Monday January 17th in observance of Martin Luther King Day
Need Volunteers?
Want to Help a Medical Student Succeed?
We are Completing the Schedule Now!
We are excited to be partnering with Brenau University and their clinical students. The students will need volunteer hours in the community to complete their course work. Additionally, the clinical students will be providing routine health screenings and educational presentations as part of their clinical rotations to partner agency guests. Students will be supervised by a qualified university faculty member as they provide these services on location of both GMFB programs and partner agency distributions. If you are interested in participating in this type of program or if you would like to sign up to provide a volunteer opportunity to one of the clinical students click the appropriate link below.
Located in Hall County, the Evangel Food pantry began in 2019 with the vision to provide food to those that needed it and to instill a sense of self sufficiency.
In Georgia
•66% had to choose between food and medical care
•84% purchased inexpensive, unhealthy foods to stay within budget
•40% watered down foods and drinks
•58% of households have at least one member with high blood pressure
•33% of households have at least one member with diabetes
January is National Slow Cooking Month as well as National Soup Month.
Who doesn't think of comfort food such as Chili and Chicken Soup during the cold winter months. Both of these conjure up images of family get togethers, Super Bowl parties and potlucks. Consider having a slow cooker filled with some soup to offer your guests when they come to your pantry and share your favorite recipe printed out using some of the items you will be offering your guests.
About 26 years ago, Forsyth County Volunteer Lyle Schroeder was recently retired and saw an announcement in his church bulletin looking for Meals on Wheels drivers. He says it is a great way to meet some really nice, interesting folks. He said he wants to give back to his community because in the future he will likely be the person waiting for someone to bring him a meal and take a minute to chat with him. Lyle not only drives his own route, but organized a group of volunteers with the Optimist Club of Forsyth County who rotate driving one of our weekly routes.
Volunteer Marian Guess began her service with Meals on Wheels in the 1970s in Dekalb County. Through the years, she serviced the Snellville, Lilburn and Stone Mountain Village areas before moving to Forsyth County. Once in Forsyth County, she wasted no time finding our Meals on Wheels program and has been volunteering with us for over 25 years! Marian says she just loves the people and loves seeing them every week.
The Dunn family has been serving the citizens of Forsyth County since the 1950s when Dr. Dunn opened his medical practice. When the Senior Center at Charles Place opened in 1992, Mrs. Dunn became a Meals on Wheels volunteer. After she passed away in 2006, Dr. Dunn took over her route and continued to deliver meals until 2015, which is when his sons Bill (pictured) and Roger started as Meals on Wheels volunteers. Bill currently runs both his dad’s old route and a route of his own on a different day. He says it is a way for him to honor his parents and the work they did and make a difference in the lives of the people he serves.
UPDATE CRITERIA: AGENCY MUST SERVE ONLY 40% CHILDREN TO PARTICPATE IN GNAP
Previously it was required that a Partner Agency must serve 60% children to participate in GNAP. This made it especially difficult for pantries to participate.
It is now only required that an agency serve 40% children to participate!
This is great news allowing more agencies to have access to another food source. Attached is a listing of agencies and their percentages of children served based on the reporting submitted through Eharvest.
Check it out to see if your agency will qualify and then contact us to get started.
GMFB will begin offering GNAP items on our inventory to agencies participating in the GNAP program.
This is a great opportunity for agencies that would like to order GNAP product weekly and/or without minimum restrictions.
There will be a section designated specifically for GNAP agencies on the inventory. If your agency is not currently a part of the GNAP Program and you have questions contact me at lydia@gamountainfoodbank.org
Nutrition Corner
Resource Corner
Healthy Tip Flyers Series
In partnership with Public Health we will be providing you with flyers promoting healthy tips and recipes that you can print off and provide to your guests at your distribution. They will be provided in both English and in Spanish. The series will run for 10 months. This resource and more are available in the Agency Toolkit on our website under Nutrition Resources folder. This is a great way to build relationships and a healthier community!
Freedom of choice is easily overlooked when it comes to grocery shopping. Personal choices are routinely made around nutrition, both good or bad, the quantities needed of each item, and choices based on family health, all of which are choices -your choices.
This resource allows you to explore the different types of choice models and a plan for transitioning to a choice model using a tiered outline. It also provides you will additional resources such as volunteer management, operational tips and how to.
