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

Hello Agencies!

Tiering is officially underway and we're about a month in to this new process. We understand that change is never easy and we thank you all for your patience and understanding as we implemented this. It took a lot of time commitment from staff, as well, and we're still working behind the scenes to make sure that this works the best it can for our agencies and for our inventory. You may notice some changes for certain items as we work through some concerns, but we will let you know if any big changes need to be made.

Please remember, the NH Food Bank is a supplemental resource and should not be your only source of food for your agency. We highly encourage all agencies to hold food drives, look to your community for support, and have additional ways to get what you need for your clients. Inventory fluctuates and we may not always have what you're looking for, get what you can from us and the rest should be from elsewhere.

Thank you,

Kristie Deneault

Agency Relations Manager

Receiving Community Garden Donations

This is the time of year that many of your neighbors may be growing and harvesting produce from their own gardens and looking to share with your program. Our partners at UNH Cooperative Extension has created a new suggested set of guidelines and a printable fact sheet for receiving these donations, and we would like to share it with you. Click here to find the full article. At the top of that page is a red box that will take you to the 2-page printable document.



We hope you find this helpful and useful this harvesting season. If you have any additional questions, you will find the contact information for Ann Hamilton from UNH Cooperative Extension within the document.

June 7th is World Food Safety Day. While the NHFB is not doing anything significant to advertise this day, if you would like more information, you can visit the World Health Organization's 2024 World Food Safety Day page.

Agency Spotlight:

Grafton County Senior Citizens Council

Grafton County Senior Citizens Council provides services to senior citizens throughout 8 locations in Grafton county. These partner facilities offer meals, transportation, home visits, community classes, wellness checks and other varied services to those they serve. Each location is unique and valuable. We will highlight two locations this month.



Plymouth, NH - Plymouth Area Senior Center is located in a beautifully refurbished train station that maintains much of the station’s original appearance and history. The senior center is conveniently open 8 hours each weekday, giving them the opportunity to provide a series of events; classes, meetings, health services, daily meals, prepared meals for delivery, and even houses a thrift store. 

The large production kitchen prepares hundreds of meals a day that go out to residents of 10+ towns, all of which is delivered by many caring volunteers. Along with the meal delivery, the volunteers provide wellness checks to the recipients, as well as check-in phone calls during the other days of the week.



Maryann is a volunteer at Plymouth Area Senior Center and has said that she doesn’t see what she does as work, “This place is my second home. These people are my friends and I wish I could do more than what I already do.”. 

Bristol, NH – Open once a week, Newfound Area Senior Services is located inside a church in Bristol. Serving an average of 30-50 people per week, volunteers prepare a weekly hot lunch meal for seniors. 

The seniors attending the meals are invited to participate in any activities that are happening that day including bingo, yoga, health checks, as well as a free raffle taking place during the meal. The church and Senior Center host various events and community services offered throughout the morning of their meal distribution.

While meals are a way to bring people together and provide a service to one of our most vulnerable populations, the sense of community and purpose that GCSCC provides to its neighbors is immeasurable. Whether playing a game of Scrabble, attending a yoga or bone strengthening class, getting their blood pressure checked, or enjoying lunch with neighbors, all who walk in the doors are greeted with a sense of care and welcomed by volunteers and staff who are grateful to see each guest.

NHFB & Partner Agency Network Call

On Thursday, May 30th, the NH Food Bank held the 2nd NHFB & Partner Agency Network Call. The NH Food Bank team used this opportunity to provide our partner agencies with updates, information, and operational content about your NHFB partnership and relationship.

Here is a recap of the call in case you missed it:

• About 85 people were in attendance
• Dennis Gichana, Director or Operations, spoke about an update on the new tiering system.
• Ann Cote, Food Procurement Manager, spoke about food purchasing and availability of product. This was a big topic with a lot of feedback. The Agency Relations team will look in to creating a "product feedback form" going forward.
• Elise Bolster, Nutrition Programs Manager, spoke about Summer Meals taking place in NH. Summer 2024 information will be available soon at www.nhfoodbank.org/summermeals
• Jocelyn Cheney, Agency Relations Training & Resource Coordinator, spoke about the new updates to the NHFB handbook which will be available later this summer.
• Kristie Deneault, Agency Relations Manager, spoke about the upcoming Thanksgiving season and changes to the turkeys and product that will be available.
• The slides that were presented on the zoom call can be viewed here.

If you would like to view the full video of the May NHFB & Partner Agency Network Call, you can find it by visiting www.nhfoodbank.org and then going to the Agency Portal. There you can select "Agency Forms & Resources," with this call and all future calls being listed in a section titled "Partner Agency Network Call Recordings." Here is a direct link to view the May Network call.

The next network call will be held in a few months. Be sure to keep an eye out for that date and zoom link over the next few weeks.

Sometimes Life Brings Changes

Our team in Agency Relations, Kristie, Stacey, Natalie, Jocelyn, Christy, and Alyssa, and all the staff at NHFB would like to thank Jessica Newnan for all of her hard work and dedication to growing and expanding the program, NH Feeding NH, into what it is today.

For the last year and a half, Jessica has given many hours of hard work into creating incredible spreadsheets (that exceed all of our abilities), contracts, LOUs, trainings, attending business trips to various conferences and farming events, creating and piloting the culturally preferred foods program, expanding the direct from farmers protein purchasing program, purchasing locally grown produce to provide for NHFB’s mobile food pantries, and so much more. Most importantly, Jessica worked tirelessly at developing bigger, better, and stronger relationships with partnered agencies and local farmers across New Hampshire.

It saddens us to announce Jessica’s departure from NH Food Bank. As her co-workers, and now friends, we are all confident that Jessica will thrive in her next role, but her presence here will never be lost. We will miss her bubbly personality, amazing listening skills, and her ability to find the positive in everything that goes on around her.

Thank you, Jessica! We are so proud of what was accomplished with this role. We can’t wait to have her visit NH Food Bank as a volunteer. In the meantime, we will see her again at her wedding in October!

June 1st Food Safety Requirements

As of today, all programs must have at least 1 person at their program who has active food safety certification. This should be someone that is actively involved with the day-to-day operations of the program and is present when food is distributed. A best practice would be that multiple people at each program have active food safety certification, but only 1 person is required per Feeding America guidelines. All certification is good for 3-5 years from the date of the training unless a different expiration date is posted on the certificate.

UPDATE: If a program's food safety certified person leaves the program, the program has 60 days to provide updated certification or they will be placed on Hold. All new programs applying for membership, must have active food safety certification before program activation.

For food pantries and non-meal sites: We continue to work with UNH Cooperative extension for free SAFE Food Handling classes. A list of upcoming classes is provided at the bottom of this bulletin, or contact your NHFB Coordinator.

If you are unable to attend a SAFE Food Handling session offered through the NHFB and UNH Cooperative Extension, there are other options for food safety certification that you can do on your own. Below are two options that are also approved (although there may be others online). If you complete a food safety training on your own, you will need to provide your NHFB Coordinator with a copy of the certification of completion.

Workhub Food Safety training course (free)

Alison.com Food Safety training course (free)

For meal site programs (soup kitchens, shelters, group homes, etc.): All programs that serve meals and/or prepare or serve food, even if the clients or residents do all of their own cooking, are required to have ServSafe (or equivalent) training. This is a Feeding America requirement. Basic food safety training (such as SAFE Food Handling) is not sufficient. Training needs to include coursework and an exam.

ServSafe certification can be done directly on the ServSafe website. When you visit the ServSafe website, there is a $15 ServSafe Food Handlers option. It is the first option that comes up when you type in "New Hampshire." Here is the direct link: ServSafe Food Handlers training

If you choose not to use ServSafe, you can use any other ANSI-Accredited program course and tested certification that you find on your own as long as you can provide your NHFB Coordinator with a current certificate of completion. 

QSR Raffle Winners

Congratulations to the 1st Quarter 2024 QSR winners! Each winning agency has received a $25 credit on their NHFB account.

• Horse Meadow Senior Center- N. Haverhill
• St. Paul's Food Pantry- Concord
• St. Marie's Childcare Center- Manchester

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

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 (2 hour online shopping training)

Tuesday, June 11th @10:00am

Thursday, August 8th @1:00pm

_______________________________________

Food Safety training

SAFE Food Handling For Food Pantries:

Monday, June 10th @9:30am

Wednesday, August 7th @3:30pm

SAFE Food Handling For Soup Kitchens & Prepared Meals:

Wednesday, June 12th @2:00pm

Monday, August 5th @1:30pm



All programs are required to have at least one person at their facility that is Safe Food Handling certified (or a similar certification) at all times. Programs that serve meals are required to have at least 1 person that has ServSafe certification. All certification is good for 3-5 years depending on the exam.

One Last Note From Agency Relations

*The NHFB's Cooking Matters™ program pauses operation each summer and will resume in the Fall. If you are interested in hosting a Cooking Matters class at your facility, you can be added to the waitlist for when sessions resume. Please contact your NHFB Coordinator to be added to the waitlist.

*If you would like to receive SNAP handouts and flyers, information on Granite State Market Match, or information on Double Up Food Bucks for your eligible clients, please use this request form and someone from our SNAP team will be in contact with you soon.

Kristie Deneault: kdeneault@nhfoodbank.org or 669-9725 ext. 1240

Agency Relations Manager & Interim NH Feeding NH Contact

Natalie Watt: nwatt@nhfoodbank.org 669-9725 ext. 4536

Agency Relations Coordinator for Belknap, Rockingham and Strafford counties.

Christy Langlois: clanglois@nhfoodbank.org or 669-9725 ext. 1113

Agency Relations Coordinator for Coos, Carroll, and northern Grafton counties.

Stacey Garron: sgarron@nhfoodbank.org or 669-9725 ext. 1119

Agency Relations Coordinator for Cheshire, Sullivan, Merrimack & southern/central Grafton county.

Alyssa McKinney: amckinney@nhfoodbank.org or 669-9725 ext. 1124

Agency Relations Coordinator for Hillsborough county.

Jocelyn Cheney: jcheney@nhfoodbank.org or 669-9725 ext. 1136

Agency Training & Resource Coordinator.