Back in the early 1980s, Nestle was pushing a certain candy bar big time. There were TV commercials and everything (maybe–who can remember all that?). Anyway, they product they were pitching was the 100 Grand bar. Pretty tasty. Chocolate, caramel, crisped rice, maybe some nutty concoction thrown in for good measure. It was a quality product. And 100 Grand? That was a pretty penny. How could it NOT be good?!?

Well 100 grand is still a pretty penny in some places–like NNEMAP Food Pantry. And thanks to ALL of our donors and sponsors, we just pulled in OVER 100 grand through the CenturyLink Campaign to Fight Hunger. This event, featuring generous matching funds from the Clarke M. Williams Foundation, concluded on the night of June 15. We just got our final tally–with donations and matching funds, NNEMAP Food Pantry will soon be getting $102,109.39 to put into our piggy bank. Let me say that again:

$102,109.39

That’s a lot of candy bars! Or, actually, that’s a lot of healthier food choices (we like to make sure our neighbors have wholesome selections when they come to shop!). Maybe with that extra 39 cents we can get one of these:

The short-lived Reggie! bar presented an 8-year-old with a relative bargain at 25 cents back in 1980. As one former Reggie Jackson teammate quipped, “When you open a Reggie bar, it tells you how good it is.”

I’m not about to compare our donors to a candy bar–but I will tell you how great you are. Your response to this rare matching funds opportunity exceeded our wildest expectations. We are grateful for your continued generosity. It is truly not possible to thank you enough for your support. I will say, however, that I was always partial to the 100 Grand!

On behalf of the staff, volunteers, board of directors and, most importantly, the thousands of neighbors we serve–THANK YOU!!!!!

It’s back!!! The Century Link/Clarke M. Williams Foundation’s Campaign to Fight Hunger is up and running. From NOW until FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2018, your online donation qualifies for matching funds of 75 percent or more! Last year’s match was nearly 100 percent, so this is a tremendous opportunity to maximize your donor dollar! Read on for instructions….

Please consider donating generously again this year. All qualifying donations are processed online through credit card payments. To donate now, click here to go straight to the donation page. Once there you will have to…

1. Enter the dollar amount you would like to donate;

2. Scroll down the page and select NNEMAP (participants are listed alphabetically by state, so you have to scroll down a ways to find us);

3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the appropriate link to Confirm Payment (can choose PayPal or credit card);

4. Enter the required information and click the Donate Now button.

Congratulations! You have completed your donation!

We appreciate your consideration and shared dedication to alleviating hunger in our city. Thank you to CenturyLink and Clarke M. Williams Foundation for this generous program–and THANK YOU, especially, for helping NNEMAP take advantage of this tremendous fundraising opportunity!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO DONATION PAGE!

Get ready to spring into action with our latest round of cooking demonstrations. For the remaining Thursdays in May, we will be offering up practical tips based on USDA MyPlate guidelines. Learn how to get the most out of your pantry produce and other finds!

Class topics are as follows:

May 10: Fruits/Vegetables
May 17: Grains
May 24: Protein
May 31: Dairy

All classes are from 10:00 am – 11:30 am at NNEMAP Food Pantry. You can attend any or all classes. Hope to see you in our kitchen!

One of the great things about working in the social services sector is knowing that your work helps people. An even greater thing is being around people who volunteer their time in service to others. If you can’t draw inspiration from that, well, you’re probably in the wrong line of work.

Last Wednesday, NNEMAP Food Pantry was the beneficiary of some seriously community minded second graders from Grandview’s Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School. The four second-grade classes gathered up over 500 dental-care products for distribution to NNEMAP Food Pantry families. It was like a Treasure Island of toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash and floss! Look at these fantastic foragers of outstanding oral healthcare items:

Each of the classroom teachers used the project as another kind of “teachable moment”–counting up all of the different items, working on addition to add up the total and creating graphs to show the sums in visual form. Great lesson on so many levels. Thanks to these Bobcats (or Bob…kittens?!?) for their generous spirit–and their amazing math skills!

We’re not going to lie–it was tough to top Wednesday’s foray into the heart of Grandview–but Thursday’s volunteer group made it as close to a dead heat as you can get. NNEMAP Food Pantry is closed for business on Thursdays, but we are open for deliveries. Specifically fresh produce–we get about 6,000 pounds every Thursday morning. Without some volunteer help, it can make for some long and backbreaking days for the paid staff.

It’s not easy work, and you have to be willing to get your hands dirty. Who better to come to the rescue than this crew:

Yep, that’s right, we brought in the heavy hitters. That’s a group of AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers who are currently posted with our local Habitat for Humanity branch. In just a few short hours, this gang for the good sorted, stocked and otherwise helped store four huge pallets of fresh produce.

They also helped prep for Friday’s delivery of dry goods, got our shopping carts loaded up and ready for Friday, restocked and organized our kids’ bookshelf and probably did 10 other things that were amazing. It was an incredibly productive morning with a great group of people. 

It was pretty inspiring, so we must be in the right line of work!

Our sincere thanks to the spectacular second graders from Grandview Heights and the stellar, hard-working crew from Habitat for Humanity for all of the help last week. It was truly a pleasure working with you all!

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If you are looking for a service project for your school or a volunteer opportunity for your company, look no further! NNEMAP Food Pantry has a variety of options and would love to work with you!!! For additional information visit our VOLUNTEER page or contact Assistant Director Sean Becker via e-mail at sean@nnemappantry.org today!

NNEMAP Food Pantry kicked off its Winter Healthy Cooking Class series this morning. After an introductory lesson on USDA’s MyPlate initiative, it was time to fire up the skillet! On the menu today: black bean quesadillas and some fun new nutrition tricks and food prep tips.

Next up in the series: Boost Your Day with Breakfast! Join us on Thursday, February 8, 2018 at 10am for our next culinary adventure. Please note: You must register to attend! Sign up during your next pantry visit or by calling 614-297-0533

For additional NNEMAP events and information, please check our events page regularly. See you in the kitchen!