News

May 2016 Newsletter

 

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• May 2016 •
Calendar
      Loving Gardens Distribution
Where:  123 Kenilworth Rd
              Asheville
When:   May 21
 
     Green Works Garden Tour
Where: 123 Kenilworth Rd
                    Asheville
When:    June 25 10am – 3 pm
 
     Affair in White
Where:    Renaissance Hotel
                 Asheville
When:     June 25   7 – 10 pm
 
Exciting news!
By Katie Adams
 

The gardens of Loving Food Resources and Kenilworth Church have been chosen to be on the GreenWorks Garden Tour scheduled for June 25 from 10 am – 3 pm.
 
Not only will we be on the tour, but the church will serve as the central hub of the tour, and Loving Food Resources has been highlighted in press releases for the event. This is a VERY big deal and we are so excited!
 

 The Loving Food Resources gardens are a unique urban farm-to-table garden program serving the clients of Loving Food Resources. A Farm-to-table food pantry means that the food is grown at the same site it is distributed. Our unique location offers the freshest, most nutritious food to those in need. We have been planting in these gardens since 2007 and have produced over 1,000 pounds of food in 2015 alone!
 
The garden project encompasses 18 raised beds and wildlife galore. The project will expand this year with a new initiative called Loving Gardens where clients will be sent with planters, soil and seed so they may grow food at their homes. 
 
If you would like to volunteer in the garden please see garden managers, Glenn Holappa or Charlotte Bell. Glenn and Charlotte are already choosing seed, prepping the garden and planning on a bountiful season. Please join as a partner in this exciting project as we “grow” hope and health in our community! The food pantry and gardens are located on the campus of Kenilworth Presbyterian Church 123 Kenilworth Rd. Asheville, 28803, home of Loving Food Resources.

Perfect Oven-Baked Brown Rice
Perfected by America’s Test Kitchen
 
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups brown rice,
2 1/3 cups water,
2 teaspoons butter or olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt
 
Instructions
Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread rice in an 8-inch square baking dish.

  1. Bring water and butter or oil to a boil, either in a saucepan or in the microwave. Keep an eye on it and take it off heat immediately after it starts boiling. Immediately stir in salt and pour water over rice in baking dish. Cover baking dish tightly with 2 layers of foil, or heavy-duty foil. Transfer baking dish to oven and bake rice until tender, about 1 hour.
  2. Remove baking dish from oven and uncover. Fluff rice with fork, then cover dish with kitchen towel and let rice stand for 5 minutes. Uncover and let rice stand 5 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

Recipe printed from:  
  Our Best Bites
Copyright © 2011 Our Best Bites. All rights reserved

Why Brown Rice?
By Sandra Buchanan
 
The difference between brown rice and white rice is not just color!
 
Rice is one of the most important foods in the world, supplying as much as half of the daily calories for half of the world’s population.
 
Brown rice is a nutritious whole grain that delivers fiber, protein and selenium. It’s the same as white rice without all the good stuff removed in processing. Brown rice is an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of phosphorus, copper, magnesium, and niacin (vitamin B3).  In many studies, eating whole grains, such as brown rice, has been linked to healthy digestion and weight management, prevention of some cancers and heart disease. These are the “good carbs” that help balance your diet and can fill you up.
 
The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.
 
 
A Few Quick Serving Ideas:
Heat up cooked rice with milk or soy milk. Add in cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins and honey for a delicious rice pudding.

  • Make homemade vegetable sushi rolls by wrapping brown rice and your favorite vegetables in sheets of well-moistened nori.
  • Use rice leftovers for cold rice salads that are great for on-the-go lunches. Be creative and add either chicken or tofu plus your favorite vegetables, nuts, herbs and spices.
  • For a simple yet delicious lunch or dinner entrée, serve beans and rice accompanied by the vegetables of your choice.
  • Rice as a side dish need not be served plain – spruce it up with the toppings of your choice. Some of our favorites include nuts, sesame seeds, healthy sautéed mushrooms, and scallions.

Place rice and chopped vegetables in a pita bread, top with your favorite dressing, and enjoy a quick and easy lunch meal.

About LFR
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
LFR CELEBRATES 25 YEARS!
By Nancy Gavin
 

 Loving Food Resources will be celebrating 25 years of serving people in need, kicking off the celebration at the Affair in White on June 25. As part of the celebration, we will publish a special 25th Anniversary edition of the LFR Newsletter this summer.
 
WE NEED YOU to put us in contact with people who were with LFR in the early years and who have stories and pictures to share. The deadline is a few weeks away so don’t dawdle, send Nancy an email NOW with contact information: [email protected] and I will follow up with you. Trust me, you’ll forget if you delay (I know I would).
 
There aren’t many organizations that can make the claim that they subsisted as an all-volunteer agency for twenty four years, but LFR proudly makes that claim and we want to tell the stories of the people who made it possible.
 
JOIN US in the celebration by telling the stories and attending the Affair in White. YOU are part of the continuing story . . .
Grants = Fuel for LFR’s Engine!
By Mike Stevenson
 
LFR provides an average of two tons of food and personal care supplies to our clients each week!”  That was my reply to a visitor at the pantry recently when asked how large our operation is. My visitor lifted his eyebrows as he stared at me. “Seriously?” he replied.
 
Our conversation continued about how we are mostly volunteers who show up on a regular basis, that we are an agency of MANNA food bank, and that LFR is celebrating its 25th year of operation. He then commented, “This sounds like something I’d like to help with – where do the funds come from?”
 
“Funny you should ask,” I replied. “Grants are important to us, although we do some fundraisers, we are supported by several faith communities, and do a direct mail campaign each October.”
 
So how does one go about grant writing? LFR began, without previous experience, early in its existence. Searching to identify granting agencies that indicate an interest in supporting nonprofits like us, we download applications, study the detailed information they provide to us, and sketch out how funding might best be used at LFR. Our Grants Committee members consult one another, share ideas and drafts, and assign a particular grant to work on. As the deadline approaches, the committee comes together again to review the proposal, ensure that the required information is included, and review the draft before submission. Members of our Committee include Merilee Ford and Lewis Sorrells.
 
Like most things in life, it is a learning process along a road that is full of curves and potholes. And there are no guarantees – that’s for sure. But LFR is a unique organization in many respects. The goal is to tell our story and let the chips fall where they may. In late February, we were notified that we have been awarded a $20,000 grant from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. There was a collective sigh of relief when that news arrived! Currently we have three additional grant applications submitted for smaller amounts which we hope will support our fresh produce access.
 
If you haven’t noticed, there is tension in the process. Sometimes it is followed by relief and sometimes disappointment. In any case, we know that our food pantry will continue to depend on grant assistance.
AFFAIR IN WHITE
June 25, 2016

 
JOIN US for our largest fundraising event of the year, our Affair in White, at the top of the Renaissance Asheville Hotel, Saturday, June 25, 7-10 PM. We are privileged to have WLOS News Anchor Darcel Grimes as our emcee of the evening. Sponsors and special ticket holders will enjoy a meet and greet cocktail reception with Ms. Grimes before the main event.
 

We will enjoy heavy 

hors d’oeuvres as only the Renaissance can provide. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will be served, and we will have a live and silent auction and be together with the best company you can hope to meet in Asheville on an awesome, summer evening!
 

 Most importantly, you will be contributing to the financial sustainability of LFR through the coming year, helping us to implement new programs and reach even more people in need in Western North Carolina.
 
A link to the AIW ticket sales will be on our homepage on April 15. Don’t miss out on our early bird special! We’ll see you at the top of the Renaissance on June 25!

DIRECTOR’S REPORT
By Nancy Gavin
 
“Our future’s so bright we gotta wear shades!” (with apologies to Timbuk3)
 
Spring is finally here and along with the signs of new life observed in nature, we are experiencing new life at LFR and the promise of a bright future for the organization!
 
We had two new members join the Board of Directors, Paul LeSchack and Ken Allen. Paul is a member of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, a long-standing, strong supporter of LFR, and Paul served on our Board of Directors several years ago. He brings experience in leadership and a calm, thoughtful personality to the Board. Ken is Vice President of First Bank in Asheville and has also stepped in as our new Treasurer. Ken is well-connected in the community and brings youth and financial experience to the Board. He will be working closely with our Bookkeeper, Teddy Jordan, to prepare our 2016-17 budget and ensure we are fiscally responsible. We are very pleased to welcome both Paul and Ken to our leadership team!
 
The Board of Directors had a very productive planning retreat at Lutheridge Conference Center March 18-19. Our consultant, Beth Trigg, facilitated our Strategic Planning process that will carry us through the next three years. I will be presenting the Strategic Plan at our April Board meeting so we can begin to develop action steps to make the plan a reality. I just can’t express on paper how excited I am to be working with this Board of Directors and how promising the future of this organization is under their guidance!
 
Of course we would not be in such a strong position now if not for people like Barbara Bell, Mike Stevenson, Ellen Anastos, and others who carried the organization through the lean years when it operated in the red and subsisted on the blood, sweat, and tears of people who were passionate about the work of LFR. Barbara has been with LFR almost since its inception and has put in more hours than anyone to ensure its success. I don’t think anyone would contest that LFR may not have survived without Barbara.
 

I often joke with Mike that he is responsible for ninety percent of our volunteers. When I ask volunteers how they heard about LFR, more often than not it is because of Mike. Our office hasn’t been the same since Ellen migrated south to Key West for the winter. Not only was she responsible for volunteer management and training, office management, fundraising and grants, but she kept the rest of us on schedule with compliance issues.
 
There are many other volunteers who served as the glue that held LFR together and who still serve today. I am new to the organization but I know Betty, Leland, Kay, Bryan and Emilie count in that number and I am forgetting many more. That is why it is important that you contact me with the names so we make sure their stories are in our 25th Anniversary edition of the newsletter!
 
 
Whether you are a past or present volunteer, or a supporter of LFR, you are important to the organization and we count on your support as we celebrate our 25th Anniversary and look forward to the next 25 years! I am blessed to be called your Director at this important time in your history and I pledge to give the best of my talent as we look to the future!

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