We are all about learning in this issue, from making sure kids are ready for the upcoming school year, to introducing state-of-the-art training tools that keep Daily Bread volunteers at the top of the class. | | Daily Bread's first Back-To-School drive was a spectacular success. Over the course of a week, we handed out well over $10,000 of essential school supplies to 615 grateful kids. Huge thanks to all who donated, and especially to Sirely Shaldjian and Diane Schmid for their generosity, initiative, and commitment to the project. | |
Kelly, son Ryan, and co-organizer-in-chief Diane take a break between students.
Stats!
At Daily Bread, we love our data, so here's the School Supplies Drive broken down by the numbers. If numbers aren't your bag, scroll on by.
| Doubling down on our fanatastic Book Nook, the wonderful Bookmobile came to the pantry not once but twice this summer. If we aren't getting our younger guests into reading, it certainly isn't for want of trying. | | | In another Daily Bread first, we held a kids' gardening class a couple of weeks ago, showcasing our delightful demonstration garden. A great way to help our younger guests get into growing their own food! This time, special thanks go to Susie VonEggers and Debbie Fantel for sharing their expertise and, of course, for tending the garden. | Learning how to manage your money may not be as much fun as gardening, but it is a vital skill for adults. So we were very happy that our friends at KeyBank offered to host two banking basics sessions at the super pantry. Guests attending either session were rewarded with an extra 25 points to "spend" at the pantry. | | | Speaking of money, everyone knows of Daily Bread's generous benefits package, which includes double-digit raises every year and one trip to the restroom per shift (after a probationary period). But if you live in Danbury and own your own home, you may also be eligible to get a $700 credit on your real estate taxes just for volunteering at Daily Bread. We have application forms and more info in the pantry. | | Daily Bread University Update | When we announced the launch of Daily Bread University in the last Newsletter, it wasn't much more than a concept. Now, our innovative approach to volunteer training is being written up in Food Bank News, the leading food insecurity publication in the U.S. | You can read the full article by clicking on the picture, but it focuses on our use of a new platform called Synthesia, which allows us to create training videos quickly and efficiently. If you haven't checked out any of these videos yet, the first three are now available under the new "Volunteer Resources" tab on our website. | | | Once again, Daily Bread rocked Danbury's annual Street Fair. We had healthy food giveaways and even an air fryer prize for one lucky winner. Great friend of the pantry State Senator Julie Kushner stopped by, as did our favorite guest, the amazing Ethel Maby. | | How many volunteers does it take to change the bottle of a Purell dispenser? More than you'd think, apparently. | | The Book Nook mats were in pretty bad shape, but nothing that a visit from the Rug Doctor couldn't fix. Here, Peter wrangles Dr. Rug while Rose Anne ensures the entire mat isn't sucked into the machine's gubbins. | | Over the summer, we were lucky to have five interns from Ability Beyond helping out at the pantry. Here are twins Bryce and Brayden with their job coach Isabella. | | Sister and brother Nyesha and Nehemiah (Nemo) were our second sibling pair, with Ben (not pictured) filling out the AB rota. Thank you to all! | | Receiving upwards of 12,000 pounds of food twice a week from our Connecticut Foodshare deliveries requires a lot of teamwork by the truck unloading crew. And a lot of donuts, apparently, at least for the more senior members of the team. | | Usually, the truck unloading team works without adult supervision, but one day recently, Daily Bread management turned up to offer helpful advice. Turns out we've been doing it wrong all along. | |
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REMINDER #1
WE WILL BE CLOSED ON AUGUST 30th AND SEPTEMBER 1st.
So you can spend more time with relatives and friends, whether you want to or not.
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Sign up for important alerts and breaking news about the pantry.
Text "TEAM" to 844-664-1114
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REMINDER #2
YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR A FREE
ICE CREAM!
If you have volunteered at Daily Bread this year, you should have received an invite to our Ice Cream Social. Look for a reminder email and RSVP in your inbox shortly. If you HAVE volunteered and HAVE NOT gotten an invitation by August 30, shoot an email to contact@dailybreadfoodpantry.com lickety-split.
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Faily Bread
Interest in the proposed Daily Bread tag sale was...lukewarm. So in the best traditions of the pantry, we are going to give up on the project, at least for the moment. Hey, every idea can't be a winner.
All the same, many thanks to all who DID offer to get involved. Unfortunately, now you'll have to unload all your junk somewhere else.
| | | This is the kind of thing that happens when the truck unloading team is left unsupervised. A grown man (Joe Stanley) riding a wooden camel. Not something you see every day. | | | | |
