243,000 Meals Packaged!

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November 11, 2010

Dear ,

We did it!! 243,000 Meals!!

Thank you to St. Bartholomew's Church in Poway, Kohl's, Teredata, Ranchland Church, and Dream Dinners for providing the finances to purchase the bulk food for all these meals. Also, thank you to Los Primos and Jamba Juice for providing great food and drinks, then donating back their profits to the event.

A 40-foot container was packed with medical supplies and food for Tanzania. This is FFCC's ninth container shipped to Tanzania for a total of 2.7 million meals packaged and sent from our community.

Thank you, Community, for donating your time and funds as well. I know some of you may not have come prepared to donate, you can do so by going to our website at www.ffccsd.org , or by sending a check to:

Friends & Family Community Connection

12463 Rancho Bernardo Road, PMB 158
San Diego, California 92128

-Phil

Backpacks for Haiti!

Almost 700 students at Creekside Elementary have caught the vision of how "they" can help make a difference in another part of the world! Every year, the elementary school does a community service project and this year the opportunity came to them to work with FFCC. Because of FFCC's connections, it was easy for Creekside to get involved in meeting the needs of Haiti's children.

On November 16^th, every student at Creekside Elementary School will report to the multi-purpose room and fill a backpack with crayons, pencils, pencil sharpeners, and a spiral notebook. At the end of the day, almost 700 backpacks will be filled and sent to help the kids in Haiti. A local real estate company, Nichols Realty, has donated to this event as well as the families at the school. What a great way to teach the next generation how to impact the world and make a difference!

FFCC is proud to partner with Creekside Elementary. If you or your child's school would like to team with FFCC, please email Phil at philffcc@san.rr.com .

Can You Help?

We had a terrific outpouring of Thanksgiving foods from the Food Packaging Event at Del Norte High School. Many, many thanks to all our FFCC partners who donated and visited our Thanksgiving table last Saturday.

We're still hoping to bless 300 local families (1200 people) with a meal they can cook in their own kitchen that will include all the fixings. To do so, more grocery gift cards in amounts of $5, $10, $15, $20, $25 for Albertsons or Stater Bros are needed, as well as cash donations. The food bags we distribute have everything but the turkey or fresh foods and these grocery gift cards add the missing items.

Please contact Becky at bpalenske@san.rr.com if you'd like to mail a gift card to the local project by or before November 16.

Medical Supplies for Haiti

We will be collecting much-needed medical supplies for Haiti at the upcoming Food Packaging Event on November 28th. A list of the over-the-counter supplies we need are listed on FFCC's website. These supplies will be sent with the medical team traveling to Haiti in January. Any and all donations will be appreciated and put to good use. Thank you in advance for your help!

Operation Christmas Child Returns!

Operation Christmas Child will be partnering with Grace Lutheran Church, one of the hosts of the Food Packaging Event being held at the Old Escondido Police Station on November 28th, to once again bring hope and a simple shoe box gift to children around the world. Operation Christmas Child, a project of international relief and evangelism organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, encourages volunteers to fill simple shoe boxes with toys, necessity items, school supplies, candy and hand-written notes of encouragement. For many of these children, the shoe box gift will be the first gift they have ever received, letting them know they are loved and not forgotten.

You can participate in Operation Christmas Child at the Food Packaging Event on November 28^th by bringing hygiene items (toothbrush & toothpaste, soap, wash cloth, comb, etc.), school supplies, small toys, hard candy, and/or accessories such as socks, sunglasses, ballcaps, etc. Standard size empty shoe boxes are also appreciated.

Learn how to pack a shoe box and become a part of the largest Christmas outreach in the world. Information on how to pack a shoe box will be available at the event or you can check out the website at www.samaritanspurse.org .

You may bring your already-packed shoe box, too.

For more information or questions, please contact Diane Brown at fortune1@san.rr.com.

Homeless Pitch In for Packaging!

It was such a privilege for Lance and me to transport some of our homeless guests from the Salvation Army to the Food Packaging Event on Saturday at Del Norte High School. We always look forward to the opportunity to do this. The enthusiasm and the smiles of the three men who joined us were priceless! They all shared their excitement at being able to serve others in need by participating in this event, even while they themselves are currently without a home. Their names are Michael, Mike and Ricky.

They all shared their stories with us about how they came to be living on the streets. We shared in-depth conversations with them about how people become homelessand how we need to avoid stereotyping people who are homeless--they are not all drug addicts, alcoholics, or have a mental illness. All three of them said they had a great time packing meals and meeting new people. They were so enthusiastic, and seemed to want to stay all day. Michael mentioned how good it was to get out of downtown San Diego and have a pleasant change of scenery.

Getting to know Ricky, Michael, and Mike was such a positive experience for us. It really touched our hearts to share in their enthusiasm for serving those who are hungry.

Thanks,

Carol and Lance Gucwa

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