Starting this Saturday, NNEMAP Food Pantry will be hosting weekly fresh produce markets! Hours are from 11am to 1pm EVERY SATURDAY!!! Fresh produce delivered by the Mid-Ohio Food Bank will be available for area families, who can visit the produce market two times per month. Produce market visits are in addition to regular pantry service. What does that mean? More fresh produce and more food for our neighbors in need!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

If you always wanted to volunteer for NNEMAP but can’t make it during our regular business hours, our Saturday produce market is the perfect opportunity for you! Perfect, I say! For more information about volunteering on Saturday mornings, please call 614-297-0533 or e-mail info@nnemappantry.org today!

Happy Bastille Day, everyone! On this date in 1789, a band of angry French commoners, fearful of being excluded from the reconstituted government by the more powerful factions of church and state, stormed the infamous Parisian prison and fortress. They freed a handful of fairly insignificant political prisoners when the prison guard stood down.

So maybe the commoners were rowdy and a little paranoid. Nonetheless, the riot preempted the political process and was the signature event marking the early days of the long and complicated French Revolution, which ended with the rise of the dictator general Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. Monarchy, bad! Dictatorship…less bad? We did say it was complicated.

Here at NNEMAP, we are waging a lengthy battle against a more contemporary but no less vexing foe–hunger in our community. Since 1969, we have provided meals for local citizens in need of nourishment. We are still at it–now more than ever.

Our move last year to our building at 677 E. 11th Ave. has resulted in steady growth. We are now serving an average of just under 1,000 shoppers per month. In terms of customers served and meals distributed, NNEMAP is on pace to obliterate previous record totals. Consider:

January 1-June 30, 2014: 5,215 shoppers; 120,041 meals.

January 1-June 30, 2015: 4,237 shoppers; 96, 408 meals.

January 1-June 30, 2016: 5,985 shoppers; 150,540 meals!!!!!

We’re a little busy these days! How can you help?!? We’re glad you asked!!!

NNEMAP is always happy to welcome new volunteers to our revolution. Click here to view volunteer job descriptions or e-mail info@nnemappantry.org to set up your volunteer schedule today. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Together we can win the war against hunger!

NNEMAP Wants YOU to Help Spruce up the Pantry!

NNEMAP will be closed during the Ohio State Fair dates of Wednesday, July 27 through Sunday, August 7. That doesn’t mean we’re taking a vacation. While volunteers help fair patrons park their cars outside (for a modest fee), a flurry of activity will be taking place on the inside.

Before we re-open on Monday, August 8, we want to….

*Clean and disinfect all refrigeration equipment

*Thoroughly clean all floors

*Clean and disinfect all equipment

*PAINT!!!

*Reposition some shelving and storage units

*Whatever else we can squeeze into our available time

If you enjoy cleaning and painting–and come on, who doesn’t?–NNEMAP will be your little slice of heaven on earth for a solid week and a half. Projects will start most mornings at 9:00. We want our pantry to be spic-and-span with a shiny new-car smell when we welcome shoppers back for service–we need YOUR HELP to do it!

*Groups welcome

*Drop-ins welcome

*Wear clothing that you can get dirty or get paint on

Sound like fun? Call Sean Becker at 405-850-1688 or e-mail sean@nnemappantry.org to schedule your date today!

In yesterday’s headliner, we celebrated Shirley Fischer, our 2016 Distinguished Service Award winner. Today we are honored to introduce you to the 2016 Volunteer of the Year.

NNEMAP’s Volunteer of the Year Award was established in 2005. Each year since then, the award, given in memory of Bob and Vera Lichty, has been bestowed upon one or two deserving volunteers who consistently went above and beyond the call of duty during the preceding year.

The 2016 award winner has a name that is somewhat synonymous with greatness in the pantheon of American popular culture. A record-breaking professional football player. An earth-shattering, barrier-breaking musician. And now, a nonprofit organization board member and treasurer.

If you haven’t guessed yet, the winner of the NNEMAP Volunteer of the Year Award for 2016 is Jim Brown. As the Board Treasurer, Jim is engaged in practically every facet of NNEMAP’s operations. In addition to keeping financial records straight, he has helped transition and modernize the organization’s accounting practices. As treasurer, Jim helps with audits and IRS reporting and manages payroll and all accounts. He also serves at NNEMAP fundraisers–and always answers our cries in the night promptly and professionally. In his spare time, he has a full-time job and attends Linworth United Methodist Church.

Being NNEMAP’s treasurer is a demanding volunteer position, but Jim manages this all with a great sense of humor and the sunniest of dispositions. Pardoning the financial pun, he is a truly invaluable asset to the organization.

So our Jim Brown isn’t the famous Cleveland Browns running back. Our “James” Brown isn’t the Godfather of Soul. But in so many ways, his volunteer spirit and dedicated service exemplifies the heart and soul of NNEMAP. Congratulations, Jim, on a hard-earned award, and thank you for everything you do for NNEMAP!

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Didn’t win an award? Hey, there’s always next year! But–you can’t win if you don’t volunteer. To find out when and where you can serve NNEMAP Food Pantry, call 614-297-0533 or e-mail Assistant Director Sean Becker at sean@nnemappantry.org today!

If you have been dutifully following our latest news section, you know that we have been spending a little extra time recently celebrating the many contributions of our volunteers. Rightfully and deservedly so. We have an outstanding roster of volunteers at NNEMAP: dedicated, efficient, smart and compassionate. They make a good mission even better.

Beginning in 2011, NNEMAP has identified an annual Distinguished Service Award recipient. This honoree has dedicated many years of service to the organization in many different capacities. The 2016 recipient of the NNEMAP Distinguished Service Award, given in memory of Joe and Ruth Walker, goes to Shirley Fischer.

Throughout her many years of service, Shirley has served NNEMAP’s customers in many capacities. As her activity at the pantry slowed down, she still continued to serve the organization’s mission by helping out in the back stock area, breaking down bulk items and keeping things in order.

Although Shirley doesn’t volunteer on location at the pantry these days, NNEMAP can still count on her to contribute. She consistently rallies her fellow Northwest United Methodist Church members to donate cereal, canned goods, toilet tissue, or whatever other item NNEMAP may need when Shirley calls.

In recognition of her countless and tireless efforts on behalf of NNEMAP Food Pantry–and especially our customers–it is with tremendous gratitude that we honor Shirley Fischer with the 2016 NNEMAP Distinguished Service Award. Congratulations, Shirley–and thank you!!!

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Next up: our 2016 Volunteer of the Year. Is the suspense really getting to you? Next year you will know the winner ahead of time if you attend our volunteer celebration luncheon. But–you can’t attend if you don’t volunteer. Call Assistant Director Sean Becker at 614-297-0533 or e-mail sean@nnemappantry.org to volunteer today!