CFB News & Updates

Sept 2022

Winding Down a BUSY Summer Season

Phew. How is it already September?! This summer just flew by - with 123 TONS of nutritious groceries flying out the door to nourish over 18,500 of our neighbors in just three months.

This equates to over 200,000 nutritious meals. As many folks do not think in pounds of food, to give you a reference -- a blue whale, a Boeing 757, and the total mass of a swimming pool all equate to around 100 tons. AMAZING.

With kiddos back in school and fall right around the corner, we sure are ready for the cooler temps and all the fall veggies. Who else is ready for winter squash and pumpkins?! As we catch our breath from an incredibly busy spring and summer, we start to look ahead to the holidays... but not quite yet!

September is National Hunger Action and Awareness month, and we want to be sure to spread the word. Keep an eye out for some exciting new announcements and a resource filled special edition newsletter to come soon.

In the meantime, we could use your help! We are working on choosing a name for our monthly giving program so we can promote this more broadly to the community.

Help us by ranking your votes for our top two name choices:

Click HERE to cast your vote!

We will send the winner over to the graphic designers and hope to launch the campaign by the end of the month. Thank you for your input.

To our lovely volunteers and donors, we truly would not be able to meet our mission without each and every one of you.

On behalf of our full CFB team and the clients we serve -- thank you.

Alisha Wenger,

Executive Director

alisha@foodbankgj.org

(970) 640 - 0336 ext 3

Executive Director Alisha Wenger and food bank baby Olivia

Executive Director Alisha and food bank baby Olivia

Making a Difference

Here is one story shared by our Program & Operations Director to demonstrate the impact of our programs:

A former delivery client came in during pantry hours today. She had suffered a stroke in January and was receiving deliveries from us while in recovery, but is now walking and driving confidently and able to come in and choose her own food!

She was so thankful for the deliveries during her time in need and is looking forward to volunteering after a couple more months of recovery.

Many thanks to all our wonderful home delivery driver volunteers for helping nourish our homebound neighbors!

Do you have a CFB story to tell? Click here to fill out a short testimonial form and help us tell our impact story!!

Safeway and Albertsons Foundation

Many thanks to our friends from our local Safeway stores. Customers help pitch in extra change at check out to fund this fantastic program. Community Food Bank of Grand Junction was recently awarded a second year grant in the amount of $15,000 to support our SNAP Application Assistance program.

These funds will help us sustain this fantastic new service we are able to offer our food pantry clients, as well as our partners at Clifton Christian Church Food Bank and Mutual Aid Partners.

So far this year, we have been able to assist with 55 SNAP applications, and had over 230 conversations with folks interested in learning more about the program.

SNAP -- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (previously known as food stamps) helps millions of people nourish themselves and their families. Those dollars are also spent locally and help support our food systems economy!

Thank you Safeway and Albertsons!!

CLICK HERE To send an email to our resource navigator if you are interested in learning more about the SNAP program!

Food Sourcing Spotlight

Summer harvest season is in FULL swing! You may have noticed we have lots and lots of wonderful fresh produce available lately.

However, you may have also noticed that some items are not available this summer. Most notably, the Grand Valley had a near total crop loss for tomatoes this year due to a nasty virus.

We are grateful to have many wonderful agricultural workers, farm partners, and Food Bank of the Rockies working hard to make the most of this hefty harvest season.

Many thanks again to everyone who grows food for our community!!

ALL the amazing and delicious peaches have been gracing our pantry shelves these past few weeks.

Thanks to our friends up at the CSU Orchard Mesa Research Station for growing these beauties!!

Fresh Olathe sweet corn provided at no cost from Food Bank of the Rockies.

We have also received BEAUTIFUL corn from our good friends Walt & Anne at Two Fishes Farm!

Beautiful Apples from CSU

Anaheim chiles from 2 Fishes

Major melons from FBR!

July Volunteer of the Month - Jack M.

Jack helping get rescued veggies to our pantry clients with a smile!

Volunteer Extraordinaire

Jack M. started volunteering at CFB in June of 2021 and since then has spent over 266 volunteer hours with us! Jack can be seen sorting through produce during the morning shift, greeting clients during our pantry hours, or delivering food to our clients who cannot make it into the Food Bank.

No matter what role Jack is filling he is always doing so with a smile on his face and a how can I help attitude! We want to give a huge thank you to Jack for all that he does for the Food Bank!

1. Are you from the valley? If not, where? and what brought you here?

I am not from the valley. I was born in New York City, went to college just north of there and business school in Pittsburgh. I spent the 40 years prior to moving here in Dallas. Skiing brought me here. My travel agent for ski vacations recommended Grand Junction: Powderhorn nearby and Crested Butte, perhaps my favorite resort, only a few hours away.

2. What is your favorite thing about the Grand Valley?

The thing that struck me first was how nice and efficient the people in service/retail jobs are. From the UPS store to the DMV (yes the DVM), everyone was patient with the newcomer who often didn’t know what he was doing. I might add that those two virtues, kindness and efficiency are in abundant supply at the food bank!

3. What do you like to do when you're not at the Food Bank?

I bike, and am a trail host at the riverfront trail. I am also finding many different ways to get to the river from my house. This is a very bike-friendly city, and I mean the drivers are courteous, yielding right of way and giving riders a wide berth. I also hike, mostly at the Monument, but also at Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Curecanti, and McInnis. And of course I ski, at least two days a week during the season.

4. What motivated you to get involved in the Food Bank, and how long have you been volunteering with us?

Guilt. I felt bad that during the pandemic I wasn’t helping out; partly because my age made me an at risk person. But I also attended a Jesuit high school, where the motto is “men for others”, so volunteering is just part of what I do. I started last June, so just over a year.

5. Anything else you'd like to share with the rest of the awesome volunteer team?

I really feel “at home” here, love the people and of course the understanding when the new guy screws up.

Thanks so much for all you do in service to our community Jack!!

Appreciating CFB Volunteers!

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it out to our volunteer appreciation event in July

Check out the Volunteer Awards webpage!

It was such a pleasure to honor and acknowledge our amazing volunteers!

With an active corps of nearly 200 volunteers - each and every one of your are crucial to our organization's mission.

2021 Volunteer of the Year - Mary S.

Many thanks to our incredible Ms. Mary who holds down our evening intake interviewer shifts 3x/week EVERY week!! She often picks up delivery driving shifts as well.

We LOVE you Mary and are so grateful for all you do to serve our community.

Back to School Resources

Riverside Education Center - offers after-school tutoring and enrichment for kids grades 1 - 12. REC is free, and you can register your child online at the website below. For more information, you can also call (970) 462-2901.

https://www.rec4kids.com/register

Kids Aid: The Backpack Program - families who are interested in Kids Aid's Backpack Program can simply call their child's school and speak to front office staff or their child's teacher.

PCs for People & the Affordable Connectivity Program "ACP" - PCs for People is an organization offering refurbished and extremely inexpensive computers, laptops, and other electronics. They can also assist with getting folks connected to the ACP program, which is designed to bring good-quality internet at a reduced cost to individuals who qualify.

Extra Garden Produce?? Donate it to the Community Food Bank!

Volunteer Application

Volunteer Email

Volunteer Login

Make a Donation Today!

www.foodbankgj.org

Email: volunteer@foodbankgj.org

Call: (970) 640 - 0336 ext 4

For every $1 donated, the Community Food Bank can provide over 4+ meals to our Grand Valley neighbors in need. For every $1 donated, the Community Food Bank can provide over 4+ meals to our Grand Valley neighbors in need. Please consider making a financial contribution if you are able.

The Community Food Bank of Grand Junction is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We rely on grant funders and individual donors to make our program a reality.