Community Night at Oskar Blues Brewery
Where: Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard
When: March 21, 2016• • •An Affair In White
When: June 25, 2016 |
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Take the trolley to Oskar Blues Brewery for “Makin’ a Difference Monday” on Monday, March 21. That night, we will have a table set up at the brewery and Oskar Blues will donate 10% of their taproom sales to Loving Food Resources.
The best part is, you don’t have to drive! You can get on the Oskar Blues Trolley at 123 Kenilworth Road at 5:00 PM (arriving close to 6:00) and the trolley will leave Oskar Blues for the return trip around 8:00 PM. The trolley holds 36 and we would like at least 12 people to commit to make it worth their trip. Reserve your space on the trolley with Nancy Gavin, [email protected], by March 15.
See you at Oskar Blues!
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| It is finally starting to look and feel like winter! I am writing this on Day One of our first significant snowfall of 2016 and I feel fortunate that I don’t have to get out and drive – or walk – during the storm. I am fortunate because my home is warm and dry and my pantry is stocked with food. Many others are not so fortunate and that is why we are inspired to do our part at LFR to provide food and personal care items to those who struggle to pay for their essential needs.
During the holiday season we were able to provide frozen turkeys and other holiday foods to our clients, including those delicious home-baked Christmas cookies. While some of our regular volunteers were traveling, other volunteers who were visiting for the holidays stepped in to fill the gaps. The spirit of the season was amply displayed through the volunteers who celebrated the holidays through service at the pantry.
Of course we cannot continue our work, or pay pantry bills, without the support of our volunteers and our financial donors. Our Direct Mail Campaign resulted in $12,783 coming to the pantry in the form of checks and credit card transactions. In addition, the Give!Local campaign through Mountain Xpress netted $2,649. We know that some of you who normally contribute as a result of the Direct Mail Campaign chose to pass your donations through Give!Local and that is perfectly fine. We also picked up some new donors as a result of the Give!Local campaign and we hope they will continue to partner with us. Upcoming fundraisers include Community Night at Oskar Blues Brewery on March 21 and the Affair in White on June 25th.
The Board of Directors will have an overnight retreat on March 18-19, facilitated by our consultant Beth Trigg, to develop a Strategic Plan and action steps to carry us through the next few years. The effective Committees of the Board of Directors have been very active and through their hard work Loving Food Resources will become more well-known in the community, we will attract more individual and corporate partners, and we will win more grants. The future is bright for LFR and for the clients we serve. THANK YOU for the role you play in service to our community!
—Nancy Gavin, Executive Director |
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| We are so grateful to the Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Asheville for their December Food Drive. Their Outreach Committee, led by Katie Chappell, organized the parish’s second large food drive for Loving Food Resources. Well over 800 pounds of food and personal care items came in to fill our shelves just before the holidays. Thank You Trinity!
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| Nutrition plays an essential role in supporting the health and quality of life of all people, including those living with HIV.
We don’t usually think about green peas as an exotic food in terms of nutrient composition—but we should. Because of their sweet taste and starchy texture, we know that green peas must contain some sugar and starch (and they do). But they also contain a unique assortment of health-protective phytonutrients. One of these phytonutrients—a polyphenol called coumestrol–has recently come to the forefront of research with respect to stomach cancer protection. A Mexico City-based study has shown that daily consumption of green peas along with other legumes lowers risk of stomach cancer (gastric cancer), especially when daily coumestrol intake from these legumes is approximately 2 milligrams or higher. Since one cup of green peas contains at least 10 milligrams of coumestrol, it’s not difficult for us to obtain this remarkable health benefit.
The unique phytonutrients in green peas also provide us with key antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. Some researchers have now speculated that the association between green pea and legume intake and lowered risk of type 2 diabetes may be connected not only with the relatively low glycemic index of green peas (about 45-50) and their strong fiber and protein content, but also with this unusual combination of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients.
The good: Peas are good for you. We have them. Peas are a good source of Riboflavin, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron and Manganese.
Our thanks to “The Worlds Healthiest Foods” for this information. |
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| A simple salad perfect to make ahead of serving for ham or fish.
Ingredients
30 ounces (weight) canned early sweet peas, drained
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
⅓ cup diced red onion
⅓ cup mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
1. In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients until combined.
2. Refrigerate covered until ready to serve.
©Amy Johnson
Recipe by She Wears Many Hats at http://shewearsmanyhats.com/easy-pea-salad-recipe/ |
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| Loving Food Resources provides basic needs to people living with HIV/AIDS or in Home Hospice with any condition through food, health and personal care items. LFR is a 100% volunteer non-profit dependent entirely on its fundraisers, small grants, and the assistance offered by good friends, local businesses and faith communities.
How to reach us:
828-255-9282
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.lovingfood.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ LovingFoodResources
Twitter: @LFRFood |
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| Grant Received From The Community Foundation |
Loving Food Resources applied for, and in December received, a $15,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. The grant program was titled, People In Need. Our proposal was designed to enable LFR to grow into maturity as a nonprofit after 24 years of operating as an all-volunteer organization.
 Over a six month period of time, this project will include the development of a strategic planning document featuring:
• A refined listing of priorities to achieve by the end of 2016;
• A three-year plan with goals & strategies to achieve by 2018-19;
• A plan for expanding LFR’s reach in the community;
• A review of LFR’s fundraising practices and results;
• The creation of an Annual Fund Development Plan and timeline for implementation; and
• Development of roles for board members, committees, and volunteers to support the Executive Director, Nancy Gavin.Funds will be used to provide a consultant to work with LFR over the next six months to achieve the goals as well as to enable a board of directors retreat for planning and achieving these goals.The Community Foundation is a nonprofit serving eighteen counties in Western North Carolina. The Foundation is a permanent regional resource that facilitates more than $15 million in charitable giving annually. CFWNC inspires philanthropy and mobilizes resources to enrich lives and communities in Western North Carolina. More information can be found at www.cfwnc.org. |
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| It is a pleasure to feature Gentry Heating Inc. in our first Sponsor Showcase.
Gentry Heating Inc. is a family owned heating and air conditioning company. It was founded in 1963 to meet the indoor climate needs of western North Carolina. A half century later the business remains focused on providing quality, dependable service at a competitive price. The Gentry Heating family of contractors and technicians strives to deliver integrity, respect and consideration to all customers all the time.
Dwayne Gentry, owner and CEO, has developed a culture within the company of reaching out to others in need. The company fosters employees stretching outside their comfort zone and growing as individuals.
The company is comprised of 74 employees. The Ministry Team (3 employees and Mr. Gentry) meets monthly to evaluate current outreach programs and review other potential recipients.
Dwayne Gentry is compelled to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and provide for others in need. Employees sponsored a car wash to buy school supplies for children in need to prevent teachers having to spend their money to purchase them. Employees are offered a paid day of leave each year to provide a day of community service.
Some participate in the annual Swannanoa Valley’s Walk for Hunger.
Gentry Heating also uses the leverage concept where they offer an amount of money if the organization is able to find ways to match the amount. 90% of company donations are local.
Loving Food Resources is proud to have Gentry Heating as a corporate sponsor. They have been and continue to be most generous to LFR.
It is not often that one finds a company with this level of commitment to the local community.
Hats off to Gentry Heating Inc! |
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| As part of LFR’s initiative to encourage our clients to improve their health through their food choices, we will be launching a Loving Gardens program in the Spring to provide containers, soil, seeds, and gardening advice to clients who wish to grow vegetables and herbs at home. Our hardworking LFR gardeners, Glenn Holappa and Charlotte Bell, will be seeking donations of materials and welcome volunteers with a heart for gardening (green thumbs not required).
Our first donation to the Loving Gardens program came from Sow True Seeds, an Asheville company that specializes in open-pollinated, non-hybrid, GMO-free seeds in heirloom, organic, and traditional varieties. Check them out at www.sowtrueseeds.com and, better yet, go by and thank them for their donation to LFR!
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| “We are born of love. Love is our mother.” –Rumi
The Annual Cookie Party was held on Friday, December 18th from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Kenilworth Center. The night was filled with smiling faces accompanied by music, milk and refreshments. The laughter of children was present as well, allowing us all to reminisce in our hearts the innocence of the holiday spirit of our youth. Had Saint Nicholas been present, he may have had so many cookies that he would have gotten sleigh-sick!
Two hundred boxes lined rows of tables. They were graciously filled with goodies made with love by our many locals. It is truly amazing to witness this turn-out each year. Friends who could not attend the evening event but wished to contribute went as far as dropping cookies off at Ace Hardware on Merrimon Avenue. The support was unreal! We are so humbled to have so much love in our community, and it shows in the hearts of all of our volunteers and supporters.
It is always so special watching everyone come together for this event to share the holiday spirit with one other and to bring some joy to our beloved clients. The next day, the cookie boxes were distributed to them, and our clients are never disappointed when they receive them! It is certainly something they all look forward to. We love closing the year off with such a special occurrence.
 A special thanks to Betty Sharpless for never failing to make this event one to remember. We also would like to thank everyone who contributed to The Cookie Party- whether you were baking, boxing, laughing, packing or sharing. You are the reason this happens every year! All of you make this organization the special one that it is.
— Becca Gage
Barbara Bell and Betty Sharpless
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| LFR Volunteer Extraordinaire |
| Volunteers are to LFR what oxygen is to our lungs – what blood is to our hearts – what coffee is to our mornings! (Well, maybe that last one is not true for everyone, right? But you get the idea, I hope.)
Volunteers ARE the pantry! Without them, without many of you reading this article, LFR simply would not be. For almost 25 years now, hundreds of individuals over the years have faithfully appeared to do the chores required to serve an average of 80 to 100 clients per week. What a testimony to the goodness in people’s hearts!
In this newsletter, we want to recognize just one of our volunteers who has given sacrificially of her time, talents, and resources to help us serve and to improve what we can do. She is Ellen Anastos.
 Ellen began volunteering at LFR in 2004 as a member of the 2nd Saturday Team made up of many parishioners from the Cathedral of All Souls. Gradually, she expanded her involvement to include Co-Team Leader, office volunteer, board member, secretary of the board, and eventually she served a term as president of the board.
Ellen with Michael Raife and Lewis Sorrells
Of her many contributions, perhaps her greatest was as our unofficial Office Manager. She literally created order from chaos, files and records where there had been only stacks of paper, a complete data base of volunteers and donors, calendars instead of slips of paper in boxes, and she designed our first direct mail campaign three years ago. She spent hours upon hours of time organizing, doing research, letter-writing, recruiting volunteers and all the while serving clients, cleaning the office/pantry, meeting with committees, and listening to the problems other volunteers might be experiencing.
Ellen with Betty Sharpless and Vicki Willard.
Ellen, we thank you and appreciate you for all you are, have been, and will be in the world of nonprofits! |
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