Your monthly look into what's happening at the NH Food Bank. |
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April 2023
NHFB Closures
Fri. April 7th- Good Friday
Mon. May 29th- Memorial Day
Welcome
New Agencies:
Ledyard Charter School Lebanon
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NH Feeding NH's 2022-2023 program season wrapped up this past month and we would like to thank everyone who participated. This was a transitional year for the program as we were able to secure a larger source of funding and we welcomed Jess, our NH Feeding NH Program Coordinator, to the team. This season, $233,1000 was distributed to 134 agencies, allowing them to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and protein from NH farms and fishermen. With agencies purchasing directly from farms in their area, 193 farmers and fishermen benefitted from NH Feeding NH during the season. Collectively, these agencies made 1,275 purchases which totaled more than 116,000 pounds of food from local producers. We’re currently working on the upcoming seasons, and will be sending out information on how to participate later in April.
This past year, we were able to utilize NH Feeding NH funding in new ways that offered more options to not just participating agencies- but all our partner agencies. We are excited to continue purchasing local milk, eggs, and apples that were then offered to all of our agencies through Agency Express. As the program grew, we also started working with farmers around the state to purchase ground beef, chorizo, and corn. Several agencies located near those farms were assigned a portion of the meat we purchased, and they were able to pick it up directly from the farm. We were even able to offer local sweet corn at a couple of our mobile food pantries. Between bulk purchasing and forward contracting, we were able to distribute over 154,000 pounds of local food. This year, we’re looking forward to expanding this aspect of the NH Feeding NH program and being able to offer more local foods to our agencies throughout the state.
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Donor Spotlight:
Bank of New Hampshire
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We’re incredibly grateful to Bank of New Hampshire for their partnership and generous sponsorship of our Mobile Food Pantry program over the last two years.
At the height of the pandemic, Bank of New Hampshire was sponsoring one distribution a week, and as our Mobile Food Pantry schedule evolved along with the pandemic, they transitioned to sponsoring two per month – ultimately supporting 81 distributions over the course of their sponsorship which allowed us to provide 25,000 NH households with approximately 1.5 million pounds of food.
We cannot thank Bank of New Hampshire and their employees enough for their support of the Mobile Food Pantry program and the NH Food Bank.
Bank of New Hampshire is continuing their partnership with the NH Food Bank focusing on support of our Summer Food Service Program, which is crucial to ensuring children and their families receive nutritious foods and resources during the months when school is out and there is no access to free and reduced-price meals at school.
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Partner Agency Spotlight:
New Life Church Food Pantry
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Raymond, NH- New Life Church Food Pantry is more than just a food pantry. We recently visited the them during one of their food distributions and got a chance to speak with many of their guests, and see the care and dedication from the team. Dottie is the pantry director and has been happily serving her community and guests for many years. She wants to make sure that every person who walks through the doors of her pantry feel cared for and know that they matter. The volunteers were very excited to be there and it was evident in everything they did from assisting a client to stocking shelves.
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The pantry serves about 50 families and welcomed three new families that day. In speaking to guests during the visit, one told us, “I come here because I feel like everyone is family. The food I receive makes a huge difference and it means a lot.” Another guest told us that her parents recently moved in with her after fleeing Ukraine. She has two children and now an additional two people to feed. “It is hard right now. I have a lot going on and coming here is like coming to see family. I get food for my family and so much more.”
The pantry is set up with tables in rows so that guests are able to walk through with a shopping cart and take what they need on their own, or with assistance from volunteers. There are also tables displaying clothing and housewares that are available for the taking. On the day we visited, Dottie had set up a special area highlighting a Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole that could be made using ingredients available that day in the pantry. Bundling items together in this way allows for guests to get a better visual of how they might use products in more than just one way.
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With Easter soon approaching, the pantry also put together several dozen Easter baskets for children of families that attend the pantry. The day we visited, we saw many guests leave with the baskets made specifically for their children based on the child’s age and gender. This extra effort made by the pantry team is just another way they extend their care and support of the clients they feed each month.
During our visit at New Life Food Pantry, we witnessed every person and family leave with a smile on their face, as well as a shopping cart full of food. Seeing the guests and volunteers alike connect and make friendships is what makes our NH Food Bank agencies stand out.
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All refrigerators and freezers at your organization are required to have thermometers in use to ensure they remain at food safe temperatures. The proper temperature for a refrigerator is between 32-41° F, while the proper temperature for a freezer is at or below 0° F. At least once a week, all equipment temperatures should be checked and recorded on any type of log of your choosing. These logs will be checked at your annual inspections.
If your program is in need of thermometers (seen to the left), please contact your NHFB Agency Coordinator and we will have some added to you next order.
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All programs are required to have at least 1 person on your team that is Safe Food certified and has attended a training session within the past 5 years. Active ServeSafe certification is also accepted. Classes are offered monthly and held online via Zoom. If you or someone from your program needs to attend an upcoming session, please see the list of upcoming classes below. |
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The Agency Relations team has partnered with the NHFB's Recipe For Success Nutrition team to create a monthly Agency Learning Series. The majority of these sessions are intended to explore topics that can be used directly within your program to better your experience for your team and your clients.
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On Tuesday, March 21st the NH Food Bank staff and a wonderful group of volunteers worked together to receive the food donations that remain after the Associated Grocers of New England's Spring Food Show. The food collected and filled 45 large bins and totaled 14,400 pounds of food. We hope that you will benefit from some of these items through our salvage boxes or when picking up your order at our warehouse. |
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All sessions are held online using Zoom.
To enroll in any upcoming session, please contact your Agency Relations Coordinator. A zoom link will be sent out to those who signed up prior to the class.
New Shopper Orientation
Tuesday, April 11th @10am
Thursday, April 20th @1pm
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All programs are required to have at least one person at their facility that is Safe Food Handling certified.
Safe Food Handling
For Food Pantries:
Thursday, April 6th @2:30pm
Tuesday, June 6th @9:30am
Thursday, August 3rd @4:00pm
For Soup Kitchens & Prepared Meals:
Tuesday, May 23rd @2pm
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One Last Note From Agency Relations |
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- If you haven't already, please read the Agency Pickup/Shopping Announcement that was sent out on Wednesday 3/29 and share with your volunteers that pick up from the NH Food Bank so that everyone is clear with the pickup procedure.
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Have you missed out on viewing any past bulletins? Visit the Agency Portal to see an archive of past bulletins.
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The 1st quarter 2023 QSR is now available and due by April 30th.
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Agency Relations Manager.
Agency Relations Coordinator for Belknap, Rockingham and Strafford counties.
Agency Relations Coordinator for Coos, Carroll, and northern Grafton counties.
Agency Relations Coordinator for Cheshire, Sullivan, Merrimack & southern/central Grafton county.
Agency Relations Coordinator for Hillsborough county.
Agency Training and Resource Coordinator.
NH Feeding NH Program Coordinator for all of NH.
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