated loading dock to accept and distribute more food Converting the current cooler space to freezer space, adding approximately 1.875 square feet to the freezer storage to store more healthy but perishable food Adding and revising office space for our incredible staff and volunteers Adding a covered outdoor storage space to protect our staff and volunteers from the elements, as well as to add cardboard baler to reduce waste Adding a surface parking lot so more partner agencies, donors, individual and group volunteers can join us to end hunger

We are grateful for government support of our efforts and are currently fundraising to meet the additional needs of this expansion that these grants were unable to support, such as racking, technology, equipment, a backup generator, and security systems. Stay tuned as we roll out opportunities for you to help us Grow the Love and reach our goal of 6 million meals by 2027.

Keep growing the love with us,

Kay Blackstock Executive Director

2022 Georgia LegalFood Frenzy Thanks to all who signed up for 2022 annual Georgia Legal Food Frenzy. This statewide initiative provides food and funds to support Georgia Food Bank. The legal community in Dawson, Forsyth, Hall, Lumpkin, and Union Counties competed again this to year to raise support for Georgia Mountain Food Bank. We are truly grateful for your commitment to the communities we serve.

And the 2022 Legal Food Frenzy Winners are Stewart, Melvin and Frost of Gainesville, GA. They raised enough to help Georgia Mountain Food Bank provide 98,825 meals! Since 2012, the campaign has generated more than 779,894 meals for GMFB!

2022

EMPTY BOWL 2022!

Save the date: Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Tickets and sponsorships Each year, hundreds join us to take a stand against hunger in our community at our only annual fundraiser the Empty Bowl Luncheon.

Our 2021 virtual event raised enough to provide 1,225,329 meals to those struggling with hunger in Hall, Lumpkin, Union, Forsyth, and Dawson counties.

Along with lunch, each guest receives a hand-painted bowl to take home as a reminder of the empty bowls we are working together to fill in our community.

Won’t you join us in 2022? Individual tickets are $30 each. Sponsorships are also still available. For more information call 770-534-4111 or email colton@gamountainfoodbank.org.

Celebrity and Live Auctions Bowls You can help! We still need 4-5 celebrity auction bowls! The live auction at the Empty Luncheon was born out of an idea by legendary Mike Banks, who spontaneously asked Phil Niekro to place his hands on a bowl and sign while serving as a celebrity server. From that time forward, we have been honored to have so many memorable bowls donated by “celebrities.” From college Presidents to Music Stars & Legends, to Athletes, to Politicians and more, the live auction bowls have brought many gifts to the Georgia Mountain Food Bank. The story of the Empty Bowl is a powerful influence to attract “celebrities” to participate: As of June 15, 2022, bowls to be auctioned this year are: ◆

Tommy Aaron (American Professional Golfer, Gainesville native)

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Kenan Thompson (Actor)

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Tribute To Bruce Burch (Founder of John Jarrad Foundation, Founding Director of the UGA Music Business Program, Hit songwriter)

Do you have an idea for a future “celebrity bowl painter”? Please call 770-534-4111 or email kay@gamountainfoodbank.org.

Bowl Painting Parties!

Bowl painting parties are back! If you or someone you know are interested in painting a bowl for our Empty Bowl Luncheon, now is your chance to sign up! We need to get 1,000 bowls painted by September's event. The cost per bowl is $10, and each bowl represents the empty bowls in our community that will be filled because of your support. You can have fun and help the Food Bank at the same time! For more information, call the Food Bank at 770-534-4111.

Winner Chosen for the Empty Bowl T-Shirt Contest The third annual Empty Bowl T-Shirt Design Contest ran from April to May, and we received over 60 entries! The judges certainly had a tough time selecting a winner, as all the entries were so colorful and reflective of “Growing The Love,” which is the Empty Bowl Luncheon theme. We are happy to announce that Nathan Ibarra, age 16, student at Chestatee High School, submitted the winning design.

Nathan will receive a $50 Visa Gift Card and recognition at the Empty Bowl Luncheon.

Bowl Firer Needed!

Do you know someone who has an operational kiln? We need someone to fire guest rice bowls for Empty Bowl 2022. Please call the Food Bank at 770-534-4111 if you know someone or have an idea.

Forsyth County Partner Agency Spotlight Barbara Ledbetter and Cumming First United Methodist Church

Q: How do you partner with the Georgia Mountain Food Bank?

We have four hunger-relief efforts:

We Need Your help

1. Choice Food Pantry: It’s every Wednesday from 9-11 AM. It has food that people can shop and choose, and also pre-packed boxes of food for people that might not have time to shop. We also have bags of food for our Hispanic population, including items such as masa, oil, beans and rice. We see about 50 families each week at the Pantry.

2. Delivery Program: We deliver to anyone that calls and needs groceries delivered. This is especially important with current gas prices. Or, we have some clients that may have different needs so we will deliver to them more.

3. Backpack Program: We send bags of food twice a month to schools so that they can go home with kids over long weekends and school breaks. We serve an average of about 70-80 families each time. Sometimes we deliver bags of food directly to homes to ensure the food makes it to the home because sometimes kids can be embarrassed.

4. Mobile Food Pantry: We visit one trailer park a month currently. We have a group of volunteers that pack food bags and then some of the other volunteers go to the park once a month. It’s incredible. First we had to go door to door to introduce the program, and now they come to meet us.

Q: Do you have a story to share about a visitor or household you serve or served?

We are serving a young mom that is really afraid of COVID. Last week, when we took groceries out to her, she said, “I notice the bricks are coming off the front of your church.” She said, “I think I could help you put those bricks back up.” People give what they can; they are so grateful and want to give back. We also have a mom with cancer who has a special needs 17-year-old son.

One day, we let the son shop independently because we thought it was important to give him that opportunity to learn independence. Now he has become a volunteer!

Q: Personally, why is this effort important to you?

I love my job and lucky that I have it. I want to take care of volunteers. I want to take care of my clients. I love them all and want to take really good care of them.

Not only is the food bank struggling to keep up with rising costs, more importantly, thousands of families across North Georgia are depending on food assistance to get them through these tough times. Please help today: Donate Funds: $50 can provide 250 meals! Use the enclosed remittance envelope, make an online donation, or set up a fundraiser on Facebook or other platforms so your friends and fans can help us, too.

Donate Food: Rally your coworkers, friends, church, or other social groups and host a food drive. To keep our costs down, please pick up food barrels from the Food Bank, and deliver them when done.

Attend the Empty Bowl Luncheon: Encourage your employer to sponsor the event or buy individual tickets to attend.

Only with your support, can we weather this storm. Thank you!

Staff Kay Blackstock, Executive Director Denise Bernardi, Volunteer Coordinator Jamie Cooke, Warehouse Associate Ronii Diaz, Executive Assistant

Colton Donino, Business Manager Clint Frain, Driver Perla Ibarra, Neighborhood Fresh Coordinator Lydia Johnson, Agency Services Coordinator

Bobby Leverington, Driver Ben Maxwell, Warehouse Orders Associate Rebecca Thurman, Director of Operations Alec Tipton, Operations Manager