August & September Newsletter

Welcome Back to School!

Putnam County Schools kicked off the 2024/2025 school year on August 12th! While the summer was busy, it’s back to even harder work for the FTN volunteers. On August 20th, school pantries picked up their first pallet of food to cover the next two weeks, with deliveries resuming every two weeks after that. A huge thank you to our volunteers for your dedication! And a special shoutout to the pantry coordinators at each school—your extra efforts ensure that kids have food to take home on the weekends.

New Beginnings Baptist Church and their VBS group recently collected food for us! We encourage all churches, organizations, and groups to hold a food drive. Each month, we feature the food item we need the most. Thank you to EVERYONE who has been collecting!

September Food Collection

Examples: Ravioli, Vienna Sausages, Soup, Canned Chicken/Tuna, etc.

OCTOBER ITEM

Thank you Victory House for donating approximately 900 reusable grocery bags to Feed the Need of Putnam County! These bags will go a LONG WAY for us to send food home to food insecure families in Putnam County Schools! A special thank you to Dan Allender for delivering them to the warehouse and unloading them! We are excited to partner with your church!

Waste Not Orange Park

Thank you, Richard Pickis, for picking up the extra snacks, and a big thanks to Waste Not Orange Park for graciously donating them to Feed the Need!

We gratefully accepted a $500 donation from Capital City Bank Group Foundation to support the Teens Fighting Hunger Event. For more details, email feedtheneedputnam@yahoo.com to find out how you can be involved!

Wawa Foundation Grant!

We're excited to welcome Wawa to the Putnam County community! To kick off our partnership, we applied for a grant from the Wawa Foundation to support the 2024 Teens Fighting Hunger Event. This event is all about raising awareness of food insecurity by bringing together around 200 local teens from faith-based groups, sports teams, and organizations like PAL and FFA. They’ll participate in a fun and meaningful food-packing event, preparing essential items like macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, and rice and beans for distribution in our community. We're thrilled to share that Wawa awarded us a $1,000 grant to help make this event a success! Thank you, Wawa Foundation, and welcome to Putnam County!

Hammer & Stain Hat Bar Fundraiser

Thank you to Hammer & Stain for holding a fundraiser to benefit FTN! Guests had the chance to customize their own hat to take home! Check out a few pics below! Hammer & Stain Website

Across the nation, 1 in 7 kids lives with hunger, but those numbers can be even higher in rural areas. According to the USDA, 84% of U.S. counties with the highest percentage of childhood hunger are rural.

Click Here to Read the Article from No Kid Hungry

The Pulse - PCSD Podcast

Putnam County School District Superintendent Rick Surrency had a conversation with FTN's Executive Director Denise Bramlitt, Community Liaison Stacey Eisold, and PCSD employee and FTN Board Member Ashley McCool. They discussed the strong partnership between FTN and the PCSD. Watch it here.

Barwick Bank Protein Drive

Barwick Bank is celebrating the grand opening of their Palatka branch by hosting a protein collection for Feed the Need of Putnam County! We're thrilled to have them as both neighbors and supporters!

Volunteer Spotlight

Happy Birthday to our amazing volunteer, Dawn Akers! Week after week, Dawn works tirelessly to ensure that food-insecure kids in Putnam County receive the weekend meals they need. We're so grateful for everything you do!

In Loving Memory of Mary JoAnn Thompson

This newsletter is a heartfelt tribute to Mary JoAnn Thompson, honored through monthly donations to Feed the Need of Putnam County by her devoted sons.

Memorial Donations

If you would like to honor your loved one with a Memorial Donation please reach out to us at feedtheneedputnam@yahoo.com or 386-937-3862.

FTN's sponsorship program lets your loved one's memory continue in a positive way. Sponsorships may be made in someone's name to honor the memory of someone you love.

Great Nonprofits

If you love our work then tell the world! You have an opportunity to help us make even more of a difference in our community. Great Nonprofits-a review site like TripAdvisor-is honoring highly reviewed nonprofits with their 2024 Top-Rated Awards. Will you help us raise visibility for our work by posting a review of your experience with us? All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes a few minutes!

Click on the logo for the link!

Facebook Birthday Fundraisers

are a fun way to support FTN! In Facebook, click on the square made out of dots in the top right corner, choose Fundraiser at the bottom right. Please find Feed The Need of Putnam County for your next Birthday Fundraiser!!

We need your Google Reviews

Submitting a Google review is a quick and non-monetary way to help Feed the Need! Giving a good review and sharing your experience or thoughts about FTN will help others in the community to be aware of the great things FTN is contributing to Putnam County Students. Click on the Google picture to link directly to review.

Feed the Need of Putnam County

PO Box 1321, Palatka, FL 32177

(386) 937-3862

Food Donation Drop Off:

110 N State Rd 19

Palatka, FL 32177

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