|
Food Pantry Stuff Bread Before each opening (Friday before the Monday
opening and Monday before the Tuesday opening) call David Reitz in the
morning at the Load and haul it back to the pantry. If there are 2 people making the run, it goes faster and the bread can be sent down the rollers (bread trays on a piece of cardboard so they travel down the rollers). If there is only one, carrying down the Belco door steps works. Stack it off the floor on the cardboard recycle table or the roller run-out table or both. At the end of each distribution day, take the empty trays to the loading dock in the rear of Bi-Lo. Donuts Dunkin Donuts saves donuts for us the day before and the day of each opening (although “the day before” our Monday opening is the Saturday before). About the first of each month, post the save/pick-up dates on the bulletin board in the back of the Dunkin Donuts store. Bring your own Sharpie (but you can borrow one from the front of the store by the cash register if you forget). Use a large pink sheet of half-tray paper and make the sign with 2 columns (if you are interested, I can get into the details why we need two columns). Please Save For Food Pantry Save Night of For pick-up morning of Nov. 7 8 9 10 23 24 24 25 On pick-up mornings (by Fundraising & Donations The state grant is handled by Dan Dillman and we do not need to do anything to apply for it (but we have monthly reporting requirements – see Reporting). Once a year we receive a document (Food Pantry Certification Agreement) from Dan Dillman stating we are responsible for distributing state and federal food. This is returned to Dan for co-signing by the three county commissioners. Emergency Food and Shelter program funds are
provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and allocated by a
local group (Local Board).
Our local board is led by Patti Mihalik (Dir. of HAVEN of Tioga County;
724-3549, havenoftioga2@epix.net).
Board members are representatives of the food pantries, haven,
county public assistance people, ministeriums of Wellsboro and
Mansfield, Salvation Army, etc.
We meet when a meeting is called, usually January, to state our
need (just review when we are open and how many individuals we served
last year with a comparison with previous years).
The “non requesters of $ support” then meet (after the requesters
leave the room) to decide how to divide the pot of $ received from the
federal agency. We are then
called beck into the room and informed what we get.
This year the three primary food pantries in the county received
most of the funding. We
received twice as much this year ($ 5,300.00) as last year.
Peggy keeps a separate bank account for this and we spend it all
at The United Fund sends us a form each year
(late summer/early fall) to request funding.
The past 2 years we requested $1,500 (it was $1,000 the previous
3 years). We fill out the
form and send it back (David K. Schultz, The Feinstein Challenge They send a reminder each year. We need to count our donations in March and April. Both $ and food is counted (each food item is 1$). An article needs to be written for the Wellsboro Gazette in early March (a copy needs to be torn from the newspaper and sent with the paperwork). The paperwork is sent to the foundation that includes our total donations. We receive $ based on our proportion of donations compared with the total across the country. We received $278 this year. Curves has a donation program each March (fits nicely with the Feinstein Challenge). It is mostly food with some $. We pick it up in early April and give them a certificate with their donation amount for that year (around 3,000 lbs.). We have a sorting party when the stuff is picked-up. Scouts have a food drive in November. The Cubs distribute bags the first Saturday of November and the Boy Scouts (2 troops) collect the donations the second Saturday. We need a sorting party for that too. Canyon Country Pilots Association (Skip Shaw 724-2772 or 4142) gives us 10 turkeys (it was 12 this year) for Thanksgiving. Confirm in late Oct. or early Nov. In the past it had been for Christmas but we have gone to turkeys for Nov. and ham for Dec. They (Skip) buy them from BiLo (we meet him at BiLo, he pays the bill and we haul them to the pantry. Nature Quest gave us 40 turkeys this year. Hopefully it will be an annual thing. Anonymous donor gives us as many turkeys as
needed so all families get one in November.
If I am unavailable, have Becky Webster contact the donor in
Sept. to confirm it is a go again for the current year.
We buy them at the cheapest place we can.
We are limited to only 10 or 15 from The Crop Walk is held each year in the spring. It is a group of churches and other organizations to raise money for world hunger. The pantry receives 25% of the money raised. Sometimes there are food donations that we also receive. We need to have a truck on The Green when it is held to receive donated food and have a small display of what we distribute on a table in the Scout Room, with the Pantry door open for walkers to come down the steps, see the display if they choose, and proceed to the large room (Epworth Hall) for refreshments. The refreshments are handled by Crop Walk people. Produce The week before each opening call Leisters our local produce supplier (724 – 3192). About half the time I speak with a person, the other half I leave our order on the message machine. It has always worked to leave a message. The order is determined by how much we have left over from the previous opening and how many we expect at the next opening. For a normal 100 to 110 family opening, we distribute about 7 potatoes, 2 ½ onions, 3 bananas and 5 apples. For each November opening I plan on 9 potatoes, 3 ½ onions (so order 4), 3 bananas and 6 apples. They deliver early each opening morning. Sign the invoice and put our copy in Peggy’s folder. This is paid for with donated money. State Grant ordering and delivery Each year in the summer (usually August) we receive
a letter from Dan Dillman (the coordinator for state and federal food
assistance: 724-5766 – he is with the Tioga County Dept. of Human
Services). He informs us
what our state allocation is for the fiscal year.
It is divided between Fellinger (who has the contract with the
state to supply food to pantries) and Tuna and toilet paper We have found the cheapest place to get tuna and toilet paper is our local Dollar General. About once a quarter drop in and ask the store manager (Renee) to order 20 cases of TP and 40 cases of tuna. Check the supply in the pantry to determine when to order. Don’t even think about ordering anything in Nov. or Dec. when they are doing holiday stuff. Sometimes they give us left over Halloween or Easter candy. Bring a blank signed check (from Peggy) to pay for it. Yes, cash (check) when you pick it up. They order early Monday and it is in that Thursday. Pick-up on Friday is better because they have time to sort the truck load of stuff and get our stuff segregated. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 or 4 weeks before all the order is in. Sometimes it is more than we ordered. Buy it anyway, we can always use it. Haul it back to the pantry and send it down the rollers. Put the tuna on the tuna shelf and stack the TP by the freezer by the rollers so it can be bagged before it goes back into the TP corner of the cage. Williamsport (Central PA) Food Bank The Williamsport Warehouse (321-8023) is managed by
Jamie. Her “right hand man”
is Renee. The warehouse
operator is Melvin; Gordie and Mike are drivers.
Each Monday (unless it is a holiday, then Tuesday) I receive an
inventory list from Renee by Email.
The inventory is reviewed and an order form is filled out (yes,
it is electronic) and Emailed back to Renee – the sooner the better.
Orders are filled by time received so orders sent in the
afternoon or later will probably miss out on popular or limited quantity
items. Yes, first come,
first served. Sometimes
there is a case limit for selected items on the inventory list.
The delivery truck comes to Tioga county on Tuesdays – usually
about |