Photo Courtesy of Paul Kim

 Two judges from Food Network’s “Chopped” recently visited the P Street Whole Foods Market to  purchase food for the Capital Area Food Bank.  Chefs Marc Murphy and Amanda Freitag, in partnership with Share Our Strength and Whole Foods, shopped and collected food to help raise awareness of childhood hunger in America. 

My colleague, Brian Banks, and I even chipped in and helped load the Food Network truck with the donated products.  Through the initiative, the CAFB received the following items:

- 1,800 bags of rice
- 2,900 cans of tuna
- 8,600 cans of vegetables
- 11,500 cans of beans
- 1,400 jars of peanut butter
- 15,600 diapers
- 2,200 cans of soup

As part of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, the Food Network is hosting food drives in Washington, D.C., areas of Baltimore and Philadelphia and will deliver 135,000 meals to those areas.  Throughout the holiday season, Food Network trucks will stop at local Whole Foods Markets to collect customer donations.

It is because of community partners like Whole Foods, Food Network and Share Our Strength, that the Capital Area Food Bank is able to feed the thousands of families, children and seniors struggling to get enough food to eat. 

From a volunteer perspective: blog post written by Jay Landreth, Volunteer with the Capital Area Food Bank:

These Caps fans were feeling loose because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Thousands of pounds of food walked into the  Verizon Center destined for distribution to individuals who were unemployed, under-employed, homeless, struggling to keep their homes and struggling to keep their heads above water.  Those fans brought plastic bags filled with cans on the Metro with them.  Women pulled cans of food out of purses.  Cans of yams and boxes of mac and cheese came out of jacket pockets.  Cans of tuna, jars of applesauce, peanut butter and an assortment of single-serving foods filled box after box at the entryway doors.

We were stationed by the door to take food donations.  We held orange buckets out to receive cash donations from people who forgot to bring a can, but wanted to help the Capital Area Food Bank feed people in need of assistance.

These Caps fans stepped up and donated generously.

Loose change.  Quarters, dimes, nickels and 31 pennies.  A total of $1,634.81 was collected, of which $19.81 was in coins.

I handed out brochures to alot of people saying that the food bank can turn ONE DOLLAR into THREE MEALS.  I believe that.  I’ve seen it done.  I have seen the beneficiaries of it.

Until that night, I hadn’t seen people dig to the bottom of their pocket for change.  I mean, the BOTTOM of their pocket.  That’s where the pennies get stuck.

So, those 31 pennies?  That was a meal.  Doesn’t sound like much does it?  Really?  Ever miss a meal?  Ever been in a position where you don’t know where your next meal is coming from?  I don’t mean deciding where to go eat, I mean not having a clue whether there is a meal in your future.

Caps fans believe that the Capital Area Food Bank helps feed thousands of people in the metro region every day.  They do it with food drawn from many different resources and processed by people, paid and unpaid, who care about people who face chronic hunger.  People who want to help others less fortunate than themselves.  People who dig deep, to the very bottom of their pockets, to make sure there is enough for one more meal for someone who needs it.

Thank you for supporting the Capital Area Food Bank and more importantly those struggling to get enough food to eat. 

Governor McDonnell packs bags for seniors in need.

The Capital Area Food Bank recently teamed up with The Virginia Federation of Food Banks to bring Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Virginia State Delegate Mark D. Sickles to CAFB partner agency ALIVE Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia. 

The Governor and Delegate Sickles volunteered packing food as a part of the state wide legislator volunteer day for Hunger Action Month.  This visit gave the Capital Area Food Bank and ALIVE Executive Director Ken Nasar the opportunity to educate the Governor on hunger problems in the State of Virginia, while he packed  groceries for seniors in need.

Virginia State Delegate Mark Sickles lends a helping hand.

The Governor expressed gratitude to The Capital Area Food Bank and its partner agency ALIVE Inc. for helping residents in need in Northern Virginia.  The Capital Area Food Bank is thankful to Governor McDonnell for visiting Northern Virginia to learn about hunger.

If you or someone you know is in need of food please call 202-526-5344 and ask for the Hunger Life Line.

2011 CANstuction Awards:

Jurors’ Favorite: Leo A Daly

Structural Ingenuity: HDR

Best Meal: David M Schwarz Architects

Best Use of Labels: AECOM

Honorable Mention: Hartman-Cox Architects

Honorable Mention: Wiencek + Associates, Architects + Planners

People’s Choice: Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.

(To view the winning CANstructions, click here.)

And what a year it was! The 19 participating teams braved Hurricane Irene on August 27th to construct the remarkable and creative structures made entirely from canned goods. This annual design competition gives a new meaning to playing with your food!

For the first time, CANstruction was held at the National Building Museum. The public was invited to watch as the teams worked together to create the structures they had envisioned, can by can.  Did you miss it? Click here to watch the build out in less than three minutes!

Over the course of a week, the public was able to vote for their favorite CAN-structure by placing a nonperishable food donation into one of the 19 Capital Area Food Bank collection boxes, placed in front of each structure. This year, the public was also able to vote online by making a donation to the Capital Area Food Bank.  

After the official judging was complete, the teams dismantled their designs. All canned goods were donated to the Capital Area Food Bank. In total, we received over 47,000 pounds of food and just over $4,000 in online donations. This incredible donation will allow us to provide nearly 49,000 meals to children, seniors and families at risk of hunger in our community.

Thank you to all 19 firms that participated in the much anticipated CANstruction.

URS Corporation

SmithGroupJJR

Robert Silman Associates

EYP Architecture and Engineering

CLARK NEXSEN

HOK

Rippeteau Architects, PC

HARTMAN-COX ARCHITECTS

Wiencek + Associates

RTKL

GENSLER

GPI/ Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.

Cannon Design

AECOM

MV + A Architects

Stantec Architecture Inc.

LEO A DALY

HDR Architecture

David M. Schwarz Architects

We are so thankful for your support!

Read more here!

Donations and volunteers have always been a crucial part of the work completed at the Capital Area Food Bank.  Luckily, one volunteer took her efforts to the next level by organizing a canned food drive in order to support the Food For Kids department!  Deb Roeber and her son Dalton are involved with the West Springfield Little League and organized a competition between little league teams to see who could provide the most items.

Food for Kids staff in NOVA worked with Deb, who secures other donations such as tickets from the Nationals, for WSLL events.   When asked about where she developed her desire to assist the community and the CAFB Deb said that:

“My son Dalton inspired me to give back as he volunteered at your Kids Cafe in March to earn hours for the national junior honor society. Dalton needed some more hours so we both thought of the idea to join his favorite sport and give back. Here we thought why not have his fellow teammates and friends he plays ball with give back as well. The community always support us so we wanted to help others. We hope to continue to give back to the food bank in the years to come!”

People like Deb, and all volunteers enhance the quality of work we are able to complete here at the food bank.  I enjoy the opportunity to get to work with people like her and other CAFB staff who are dedicated to addressing hunger problems in the Washington metro area!

Truck full of donations from Little League teams

Whole Foods Market recently held a film premiere of the documentary “Forks Over Knives” at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. Proceeds from the film were donated to the Capital Area Food Bank’s Farm Youth Initiative. 

Forks Over Knives is about how diet can alter the course of common diseases found in America.  The film chronicles patients who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes, and the whole foods plant-based diet approach that doctors use to treat their ailments. 

After the film, there was a panel discussion with Rip Esselstyn, one of the leads in the film; Executive Producer Brian Wendel; Dr. Neal Barnard; and Alana Sugar, a certified nutritionist.

Well you haven’t seen anything!  The Capital Area Food Bank’s Sister Hook-Up Program would be nominated for a Tony Award if this were Broadway.  The Sister Hook-Up program is unique in that it “hooks-up” and acts as a facilitator between member partners that provide food to clients and local retail outlets. The Sister Hook-Up Program was founded on the premise that most grocers or eateries have salvageable food that, for a variety of reasons, is thrown out when it is still edible.   

Since it was not feasible for the food bank to send our trucks to each store to pick up the salvageable food, the food bank suggested allowing member partners to be “hooked-up” with a sister retail site.  Retail outlets participating in the Sister Hook Up program include but are not limited to Safeway, Giant, Food Lion, Starbucks, Marvelous Market and Panera Bread.  As a result, these stores among others, distributed over 4 million pounds of food to partner agencies last year.

Greater New Hope Baptist Church has been a food bank partner agency since February 2005.  The church operates an emergency food pantry and also serves hot lunches on the second Tuesday of each month. The food obtained through the Sister Hook Up program has enabled the program to increase the number of bags distributed and meals served.  The Sister Hook-Up contributions also supplements the food obtained from the Capital Area Food Bank, which enables them to feed more households.

 The 2011 Tony Award Nomination for the best performance? The Capital Area Food Bank’s Sister Hook-Up program of course.

Mark your calendar! The 19th Annual National Association Of Letter Carriers’ Food Drive is this Saturday,  May 14th.  You can help nourish those struggling with hunger  in three easy steps:

1. Collect a bag full of non-perishable foods.
2. Leave the bag at your mailbox on Saturday, May 14^th - your local letter carrier will pick up the donations and deliver them to the Capital Area Food Bank.
3. Spread the Word – Remind everyone you know to leave a bag of non-perishable food by their mail boxes. Use Facebook and Twitter to encourage others to help too!  Click here for more information.

Most Need Items:

• peanut butter
• canned meat and fish
• canned fruit and vegetables
• cereal

Last year, the Capital Area Food Bank distributed over 27 million pounds of food, including 10.8 million pounds of fresh produce.  We need your support to feed our neighbors in need, so don’t forget to leave your canned goods by your mail box this Saturday!

Remind your friends, family, neighbors and coworkers to do the same.

On Friday, March 18^th Adam Lowy and Jason Taetsch from Move For Hunger visited the Capital Area Food Bank!  Founded by the Lowy Family, Move For Hunger – a nonprofit organization that links local moving companies with food banks – encourages clients to donate unopened food during the moving process and offers to deliver their donations directly to local food banks.  Learn more about this growing organization here.

These two ambitious young men were awarded a $10,000 grant from Ford Motor Company to take their show on the road as part of the Focus Global Test Drive: Start More Than A Car Campaign!  Adam and Jason are using their 2012 Ford Focus to take a 28-day tour across the United States to tell the story of hunger.  Not only are they visiting food banks and partner moving companies, but they are also blogging, tweeting and uploading videos along the way.

During their visit, Adam and Jason had a chance to chat with our Chief Operations Officer Mark McCaffrey and Director of Individual Giving Claudia Morris.  Click here to watch the brief and informative interviews.

Because of Adam and Jason’s work, our Northern Virginia branch is lucky enough to receive donations from four local moving companies: Eureka Van & Storage Co., Inc., Olympia Moving and Storage Company, Executive Moving Systems, Inc. and Bayshore Moving & Storage.  These generous companies collect food from clients and deliver donations to our Lorton, VA location on a regular basis.

Check out Adam and Jason’s blog as they make their way across the country!

Brandenburg is asking the community to bring non-perishable protein to 1070 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW.  The Body You Want has bins upstairs and downstairs to collect your donation. 

Free classes will be offered throughout February on any Sunday.