Volunteer News | September 30, 2021
CRC Truck Brings Nourishment and Hope
Dear CRC Volunteer,

Anyone else love trucks as a kid? I was definitely one of those youngsters who thrilled at the sight of cement trucks, pulled the invisible horn whenever I saw a semi-truck, and dreamt of riding in a fire truck (okay... and I still do!). 

In honor of September’s “Hunger Awareness Month” I decided it was a good time to do a ride-along in our CRC Truck and see one of the ways food gets to our Food Pantry each weekday. It was a fun experience and a rare opportunity for me to combine my daily workout with my office job. More than that, it was enlightening and encouraging. 

Eleven different grocery partners in our community send food to our Food Pantry - upwards of 33,000 pounds a month - to feed hundreds of families. If you see our truck around town, be sure to give a wave and a smile. Our driver, Omar does a lot of heavy lifting for those in need (literally and figuratively!) along with some volunteers who give him a hand. 

As always, CRC is grateful to ALL our volunteers who directly and indirectly provide resources to the hungry, hurting and homeless in our community. See below for my photo journal of the big day (the day Omar let me join him). 
The TRUCK!
Filled with amazing fresh produce, meats and dairy to go to our clients in need (it is heavy!)
Omar, our hard-working truck driver (middle), Dave, volunteer extraordinaire (on the truck) and me (pretending to be helpful!)
So much food (did I mention it was heavy?)
Volunteers all ready to sort and put away the items once they arrive at the Food Pantry (Thank you!)
Definition of our Fresh Rescue Program:
Every year in the U.S. nearly 100 billion pounds of food available for human consumption is thrown away. To prevent this massive waste and to feed people in need, food banks and charities across the country have implemented food rescue programs that link up nonprofits with feeding programs to their local grocery store where they are able to rescue and pick up prepared and soon-to-be expired food directly. CRC participates in the fresh rescue program as a partner with Feeding San Diego, and operates a food pantry that distributes the food to individuals and families in need, often the same day it is received. The participants that access our pantry receive nonperishable and fresh food, most often enough to feed their families healthy food for the week. They are also able to pay bills such as rent, utilities, and medications because they were able to offset the cost for food.
Warmly,

Sara Rosenbaum,
CRC Volunteer Manager
The Latest Volunteer News
Correction:
Last month, we incorrectly stated that 15% of Resale Store's profits support CRC. It should have read "Resale Store revenue provides 15% of CRC's budgets income." We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Welcome on board to the following volunteers who took on some new roles supporting our Food and Nutrition Program!

John Ranieri and Randy Gorman: Truck Driver assistance for Fresh Rescue Pick-Ups (Thursdays)

Kelly Stefanki: Produce Donation Pick up from local Aquaponics gardens at ECOLIFE conservation for the Food Pantry

Helena Zheng and Elizabeth Bredeck: Volunteer gardeners for the CRC’s garden bed at Encinitas Community Gardens

St. Mark's Freshens Up 2nd Street!

Thank you to St. Mark’s who came out on Sunday, September 12th to power wash walls and sidewalks, clean windows and deep clean the FNC. Volunteers, staff and participants were treated to a sparkling clean 2nd Street Facility on Monday the 13th!
Bethlehem Serves

Bethlehem Lutheran provided some elbow grease to the FNC on Sunday, September 19th. They replaced all the old shelving with new. Thank you for demonstrating your care for the community in tangible ways!
Holiday Baskets is LIVE!
Many of you wait all year for CRC to start promoting its Holiday Baskets Program. Just this week, CRC posted our all new, updated website, filled with great information on the 2021 plans and ways YOU can be involved! You can check it out, here.

We are still working on the volunteering needs for this year. We will start reaching out to past groups in mid-October, and then make opportunities more widely available after that. We are unable to keep track of all requests to volunteer so please wait until we reach out to you or advertise a need. Thank you!
Introducing CRC's 2021 Holiday Baskets Project Coordinator, Cathie Byrd!
Cathie joins us with over 20 years of accumulated experience leading, managing, and planning programs and projects in both the nonprofit and private sector. She also brings hands-on experience, serving as CRC’s Volunteer Manager from 2014-2017 as well as the Holiday Baskets Project Manager in 2017.

Cathie will serve as the HB Captains main point of contact and can be reached at: cbyrd@crcncc.org

We are thrilled to welcome Cathie to the Holiday Baskets team!
Volunteer of the Month
Leah Sorenson

Leah is a volunteer in our Food Pantry and was recently trained to work at our Front Window position, serving clients. Yanira, our Food and Nutrition Manager says, “Leah has happily stepped in with short notice as a substitute volunteer numerous times when needed. We love knowing that we can count on dedicated volunteers to help us out when in a pinch. “ Thank you Leah!
Volunteer Needs
Want to support our Resale Stores? Become a store volunteer!

We are always looking for committed, high-energy volunteers at our Resale Stores to receive donations, sort, clean and provide customer service when needed. Fill out an application here or contact Sara Rosenbaum for more information. Resale Store Volunteers get 25% off purchase at the stores too!

We are also looking for a volunteer photographer to take weekly photos at our Carlsbad Resale Stores to be shared on social media. You don't have to be a professional, we'll provide tips for taking the photos...this is a great way to learn or brush up on your photography skills!

You can also support the stores and our programs by shopping at one of our stores – giving back while also getting in some retail therapy!
Current Ambassador Need!

Are you trained as a CRC Ambassador? We are currently looking for two volunteers to represent CRC at an event on Friday, November 12 from 4-8 pm at the La Jolla UTC Mall. For more information, contact Sara at srosenbaum@crcncc.org.
Staff News
For those of you in the Food Pantry or who have worked with our Food and Nutrition Program, you may have met Yanira. After several postponements, Yanira and her fiancé Art Alonso, married last month! You may see a last name change pop up in communications from Yanira Frias to Yanira Alonso. If you see her, make sure to give her a congratulations!
If you know of anyone in need of food, housing or shelter, please pass along this link to information on how we can help: CRCNCC.ORG/COVID-19
If you have a good story of volunteering, please share with me at srosenbaum@crcncc.org. I can include those stories in future newsletters as an encouragement to our team.  
Community Resource Center
(760) 230-6501| info@crcncc.org | CRCNCC.org