DuPont Crop Protection goes apple picking for hungry Delawareans

By Kim Turner, Communications Director

Last Wednesday, I met a group of enthusiastic DuPonters at Milburn Orchards in Elkton, MD. The outing, organized by Shawn Teaney, a member of DuPont’s Crop Protection team, provided a team-building opportunity for the Crop Protection’s leadership team.

When Shawn emailed me a month ago about DuPont’s intention to go to Milburn Orchards for an afternoon of apple picking to benefit the Food Bank of Delaware, I loved the idea! Who doesn’t love apple picking in the fall, especially when the apples are for families served by our network of partners!  

“I actually drive by Milburn’s every day on my way to work at DuPont’s Stine-Haskell Research Center in Newark, and it seemed a natural fit for Crop Protection Leadership for several reasons; DuPont and the Crop Protection business has long had an association with the Food Bank of Delaware – our previous R&D Director Julia Wheeler was a member of your Board for a time – and we do many team volunteer events at your food distribution center during our United Way campaign and throughout the year,” explained Shawn.

“We are also in the business of helping farmers produce healthy, high-quality fruits and vegetables by discovering and developing new Crop Protection technology – so a Leadership Team-building event focused on bringing healthy food like fresh apples to Food Bank clients just seemed a great and natural extension of what we are all focused on each and every day!”

Last week the East Coast was inundated with rain storms plus forecasters called for a possible hit from Hurricane Joaquin. Thankfully, the Dupont team was able to get their apple-picking activity in! The team of 15, many with an agricultural background, greeted this outing with enthusiasm!

In total, the group collected 167 pounds of fresh apples! Milburn Orchards also generously sold the apples to the team at cost!

“It was a real pleasure to be able to collect all those big, beautiful apples for the Food Bank,” said Shawn. “I know they will be delicious for your clients, because we all had a chance to eat some straight from the tree!”

Do you have a creative way to help Delawareans in need? We’d love to hear about it! Contact us by emailing foodbank@fbd.org.

Food Bank of Delaware Helps Feed More Community Members in Need Thanks to $23,500 Grant from BJ’s Charitable Foundation

Ed Maynard (right) of Cedars Church of Christ poses with a BJ’s Wholesale Club employee at the Newark store. Cedars picks up from BJ’s stores on a weekly basis and will benefit from BJ’s generous donation.

The Food Bank of Delaware has been awarded a $23,500 grant from BJ’s Charitable Foundation to support agency capacity building and provide more meals for the more than 122,000 food insecure Delawareans.

After helping to expand capacity in 2014 for more than 400 feeding pantries and programs that resulted in over 10 million more pounds of food being donated, BJ’s Charitable Foundation will invest additional funding this year to further prevent a bottleneck in the supply chain for food distribution to Americans facing hunger.

This will be the second agency capacity building grant awarded to the Food Bank of Delaware, which works with local agencies (food pantries, shelters and meal programs) that help distribute groceries and meals to residents who struggle with hunger.

Those same local hunger agencies, however, are often limited by a lack of equipment to move donations and provide safe storage for perishable items. Many agencies also encounter limited staff availability and training to support more high-functioning operations. The BJ’s Charitable Foundation grant will help those local agencies safely pick up more donated product from local supporters and distribute more perishable foods to community members in need – a crucial component in the fight to solve hunger.

“We collaborate with our partner agencies to get food to our neighbors in need on a daily basis; they’re often the final stage within our network to reach individuals who struggle with hunger,” said Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO. “With this grant from BJ’s Charitable Foundation, we are able to continue to address what we can do to help enable these organizations to be more efficient and effective, and in turn help more people facing hunger.”

BJ’s Wholesale Clubs has supported the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks since 2011. Each of their 208 clubs has contributed perishable food totaling nearly 35 million pounds, which is the equivalent of 28 million meals.

“At BJ’s, we’re always looking for new ways to partner with food banks and local organizations to help solve hunger in our communities,” said Jeff Fireman, Assistant Vice President of Regional Operations at BJ’s Wholesale Club. “Through this grant, equipment from refrigerated vehicles to coolers as well as food safety training and other costs related to agency success will result in more nutritious food getting to the people who need it most.”

BJ’s Wholesale Club distributed grants to 20 additional Feeding America® food banks to enhance these organizations’ agency capacity building. Each agency capacity grant provided by BJ’s Charitable Foundation was supplied in September, in honor of Hunger Action Month^TM. Throughout Hunger Action Month, the Food Bank of Delaware and the Feeding America nation-wide network of food banks have rallied the country to engage in the fight to end hunger in America.

Walmart Foundation donates $46,875 to Backpack Program

Representatives from the Walmart Foundation presented a check in the amount of $46,875 this morning for the Food Bank of Delaware’s Backpack Program. This donation will enable us to provide 279 children with weekend and holiday meals when school is not in session.

In addition to the financial contribution, Walmart associates, State Representative Ed Osienski and Food Bank of Delaware Board of Directors worked alongside volunteers to pack bags full of food for the weekend meal program.

“We are thankful for the Walmart Foundation’s support of this important program,” said Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO Patricia Beebe. “Children are our future. We all must work together to ensure that young Delawareans have the proper nutrition to learn, play and grow.”

Backpacks are stocked with kid-friendly, nutritious food including shelf-stable milk and juice, meals such as macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs and beef stew, granola bars, apple sauce, cereal and more. They are distributed on Fridays or the last day before a holiday or vacation in a discreet manner at Delaware school sites. More than 5,000 children participate each week. During the 2014-2015 school year, the Food Bank of Delaware distributed 154,886 bags to at-risk children.

The cost to sponsor one child for an entire school year is $168.

To learn more about sponsoring a child for the Backpack Program, please click here.

Food Bank of Delaware tees off for outdoor fun

By John Esposito, Communications Intern

The peaceful sound of a golf ball clattering against a 9-iron echoed victory across the fairway of Fieldstone Golf Club in Greenville on Monday, September 14. Monday’s skies were crystal clear blue – you couldn’t ask for a better day on the links.

Nineteen foursomes set out to enjoy a beautiful day outdoors, testing their skills in 18 holes of golf and a challenging putting contest. Most importantly, funds raised from the day’s outing benefited the Food Bank of Delaware’s Backpack Program.

Described by many participants as one of Delaware’s most-exclusive golf outings, each golfer was welcomed by Fieldstone’s courteous staff, and a representative from Calloway Golf was on hand with a special give away for each golfer. Each participant had the opportunity to choose from a putter, driver, duffle bag and one dozen balls or two dozen balls. The golfers were impressed!

After quick remarks from the golf pro, the golfers headed out! Some had purchased mulligans in advance, while others bought their way in to participate in a putting contest. Putting contest participants had a chance to win $10,000. In order to win the prize, participants were instructed to make a 10-foot putt, followed by a 30-foot putt, and later on presented with the challenging task of a whopping 50-foot putt. All golfers also had an opportunity to win a brand-new Infinity… if they got a hole in one on the eighth hole!

Unfortunately, few made it past the 10-foot put and nobody was able to make the hole in one. This did not put a damper on the mood!

To close out the day, participants enjoyed a cocktail hour featuring a sushi bar from Okura in Hockessin, passed hors d’oeuvres, a Grey Goose tasting and an awards ceremony! Food Bank of Delaware Board of Director Andy Larmore and his foursome took home the first-place prize!

Thanks to the excitement of all of the golfers, we successfully raised $53,000!

Kris Wilson, President and CEO of The Littlest Golfer once said, “The first thing golf teaches is humility, the second empathy, and the third patience.”

These three qualities are not only ideal traits to have for golf, but also in life. Here at the Food Bank, we strive to go above and beyond to achieve these traits. The smiles left behind by the golfers during the event orchestrated the smiles for the children who will receive bags full of weekend food through the Backpack Program. Thanks to their generosity, bellies will be full when access to school meals is not available.

Special thanks to Fieldstone Golf Club and our golf committee for making the day possible. They include:

• Kevin Davies, Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant
• Mack Wathen, Delmarva Power
• Andy Larmore, Bayshore Transportation
• Shawn Williams, Brynn Mawr Trust
• Scott Sukeena, WSFS Bank
• Larry Haas, Food Bank of Delaware
• Trevor Turner, Food Bank of Delaware

To learn more about participating in next year’s tournament, please contact Larry Haas at lhaas@fbd.org.

Bayshore Move For Hunger truck hits the road

Have you seen Bayshore Transportation’s Move For Hunger vehicle on the road? It’s a special one, and it’s used to show that the Bayshore team is committed to a community free of hunger!

The Newark, Delaware relocation company (located right in our industrial park!) wrapped one of its box trucks with a colorful vehicle wrap advertising its partnership with Move For Hunger. Move For Hunger is a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization that connects 601 relocation companies across the country with local food banks.

To date, Move For Hunger has delivered 4,178,962 meals across America.

The premise is simple; whenever Bayshore moves one of its customers, its sales people ask if the customer wants to donate the remaining nonperishables in their pantry.

Andy Larmore, Bayshore Transportation Vice President, member of the Food Bank of Delaware’s Board of Directors and chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, said that at least 50 percent of customers are interested in donating their nonperishable goods before the moving truck hits the road.

Customers are provided a white Move For Hunger box to collect the goods, and the Bayshore team delivers the donations to the Food Bank each month. So far this year, Bayshore has delivered more than 1,000 pounds of food through Move For Hunger.

“People are commenting about the truck wrap and really like the design and the message that it sends,” said Larmore. “It’s been extremely beneficial.”

He points out that Bayshore is among the first in the nation to wrap a vehicle for Move For Hunger.

“Our drivers think it’s awesome. They love it and ask when we are going to do the next one,” he said. “It gets a lot of good energy. It’s a good thing for people out on the road and our employees.”

Bayshore’s support of the Food Bank of Delaware does not stop with customer donations through Move For Hunger.

The company uses its tractor trailers to transport goods to our Milford facility when needed, its team of moving experts helps deliver refrigerators and freezers to Hunger Relief Partners who are growing their capacity to store fresh foods, and the company generously allows us to use its trailers to store food at local post offices for the annual Stamp Out Hunger postal food drive.

“We really enjoy our relationship with the Food Bank,” said Larmore. “We hope to grow and become a bigger and better partner with every day that passes. It’s a great relationship!”

To learn more about Move For Hunger please visit https://www.moveforhunger.org/. To learn more about the Bayshore team, visit http://www.bayshoreallied.com/.

Growing fresh foods with the New Castle County Master Gardeners

New Castle County Master Gardeners have been working hard all summer tending to their demonstration garden outside the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension office in Newark.

Produce grown in the garden is donated to the Food Bank and Little Sisters of the Poor. Last year, the group donated close to 900 pounds!

Master Gardener Rick Judd leads the group of dedicated volunteers who spend time weeding, watering, pruning, harvesting and more to make sure the demonstration garden is in tip-top shape. The garden serves three purposes – teaches the community best practices for vegetable and fruit gardening, shows how easy it is to compost and provides an opportunity for Master Gardeners to donate fresh foods to Delawareans in need.

The 288-square-foot garden has produced more than 300 pounds of food for the Food Bank so far this year. Rick says the gardeners are now harvesting some of their heaviest crops including sweet potatoes, squash and cantaloupe. Cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh herbs are also growing in abundance.

The demonstration garden also features unique ways to grow fruits and vegetables, especially if space is limited. Squash and cantaloupe are grown vertically on a trellis, beans and Swiss chard are grown in plastic containers traditionally used for storage and raised beds are home to healthy beets.

While Labor Day is just around the corner, growing will continue through the chilly fall months at the demonstration garden.

“This is a great month to get your fall crops in,” advises Rick. “Some you can sew in directly. I would actually start raising [seeds] under the lights. Now is a good time to start planting seeds such as broccoli, kale and cauliflower. Start them inside under the light about six weeks before you want to put them out. As they mature, they prefer the cooler weather of the fall.”

For those who are new to gardening, Rick says three ingredients are needed – sun, soil and water!

To learn more about the Master Gardeners in New Castle County, please click here.

Check out some photos of the demonstration garden!

Food Lion Offers Customers an Opportunity to Gain Free Admittance to Delaware State Fair during “Food Lion Feeds Hunger Relief Day” on July 27

Food Lion, the Delaware State Fair and the Food Bank of Delaware announced today that the fourth annual “Food Lion Feeds Hunger Relief Day” will take place on Monday, July 27 at the Delaware State Fair.

Fair attendees who bring five Food Lion brand canned or boxed goods will in exchange receive free gate admittance to the Delaware State Fair from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., on Monday, July 27. This community effort is part of the fourth annual “Food Lion Feeds Hunger Relief Day” at the Delaware State Fair.

“At Food Lion, we believe no one should have to choose between dinner and paying rent or gasoline and buying groceries,” said Bob Mills, Food Lion’s execution and implementation specialist for the Delaware market. “That’s why we’re so passionate about helping to end hunger in our local communities. We know the community’s help from past events has helped us to feed people who otherwise would have to make those tough choices.”

Donations received through this year’s effort will assist families in Kent and Sussex Counties struggling to put food on the table. More than 43,000 residents of Kent and Sussex counties are considered food insecure, meaning their access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year.

“Last year was a great success as we collected 26,238 meals for residents of Kent and Sussex Counties who are struggling with hunger,” said Food Bank of Delaware Milford Branch Director Chad Robinson. “With the help of our community, we hope to exceed last year’s total and stock our local food pantries with much-needed essentials.”

“The Delaware State Fairs is thankful for the continued support from Food Lion as we continue to work year after year in collecting the much-needed food to help support the community,” said Assistant General Manager for the Delaware State Fair, Danny Aguilar.

Volunteers from Food Lion, Lake Forest School District, the Delaware State Fair and the Food Bank of Delaware will accept donations at all gates. No items stored in glass will be accepted. Some of the Food Bank of Delaware’s most-needed items include the following:

• Canned fruits and vegetables
• Canned soups
• Tuna fish
• Peanut butter
• Canned meats
• Cereal
• Pasta

For more information about the Delaware State Fair, please visit www.delawarestatefair.com.

Strike Out Hunger with the Delmarva Shorebirds

We are proud to partner with Perdue Farms and the Delmarva Shorebirds for the “2015 Perdue Strike Out Hunger Challenge on Delmarva.” The Shorebirds are the Class A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

To jump start the season-long challenge, the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation — the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms — has issued a $15,000 challenge grant to benefit the Eastern Shore Branch of the Maryland Food Bank, the Food Bank of Delaware and the Eastern Shore Branch of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia.

“The Food Bank of Delaware is proud to partner again with Perdue Farms, the Delmarva Shorebirds and our food bank colleagues on the Delmarva Peninsula,” said Chad Robinson, Milford branch manager of the Food Bank of Delaware. “When Americans think of baseball, they are reminded of the ‘American Dream’ and it is unfortunate that too many Americans cannot attain that dream because of hunger and food insecurity.

“Through the Strike Out Hunger Challenge, we are happy that important attention will be given to this issue and that Perdue and the Shorebirds are engaged in doing their part to help us ensure a community free of hunger,” he said.

Perdue Farms has committed to eliminate hunger on the Delmarva Peninsula since 2011.

“At Perdue Farms, we believe that in a country as rich as our, no one should have to go hungry. That’s why the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation is thrilled to continue its partnership in the fight against hunger through the Strike Out Hunger Challenge,” said Kim Nechay, executive director of the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. “Since 2011, this unique partnership between our Foundation, the Shorebirds and the region’s food banks has generated more than 400,000 meal equivalents to help our neighbors in need. We are very proud to be a part of such a collaborative effort of our greater community. Together, we can ‘Strike Out Hunger on Delmarva.’ ”

As Jimmy Sweet, assistant general manager of the Delmarva Shorebirds, said, “The Shorebirds are excited to work with Perdue and the three local food banks for the fifth year in a row. Together, we have made enormous strides since 2011 in helping provide for those in need and we are happy to continue our support in this noteworthy cause.”

The first $10,000 of the Foundation’s challenge grant will be divided equally among the three Delmarva food banks as a challenge to involve the Delmarva community in the regional fight against hunger.

Each food bank must raise the equivalent of 10,000 meals in order to claim their share of the $10,000 challenge grant. Any combination of pounds of food collected, funds collected and donated, or volunteer efforts starting with the Shorebirds’ home opener held on April 9, through the final game of the regular season at home on Wednesday, Sept. 2, will count toward each food bank’s challenge goal.

Perdue has also committed to donating $10 for each time Shorebirds’ pitchers strike out an opposing batter (up to $5,000). The $5,000 will be split equally between the three Delmarva food banks.

The Shorebirds have designated the season’s 11 Sunday home games as “Strike Out Hunger Sundays.” If fans bring two non-perishable food items to the stadium they can receive a general admission ticket to that day’s game for $3. Food collected from the 11 Sunday home games will be distributed equally among the three food banks.

In addition, food donation barrels will be located at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, making it easy for fans to help by bringing food to the game or just stopping by the stadium.

To help the Food Bank of Delaware raise 10,000 meals, there are two ways to help in a big way:

• Volunteer: Shifts at the Milford Branch on Monday and Friday afternoon are Strike Out Hunger volunteer shifts. Hours collected during those shifts will help towards the goal. To sign up, please click here or contact Lyndsay Humphreys, Volunteer Coordinator, at (302) 393-2011 or lhumphreys@fbd.org.
• Host a Strike Out Hunger Food Drive: To host a Strike Out Hunger Food Drive, please contact Chad Robinson, Milford Branch Director, at (302) 393-2010 or crobinson@fbd.org.

Some most-needed items include:

• Hot and Cold Cereals
• Peanut Butter
• Canned Fruits
• Canned Meats
• 8oz Shelf-Stable Milk
• Canned Vegetables
• Spaghetti Sauce

 

 

Food Bank of Delaware honors Senator Bryan Townsend as Legislator of the Year

Legislator of the Year: State Senator Bryan Townsend

When Senator Bryan Townsend, State Senator for the 11th district, was elected to office in 2012, one of his first items of business was to visit the Food Bank of Delaware’s Newark facility. The Newark facility falls within the 11th senatorial district, and from the beginning, the Food Bank has been able to depend on Senator Townsend as an advocate in Legislative Hall.

He is supportive of legislation that impacts low-income populations, and in June 2014, he hosted the Food Bank of
Delaware at Legislative Hall for a legislative day. On that same day, Senator Townsend presented the Food Bank of Delaware with a Senate Resolution recognizing the Food Bank of Delaware for its contributions to alleviating hunger in Delaware.

In addition to serving as an ally in the halls of our state capitol, we also rely on Senator Townsend for strategic advice. Despite a busy schedule, the Senator has also made time to help plan the May 4 Coming Together conference, a partnership between the Food Bank of Delaware, Brae’s Brown Bags and the Food Research and Action Center.

The Food Bank of Delaware is grateful to have Bryan Townsend as our friend and state senator! Thank you, Senator, for your work to end hunger!

Harry K Foundation honored at Annual Dinner

Donor of the Year: Harry K Foundation

By Gwen Guerke, Communications Coordinator

The Harry K Foundation was honored as Donor of the Year at our annual dinner held at the Milford branch on April 16.

Harry Keswani of Rehoboth Beach started this foundation in 2013 when he pledged to eliminate childhood hunger in Sussex County.

The Foundation started supporting the Food Bank of Delaware through an inaugural 2013 Christmas Ball, a black-tie event at the Rehoboth Beach Country Club; 100 percent of the proceeds was donated to the Foundation’s mission.

In its first year, that Christmas Ball was a sell-out success, raising enough money to provide more than 100 children in Sussex Country with a backpack full of food for the entire school year, and also to open nine new school pantries in Sussex County.

It costs $158 to provide a child with weekend food for one year. These backpacks are distributed through the schools before weekends and school holidays; each school site coordinator creates a discreet way to get the backpacks to children enrolled in the program.

During the 2013-14 school year, 4,692 children received backpacks through 125 sites statewide.

Since the first Christmas Ball was so successful, naturally there was another one. Thanks to the proceeds from the 2014 gala, the Food Bank of Delaware will be able to open an additional 10 school pantries and double the number of backpacks distributed to Sussex County children.

“Hunger is all around us, and it is our civic responsibility to feed our people,” Keswani said.

The Food Bank of Delaware and the people we serve thank the Harry K Foundation and the Keswani family for their commitment to our vision of a community free of hunger.

For more information on how to support the Food Bank of Delaware or the Backpack Program, click here!