By Jessica Ledbetter, Outreach Coordinator As the Outreach Coordinator for our Sandhills Branch service area, I work with and support 100 partner agencies in four counties, helping to leverage community relationships of the Food Bank and of the partner agency network to collectively generate and distribute more food to provide to people at risk of hunger.…
By Nicole Harris, Summer Food Service Program Supervisor These days most of my time at work isn’t actually spent at the Food Bank. Instead I’m in the car—my mobile office if you will—driving from one summer feeding site to another. From June through August, our Kids Summer Meals program is in full force. My…
Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane recently visited our Raleigh Branch for the first time. She took a tour, a helpie, and had several questions about the Food Bank. We thought they were too good not to share! 1. How do you get the food to the kids in the summer? In the summertime, we sponsor the…
July 7, 2014 Update: After Arthur came through our Wilmington and New Bern service areas, both the Red Cross and our partner agencies reported only power outages and no major damage. As of Friday, July 4, power had already been restored to most areas, and as a result, our partner agencies did not need to provide…
Many families look forward to summer—a season filled with cookouts, trips to the beach, and relaxation. For a lot of kids it means three blissful months without school, with their carefree days spent playing with friends. But for almost 300,000 children in our 34 county service area, no school means no meals. Summertime means playing…
The Food Bank produces an Annual Report, or Impact Report, every year. The report includes comprehensive information about our activities and financial performance from the year prior, and is a simple way to see how your generous donations helped the community–how you made a difference. And our latest report is in! Check it out: View the…
“A community has got to take care of itself. If we don’t do it, who will?” –Pastor Faye Coates School’s out, and that means we’re gearing up for our Kids Summer Meals Program. We’re busy ordering food and packaging it into breakfast and lunch meals to be distributed to our partner agencies. We’re also working hard…
For the thousands of children who rely on the free and reduced-cost meals at school, summer vacations can seem like a daunting prospect. When they should be anticipating fun and adventure in the warm season, many are worried about where their next meal is coming from instead. For them, no school means no meals. But…
This post is part of a series on Older Americans Month. We encourage you to raise awareness and join the conversation by sharing this post with your friends and family to help the more than 43,000 seniors who struggle with hunger in our region. “It’s hard to be old. It’s harder to be old and poor.…
Millions of cans are donated to the Food Bank every year. But how do we prepare them for distribution? All canned food donations are weighed and sorted by our volunteers. But the cans we receive from one of our food industry partners, around 500,000 of them, must also be inspected and labeled. Volunteers carefully examine…
What does it take to put together the largest one-day food drive in the country? Every year on the second Saturday of May the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) collects food donations in addition to delivering mail, helping to provide food assistance to millions of Americans who struggle with hunger. For months, the NALC…
After a lifetime of contributing to society, over 43,000 seniors in our 34 county service area are living on fixed incomes that often force them to choose between paying for healthcare and buying groceries. We meet many clients at the soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters we serve who are attempting to live—during what should…
Hello friends, We’ve got a lot of awesome community events happening this week, so we thought we’d share a quick round-up! Read about ‘em, pencil them in your calendar and join us for some local fun to help local families! Bruce Springsteen: Thursday, April 24 Are you going to see The Boss at the PNC…
Unfortunately Spring Break is not a carefree time for thousands of North Carolina children and their families. When school dismisses for the week, nearly 300,000 children in our 34-county service area lose access to the two meals per day that they usually receive through the free and reduced-cost meal programs. As a result, we often…
National Volunteer Week (April 6-12, 2014) is a special opportunity for folks to engage with their community and help their neighbors in need. It’s also an annual celebration of all the wonderful volunteers that make a difference in the lives of so many. We love our volunteers so much that for us, every week is…
