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

Agency Relations Luncheon

We want to celebrate all you do! The NH Food Bank is excited to invite you to our annual Agency Relations workshop and luncheon on Wednesday, October 11th. This year's event will be a workshop format based on feedback from last year's luncheon survey. You requested more speakers, topics and chances to get to know other programs. So we have extended the length of time and format of this event. Please see the invitation and then RSVP here.

Food Safety Certification Updates

The NH Food Bank requires that at least 1 active person at your program have valid food safety certification, although it is encouraged that several people be certified. Per the 2023 Feeding America Agreement, volunteers that pick up from the NH Food Bank and retail locations need to have updated certification, too. All food safety certification is good for 5 years. We continue to work with UNH Cooperative Extension to provide free Safe Food Handling classes each month. If you currently have food safety certification but are unsure of the expiration date, please contact your NHFB Coordinator for verification. By end of the 2023 all programs must be up to date with Safe Food training. Classes are held monthly with some in-person dates also taking place, and more will be added over the next few months. Class dates are below in this bulletin, and you can also contact your Agency Coordinator for the complete list.

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.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

Thanksgiving turkey & gift card requests will go out via email in a few weeks. Please keep an eye out for that email as not to miss out. Take this time to begin asking your clients about their Thanksgiving needs and gathering your totals for what you will be requesting from us. If you are a new agency and unfamiliar with the Thanksgiving distribution, please reach out to your NHFB Coordinator directly. Additional details will also be included with the request form email in a few weeks.

Hunger Action Month

September is Hunger Action Month®, when the Feeding America network of partner food banks come together to raise awareness and take action on the issue of hunger. This annual, month-long campaign, founded by Feeding America, brings attention to the reality of food insecurity across the US and promotes ways for individuals nationwide to get involved in the movement to help end hunger.

As a Feeding America partner and NH’s only food bank, the New Hampshire Food Bank welcomes you to join us in taking action here in New Hampshire this Hunger Action Month®, by getting involved and going orange – the color of hunger awareness – all month long.

The New Hampshire Food Bank is hosting a number of events and activities throughout Hunger Action Month® that promote awareness, educate and advocate around issues relating to hunger, raise funds, collect food – and more!

For more information on how you can get involved this Hunger Action Month®, visit: https://nhfoodbank.org/ham.

Backpacks Donation

Thank you to WMUR, Service Credit Union and the Boys & Girls Club of Central NH for a recent donation of over 300 backpacks collected during WMUR's annual Pack A Pack School Supply Drive. These backpacks were then shared with over a dozen NHFB partner agencies for use with the children that they serve. If you are in need of backpacks please contact Jocelyn at jcheney@nhfoodbank.org to request some that remain. They will be distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis based on availability of inventory.

The NH Food Bank's NH Feeding NH program has partnered with Fresh Start Farms to purchase culturally relevant produce this summer! This partnership is allowing us to purchase a variety of items including amaranth, pumpkin leaves, collard greens, bok choy, shell beans, African eggplant, African corn, daikon radish, and white sweet potatoes to supply our agencies who serve refugee and immigrant clients. Through this program, we’ve not only supplied 8 agencies with produce, but also supported approximately 14 refugee and immigrant farmers who sell collectively under the Fresh Start Farms brand. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Jessica Newnan at jnewnan@nhfoodbank.org. 

Feeding America Conference

Feeding America's annual "Feed, Nourish, Connect" Conference was held in Minneapolis, MN this year. Three members of the NH Food Bank's Agency Relations team, Jessica, Jocelyn and Natalie, were able to attend. They each attended a variety of sessions on topics focused on food insecurity, heard from several speakers from the Feeding America network, and had a great time getting to know other food bank members from around the country. The team hopes to incorporate some of the ideas and principles learned at the conference into NHFB operations over the next few months.

QSR Raffle Winners

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

Thursday, September 14th @10:00am

Wednesday, September 27th @1:00pm

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

• UNH Cooperative Extension has informed us of a great opportunity for your food pantry to attend an 8-lesson online session to create better health for your clients. This is a free program that can be done at your own pace. For more information, please reference this flyers: CREATE Better Health course