Senator Mark Warner Helps AFAC Open New Warehouse

March 15, 2018

Contents: AFAC Grand Opening, Spring Event, BbG 5K Race, Volunteer Needs, Cooking & Nutrition News, Plot Against Hunger, Amazon Smile, Thank You, Sponsors

AFAC Grand Opening

Last night, we held a Grand Opening for our newly renovated building, which will soon be ready for operations! Big thanks to our guest speaker and longtime AFAC supporter, Senator Mark Warner. We are grateful for the tremendous work of our architect Inscape Studio, our builder Tech-24 Construction, and contractors Earnest Ventures, Inc (EVI), Electrical Innovations, Hoover Mechanical, and SS Mechanical, LLC.

Click here for the story that will appear in a future edition of the Arlington Sun Gazette .

Upcoming Events

Click here for a full list of upcoming events

AFAC Presents:

Shining a Light on Hunger

Thursday, April 19

6:30 - 9:30 pm

AFAC's annual Spring Event, Shining a Light on Hunger, is a celebration that brings together the many individuals, families, corporations and community partners who contribute to AFAC's success. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. This year's event will feature Dorothy McAuliffe , First Lady of Virginia from 2014 - 2018, as our honorary guest. Let us bring elegance and inspiration together as we celebrate 30 years of fulfilling our mission and feeding our neighbors in need. Tickets and sponsorships are still available!

Body by Ginny 5k Obstacle Run/Walk for AFAC

Saturday, April 28

7:00 am

Tie up those laces! Body by Ginny will have her annual 5K obstacle run/walk on Saturday, April 28 at Potomac Overlook Park. Get your corporate team, family, or friends together and start training for this fun obstacle race that goes over the creek and through the woods! All proceeds from this race go directly to AFAC. Registration is live. Follow this link to sign up.

Volunteer Needs

Survey Volunteers

We're looking for volunteers who speak Spanish and are available during weekdays to help with our client surveys next week. We'll be conducting the surveys at all of our distribution sites through March 24. You do not need to be fluent, but comfortable enough to carry a conversation. If you're available, please go to the online calendar and find a shift that works for your schedule.

Farmers' Market Drivers

From May to November, AFAC sends teams of volunteers to local farmers' markets to pick up produce donations. Last year we collected almost 70,000 pounds of fresh, locally-grown produce to distribute to AFAC clients. If you feel comfortable driving a cargo van and are available for a shift one or two days a month, please email [email protected] for more information.

Social Worker Hours - Daytime

We offer social workers and health care aides the opportunity to shop for their clients on Tuesday-Thursday from 12:45-2:15 pm at AFAC. We need a volunteer who can help them make their selections. Ideally, we'd like to find someone who can commit weekly on one of the days. These shifts are on our online calendar. We encourage volunteers to try it once or twice before making the commitment.

Cooking & Nutrition Corner

National Nutrition Month

March

Celebrate National Nutrition Month with AFAC, Arlington County Department of Parks & Recreation, and Virginia Cooperative Extension! Bring your pre-schoolers and kids to Shirlington Library, Central Library, and Columbia Pike for select kids club, story times, or crafty Wednesday. Visit our My Plate displays at Shirlington Library, Columbia Pike, and Glencarlyn libraries. Click here for more information.

Thank you to everyone who helped AFAC at Rooting DC! With your help we put on 3 successful workshops and spread the word about AFAC's Plot Against Hunger program and Health Education program!

AFAC will be at the Your Child's Development Fair this Saturday, March 17th, hosted by Arlington County's Child & Family Services at Kenmore Middle School from 8:30 am - 12:30 pm. If you're a parent or caregiver of infants or preschoolers, stop by our table to get some healthy eating tips!

Thank you to Samantha Reily, a Virginia Tech dietetic intern, who is spending the week at AFAC conducting surveys, providing cooking demonstrations, helping with library Nutrition events and AFAC's Health Play Initiative program.

Plot Against Hunger

Growers Wanted

Will you be a Romeo for our Juliets? AFAC needs tomato seedlings for clients and donating gardens. We have special Juliet tomato seeds to distribute to growers. Juliets are a small crack-resistant, sweet, fast growing variety that produces well in our climate and is the preferred tomato at AFAC. For seeds, contact Puwen at [email protected].

Artists Wanted

A couple rain barrels at AFAC's Walter Reed Garden could use touch-ups and paint-overs. Want to exercise your creative talents? Here's your chance! Contact Puwen at [email protected].

Garden Cleanups

Spring is here and garden clean-ups are being scheduled. If you are interested in helping at a garden on a regular basis to help with planting, watering, harvesting & delivery to AFAC, please contact the garden coordinator indicated:

Walter Reed Garden (Catherine Connor [email protected])

Central Library Garden (Audrey Morris [email protected] )

American Legion (Afua Bruce [email protected] )

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Dave Smith [email protected] )

Looking for a Produce Drop-off Site

AFAC is looking for a site where gardeners can drop off fresh produce May-October. Currently, gardeners can make donations at Arlington Courthouse Market on Saturdays, and at AFAC, 2708 S. Nelson Street, Monday-Saturday. Does your organization have a place where we can place a rolling cooler for a few hours, once a week? Contact Puwen at [email protected].

Garden Talks

Wednesdays at 7pm

Weekly garden talks at Arlington Central Library have begun for this season! Here are upcoming topics:

March 21: Intensive Gardening for high yields - succession and companion planting with cover crops
March 28: Small Fruit for the Northern Virginia garden

Click here for the upcoming topics through April.

Amazon Smile

Triple your impact while shopping on Amazon by using Amazon Smile! Through March 31, Amazon is tripling the donation rate on your first smile.amazon.com purchase! Make sure to set your charity to Arlington Food Assistance Center to help us while you shop!

Thank You

Special thanks to Gunston Middle School's National Junior Honor Society for collecting 2,778 pounds of food for AFAC and to McKinley Elementary for collecting 1,106 pounds of food!

Big thanks to the Arlington Public Schools that donate healthy snacks on a weekly basis as a part of the Food Bus program: Abingdon ES, Arlington Science Focus ES, Arlington Traditional ES, Discovery ES, McKinley ES, Nottingham ES, Tuckahoe ES, and Temple Rodef Shalom's Religious School.

Thank you to all those who held food drives or donated to Plot Against Hunger!

10th & Barton Community Garden; Arlington Church of the Brethren; Arlington County Economic Development; The Baha'i Faith; Bethel UCC; Broadstone Apartments; Calvary UMC; Central Library; Congregation Etz Hayim; CSRA; Feel the Heritage Festival; First Presbyterian Church; Girl Scout Troop #3422; Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc; Junior League of Northern Virginia; Main Event Caterers; NOVA Catholic Community; PSI USA; Resurrection Lutheran Church; Rock Spring UCC; St. Andrew's Episcopal Church; St. Ann Catholic Church; St. Ann Catholic School; St. John's Episcopal Church; St. Michael's Episcopal Church; Steven & Nisha Pryor's CSA; Territory Foods; Trinity Episcopal Church