Your monthly look into what's happening at the NH Food Bank.

Please be aware of these important dates regarding closures, deliveries, and Agency Express orders.

• December’s deliveries to Franconia, Littleton and Plymouth will take place a week early on December 21st at the regularly scheduled time and place.

• The last day to order before Christmas break is Wednesday, December 20th by 1pm for pickup on Friday, December 22nd.

• The NH Food Bank will be closed from Monday, December 25th until Tuesday, January 2nd.

• Food Bank offices will reopen on Tuesday, January 2nd. The warehouse will reopen for order pick-ups on Thursday, January 4th.

• You may resume placing Agency Express orders on December 28th for pickups starting on January 4th.

Any orders placed while we are closed will not be confirmed via email until our offices reopen. This information can also be found on this calendar. Please contact the Agency Relations team if you have any questions about these dates and changes.

Thanksgiving Roundup

This year the NH Food Bank provided over 14,000 turkeys and 2,000 gift cards to approximately 250 agencies. These items are available each year thanks to generous financial and physical donations. If you were a recipient of any of these items, we hope they made a wonderful addition to your clients celebrations.

In addition, the NH Food Bank also distributed over 1,000 turkeys to families at 2 Mobile Food Pantry events in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

This year, some of the Agency Relations team was able to attend Thanksgiving distribution events at multiple programs around the state. It was a great time to meet the neighbors that were receiving food, talk to volunteers and recipients, and a chance for us to work alongside these wonderful programs. We are so grateful to be able to see first hand all the hard work you do. Pictured above are volunteers from Newmarket Food Pantry with their truck full of turkeys. To the left is a volunteer from St. John Neumann Food Pantry giving a turkey to one of the neighbors that visits the pantry.

Indoor Shopping Floor

Program Spotlight

Southern NH University Food Pantry recently was able to relocate their food pantry to a larger space on campus. Previously the food pantry was held in a small room that limited the amount of food and space that was available. The new room is 3x larger and allows for space, storage and a more welcoming option for students in need of food assistance. They also have a second room that offer free clothing set up space resembling a boutique store. Thank you to SNHU for sharing this upgrade with our team, and for all the work you do.

QSR Raffle Winners

Congratulations to the 3nd Quarter 2023 QSR winners! Each winning agency has received a $25 credit on their NHFB account.

• Loudon Food Pantry
• Agape Ministries- Ossipee
• End 68 Hrs. of Hunger-Nashua

To be eligible to win next quarter, be sure to submit your report on time (when next issued in January) and use the current form.

Food Safety Certification Updates

The below article was posted in our October Agency Relations bulletin. In addition, we wanted to let you know that the ServSafe Food Handler's course is available to take on your own via the ServSafe website for $15. If you choose to take the test on your own, please make sure to send us a copy of your certificate so we can update your account with the information.

https://www.servsafe.com/ServSafe-Food-Handler

Servsafe for meals programs:

Per the updated Feeding America Agreement, all meal site programs that prepare food on-site (ex. soup kitchens, shelters, group homes, after-school programs) will be required to have at least 1 person that is 'ServSafe Food Handler' certified. Other approved certification includes SafeMark, the National Registry of Food Safety, or another equivalent testing program that is verified by your NHFB Coordinator.

The NH Food Bank will be offering ServSafe classes, textbooks, and test proctoring soon. Class schedules to be determined, but will be available in 2023.

All sessions are held online via Zoom.

To enroll in any upcoming session, please contact your Agency Relations Coordinator. A zoom link will be sent out prior to the class for those who signed up to attend.

New Shopper Orientation

Wednesday, December 6th @10am

Tuesday, January 8th @10am

*If you have a new director for your program, our Training & Resource Coordinator can come to you to do in-person training.

• The NH Food Bank will be closed from Christmas Day through January 1st. We will be sending out communication regarding these closures and the schedule for December and the first week of January, but we wanted to remind you of this now so you can plan ahead for your food and staffing needs.