|
Partners in Hunger Prevention: |
Foodshare's 28th Walk Against Hunger raised over $538,000 to be used in the fight against hunger. The Gifts of Love walk team joined 4,000 people from all over Greater Hartford to raise awareness about the issue of hunger and to raise funds for Foodshare and local organizations such as Gifts of Love. Our walk team raised al
 | | Gifts of Love Walk Team |
most $8,000 to be used by the agency in the fight against hunger in our own community. Thanks to all that participated and donated!
This year, we expect the summer months to be even busier than the winter months. Most children can't wait for summer vacation! But many of them leave behind the free meals provided at school. We expect our pantry to be increasingly busy as parents find ways to provide for their children over the summer months. Especially this summer when stretched budgets may not be able to include camp.
 | | Foodshare Board, staff and volunteers working at the regional market |
We are also having volunteer days to Foodshare's Regional market. Volunteers are needed to inspect and repack fresh produce at the farmers market in Hartford where Foodshare has a satellite location.
We couldn't assist over 11,000 people each year without the assistance of Foodshare. |
Community Farm of Simsbury 
"If people are food insecure, they can often place a priority on obtaining as much food as possible for the cheapest price," said Keith Ayoob, associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y. So-called "value meals" at fast food restaurants seem like a good option because
 | | Vegetables grown all winter in the hoop house are planted in the teaching garden in early spring |
they offer larger portions for a few more cents. Food insecurity "tends to result in buying cheap, processed foods richer in calories than nutrients," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Conn. Experts also say that there is no easy way to make healthy food more widely available but Gifts of Love is offering healthy alternatives even in tough economic times by working with the Community Farm of Simsbury.
As we all know, the next crisis will be a health crisis as more families are forced to eat cheap, unhealthy food. Gifts of Love and the Community Farm of Simsbury, a non-profit farm with a
 | |
Tim Goodwin and Anne Patrie with the newest addition to the farm - baby cow Hayley |
summer camp and summer school program, have hired an organic farmer to teach at the farm school and assist in the camp program where kids not only grow food for Gifts of Love but learn firsthand where food comes from (not from a window where they are asked if they would like fries with that). Our Volunteens (teen age volunteers) assist in the picking and storing of fresh fruits and vegetables harvested from the 1 acre teaching garden.
This is a truly awesome partnership! |
|
Swiss Re
Our parking lot garden looks great! People from Swiss Re America Holding Corporation spent 2 days at Gifts of Love building and planting the garden. We also received mulch from the Avon Middle School and apparently the kids don't like cucumbers, because cucumbers started growing in the mulch. So now we have a cucumber patch!
 | | Before |
Employees from Swiss Re turned rows of old bushes into containers of fresh vegetables. Now our clients can pick vegetables at the office and the client's kids can see how their food is grown.
 | | After! |
Swiss Re has helped us in many ways, with assistance with our Weekend Food Backpack Program, as members of our Walk Team and with funding for our new office space. We are so grateful to have Swiss Re on our side!
Assisting a family during a tough time is truly at the heart of Gifts of Love, Families Helping Families. We are so thankful that our partners are part of our mission and part of our family. |
|
"Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year but when you volunteer, you vote everyday about the kind of community you want to live in."
Author unknown
If you are interested in volunteering at Gifts of Love please contact Chris at cnapierski@giftsoflovect.org
|
