What's On Our Plate? - Fall 2023 🌽

Fall 2023 MVFB Quarterly Newsletter

What's On Our Plate?

Fight Hunger!

Find Food

It may seem early to be thinking about Thanksgiving, but it's on our minds at MVFB!

Once a food drive has been received in our warehouse, volunteers inspect and sort the food, then stock our shelves. Representatives from our member agencies (food pantries and meal programs) select food from the shelves and take it to back to their facilities to organize for distribution to their clients. These steps take time!

We use food from food drives all year round, but if you are planning a food drive with the intention of providing food to families for Thanksgiving dinner, please make sure your donations arrive at MVFB by November 10th!

Staff Spotlight:

Omile Albino

Omi joined the MVFB team as a Warehouse Associate in early 2022, but also supported our mission as a volunteer before that. Omi helps prepare member agency food orders and works with member agencies during their pickup times. He also receives large food donations and helps maintain the safety and cleanliness of our warehouse. He is quick to jump in and help wherever needed. Omi also recently got married, so please congratulate him next time you're in the building!

Quarterly Recipe

Try something new!

Fall is coming, and so is some of our favorite fall produce! Last week we took a delivery of beautiful butternut squash from the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program (MEFAP). It's the time of year to start thinking about comfort food, but how about a little twist? Give this Vegan Shepherd's Pie (which features butternut squash, mushrooms, parsnips, and lentils) a try!

As many of you know, our 29th Annual Golf Tournament had to be rescheduled from its original September date due to storm damage at the golf course. The tournament will now be held on Tuesday, October 17th.

The good news is, that means there is still time to:

Register to golf, as an individual or a foursome.
Buy a ticket to join us for a delicious dinner after the tournament.
Donate an item for the raffle or silent auction.
Sponsor the event (banner and posters have already been printed, but recognition is still available via tee signs, website, and social media).

Visit our website for more information or to register!

Questions? Email Kelly at kproulx@mvfb.org.

GET YOUR RAFFLE TICKETS NOW!

It isn't too late to take a chance on our Golf Tournament Raffle-Palooza!! For just $20/ticket, you'll have a chance to win a prize of assorted gift cards and scratch tickets valued at over $1,000!!

Gift cards include:

Home Depot
Visa
Shake Shack
O'Connor Hardware
Cobblestones
The Old Court
Market Basket
Target
Gibbet Hill Grill
The Establishment
TJ Maxx/Marshalls/ Home Goods
Fuse Bistro
Olympia Restaurant

And more!!

Click here to purchase your tickets. Need not be present to win!

Back to School Update!

Did you know that MVFB's Operation Nourish program provides food for students to enjoy while they are away from school? Students who are not struggling with food insecurity are better able to focus, learn, and participate in extracurricular activities!

The program began in one elementary school in 2011, and has now grown to serve every public school in Lowell as well as several schools in surrounding towns!

Depending on what works best for the school, some schools receive pre-packed bags of food for students to take home while others have an in-school food pantry called a Mill Market. The Mill Market program was established in partnership with the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and Catie's Closet.

We anticipate providing food to more than 3,000 students a month this school year!

Member Agency Spotlight:

The mission of Clear Path For Veterans is to build a safe, supportive and respectful place for Veterans to seek the help and resources they need in order to successfully integrate into their communities. The organization offers many important programs for Veterans and families, including Peer-to-Peer Mentoring, the Brain Retrain program, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, and a Service Dog program.

The Devens-based organization receives food from MVFB for its weekly Canteen Lunches, and is also able to access some donated pet food and treats for the organization's service dogs! Learn more about Clear Path for Veterans on their website or Facebook page.

Save the Date for our Upcoming Events!

October 17: 29th Annual Golf Tournament at Indian Ridge Country Club

November 10: Deadline for Food Drives to be distributed in time for Thanksgiving (but we can use the food all year round!)

Our heartfelt thanks to MVFB's 2023 Hunger Hero Sponsors:

Merrimack Valley Food Bank

(978) 454-7272

www.mvfb.org

Connect with us