Bread for the City

Last month, BFC played host to one of the liveliest events of the season! In honor of National Food Day on October 24th, we held an interactive community Food Fair. Clients, community members, staff, friends, and family came together for a night of fellowship, information, art, film and food! Visitors even got a chance to take a tour of our rooftop garden. Great times!

October 24th was Food Day! We packed our parking lot with a Community Food Fair, as inspired by our new Free Farmers Market program.

A special thanks goes out to all of the organizations that took part. DC Central Kitchen made an enticing kale salad that had the crowd raving; and Everybody Eats provided folks with some tasty homemade applesauce! DC Hunger Solutions, ROC-DC, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the National Family Farm Coalition shared pertinent information with the community that has the potential to positively impact people’s lives.

A cooking corps from DC Central Kitchen was on site to prepare and provide spicy kale salad.

In addition, artists from Beet Street and Albus Cavus gave life to several art projects that were a hit with our visitors. The BIG HAND received a face lift, and the garden has some extra decorative planks and a host of community-made mobiles!

The Marvelous Market, Yes! Organic Market, and BFC staff lent a hand by providing the delectable food. Visitors enjoyed the delicious assortments of breads, rotisseree chicken, eggplant soup, soy chili, cole slaw, salad, and a beautiful veggie tray.

The true stars of the night were all of the volunteers. The dream team was comprised of Wendy Stuart (DC Food Day Coordinator), BFC staff, community members, interns, college students, and fellows. They put in work before, during, and after to ensure things ran smoothly. Thank you for all of your help!

David is a retired man who is blind in one eye. He worked for the Daveston House on 2nd and D streets (where DC Central Kitchen is now located) and for the Department of Health Education and Welfare, before it became the Department of Health and Human Services. He has been coming to Bread for the City for over a decade. He approves of the developments in recent years, favoring our pantry “because of the variety.” He typically shops for groceries at Safeway or Aldi. His family touts him as the “best cook” and will have thirteen members gathered around his table for the holiday.

Check out the full set of pics here!  Thanks to the many people who made Food Day possible.

Janet is a graduate of Trinity College. She will begin work at the new Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda soon. As a former victim of domestic violence, she writes poetry to express her emotions. She makes use of all the services the Bread for the City offers, including the food pantry, medical and legal services. “They provide quality care and excellent service, and if there is something they can’t do, they refer you to someone who can. If I didn’t have Bread for the City as a resource, my life would not be improving like it is.” At Food Day, Janet made a wind mobile at our arts table.

Note: We’re pleased to announce that this new model of community food fairs is something that we can look forward to here at Bread for the City on the regular! Thanks to the Capital Area Food Bank and a special grant from Kaiser Permanente, we’ll have these free farmers market events every month in our Southeast Center all the way through next summer. The next one will be during the morning of December 9th. Want to help out? Have an idea for us to try? Let us know in the comments!

Everyone learned something at the Broadband Bridge’s Discovering Technology Fair at Bread for the City on November 5th.

This was our first ‘DiscoTech,’ as we’re calling it (with a nod to our friends in the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition, who set a great example) — and it was an experiment in mixing together people from all backgrounds and skill levels to share technology. As far as experiments go, this DiscoTech was a resounding success! (See Bread for the City’s full photoset on Flickr.)

We transformed Bread for the City’s still-new Northwest Center facility into a giant computer lab, with about 20 laptops set up throughout the space. About 200 people attended — many from our own computer classes (every Wednesday at 3pm in NW), or from the computer labs of other neighborhood hubs like Shaw Community Ministry.

Read the Washington Post’s coverage of the DiscoTech event here.

Some participants had never really engaged at all with a computer before, and they were able to receive active coaching from volunteer instructors. Others were fairly experienced and came with very specific things they wanted to learn. Volunteer skill-sharers came to us from DCWEEK, the Benevolent Media Fest, the Broadband Bridge’s network, many other organizations working to bridge the digital divide, and even from just down the block.

When I heard the news that one of Bread for the City’s strategic planning goals is to strengthen client engagement, I got excited. My story of coming to Bread for the City has been one of empowerment, right from the very beginning. Bread was there at a moment in my life when I really needed help and did not know who or where to turn to for legal advice. I was having issues with my employer and needed help navigating the court system.

In fact, the day of my trial, I was up against my former employer, who brought in three of his own lawyers. I was left alone to argue my case against him and his high powered attorneys. I did not have a lawyer, just the advice of the pro bono attorneys from the DC Employment Justice Center that I found at Bread for The City.  But they had prepared me well. I knew what to expect and how to respond to the lawyers’ tricky questioning. When I won my case, I had the feeling that I was getting what I deserved. BFC and EJC helped me stand up for my rights when nobody else could help me, and I made a vow that day that I wanted to help BFC to help others in my community help themselves.

The groundwork for that promise to myself and my community started when I was a child. I was raised to always do my best to give back, and to be an active participant in my community. I was always doing things in church, helping people who were sick and shut in their homes. As I got older, I became more aware of the power that  a few have over the majority—what Occupiers are now calling the 99%.

I slowly realized that the cards are stacked against us, all of us. Hard working people get the short end of the stick in everything that we try to do or maintain. Sometimes the anger would swell up in my blood, until I would realize that you have to  give even more of yourself in order to level the lopsided playing field. We have to help each other, but we also need to fight the system when it is unfair in whatever way we can. Some of us have to be that voice for the other people who may feel the same way, but do not know how to go about trying to rectify and maneuver the maze of systems.

That’s why I love being an advocate and an adviser on Bread for the City’s Client Advisory Board.  It gives me a sense of empowerment and a sense of pride. I feel as if I am taking care of the things and people that I am supposed to take care of.

I do all this because I know Bread for the City is a place where I can connect to a community, feed my spirit, and be listened to. BFC gives people faith in their individual causes, a place to connect the little moans and groans to the big picture. It gives people a place to be heard and start to build the power we need to change things.

Check out this great video about the new mural proudly displayed on our Southeast Center’s upper wall!

The mural is a result of a partnership with Bread for the City, Words Beats & Life, and Murals DC (made possible by the District’s Department of Public Works and the DC Commission on the Arts and the Humanities). The art is by Aniekan Udofia — of whom we are all now fans! The feedback on the results — from clients and neighbors alike — has been super-positive, and we hope this is a great step forward in a series of creative, collaborative art projects in our community.

Our staff has already been inspired to use the mural as a backdrop for our fun staff portrait session. (Thanks to Steve Goldenberg for the photography!) Check out the slideshow here:

Tis the season for accolades for Bread for the City’s dedicated and hardworking staff! Following on the heels of executive director George Jones’ two awards this past month, we are pleased to announce that our own nutrition consultant, Sharon Feuer Gruber, has received the DC Primary Care Association’s Unsung Hero Award.

So what makes Sharon an Unsung Hero? Please, allow us to fill you in. We insist.

In 2008 we received a random call from a nutritionist, and we can honestly say that that first contact with Sharon has changed our organization in a BIG way.

While initially hired to provide nutrition counseling to patients and advise about improving the nutritional quality of our food offerings, within months, Sharon and our then-Food Director Ted Pringle had completely reshaped our purchase model. We shifted from offering mac ‘n cheese to distributing lean meats and lower-salt options. (Here’s a classic video of the two of them discussing changes to our Holiday Helpings menu.)

Not stopping there, Sharon took it upon herself to develop a new program from scratch. Her cold calls to area farmers led to the launch of Glean for the City, which has since collected and distributed over 122,000 lbs. of surplus free produce to our clients, ensuring the inclusion of fresh produce in every bag. (Sharon’s work with Glean for the City was recently featured on the Kojo Nnamdi Show!)

But wait, there’s more! Sharon also teaches monthly healthy cooking classes at both our NW and SE locations, and has recently started providing healthy food samples and recipes in the food pantry itself. So when we’re distributing sweet potatoes, we might also serve a simple sweet potato salad that day, giving clients the recipe and inspiring them to try making a new dish at home.

Along with our rooftop garden coordinator, Sharon has organized the now-monthly free farmers markets in our parking lots and has created a nutrition education curriculum to make the most of the school field trips we host on our new rooftop garden.

And most recently, she helped broker a partnership with UDC to develop our very own orchard. (Yes, you read that right. No links for it yet — but stay tuned!)

Sharon still provides nutrition counseling to medical patients, and her efforts mean that nutrition has become a cornerstone of our medical clinic and food program activities. And, of course, Sharon is just one of many “unsung heroes” at Bread for the City. But if not for her, things might be that much less delicious and nutritious around here.

Check it out! Bread for the City is all up on a MetroBus near you:

Thanks to Potomac Communications Group for the pro bono graphic design work, and our Board of Directors for the encouragement. Also thanks to staffers, Rosa Garcia and Phylisa Carter Esq, who represent us so well in the full color pictures!

So as you stroll through downtown, keep an eye out. Catch a glimpse? (Scope the neat boxy square code thing — you can scan it, with your mobile device!) Be inspired and tweet to the world when you see us! Uh, if you tweet a photo of the bus ad, we’ll… give you a prize of some sort. Like a bus token.

We're on a bus! We're on a bus! Everybody look at us, look at us! Take a good hard look because we are on a bus.

Today is Give to the Max Day, and also an early peak in our Holiday Helpings campaign! So we would like to share some of our favorite Holiday Helpings stories with you. See below for a sad, sweet story about one of our dearly departed friends, Donna. If you like this story, spread the word — and ask people to support our Holiday Helpings campaign and Give to the Max page.

Donna was a Bread for the City client for many years. Donna suffered from debilitating mental illness that made it impossible for her to manage her own finances. Bread for the City served as her “representative payee”—which means that we received her Social Security benefits, and paid her rent and bills.

Donna was also a patient in our medical clinic. “Bread for the City saved my life, and more than once!” she told us all the time.

Over the years, in our care, Donna’s health gradually improved. And eventually, with our coaching, Donna was able to even start managing her own budget again. Through that process, we helped Donna find a home of her very own.

“It’s been so long since I had my own apartment,” Donna said at the time. “The first thing I did after I moved in was take a bubble bath. I can’t believe I have a bathtub!”

Being on her own was a new experience for Donna. She felt very alone at first. “But Holiday Helpings made a difference,” she told us last year.

“I brought home that giant turkey and I put it on the counter with everything else and thought to myself, ‘well I can’t eat all this alone!’ So I went down the hall and invited all my neighbors to join me. We cooked it together and shared a meal on Thanksgiving. And that’s how I made my new friends!”

Every Thanksgiving from then on, her new friends would come from all over the building to share a feast in her home. Thanks to Holiday Helpings, Donna experienced the simple joy of sharing a plentiful meal with friends and family.

Isn’t that what the holidays are all about? It’s why we do Holiday Helpings every year. Please join us.

This year, Donna passed from us due to heart failure. We were deeply saddened. But we like to think of what we accomplished together. Bread for the City helped Donna become safe, healthy, and independent, and Holiday Helpings gave her the means to celebrate.

And Donna gave back. She donated about ten dollars each month to Bread for the City. This was a big deal. Even with her Social Security benefits, after rent, utilities, transportation and food, Donna would hardly have any disposable income left at all. But even with just ten dollars, Donna could still give back to the community that gave her so much. Will you join us in providing for more families who will come to us in need?

Give to Bread for the City’s Holiday Helpings or (today only) at Give To the Max.

It’s here: Give to the Max Day!

If you haven’t heard about Give to the Max, well here we go: Non-profit organizations across the region are rallying together tomorrow, November 9th, to create a tremendous wave of support for important community causes.

We here at Bread for the City know the great strength of our community. So let’s show it. Join this movement by giving at Give to the Max.

Even better: once you’ve given, will you ask your friends and family to join you?  Bread for the City’s community is rallying here: http://give2max.razoo.com/Breadforthecity

So spread the word! Post on Facebook! Tweet it up! Email your office and your family and your friends! Let’s give all the way to the max!

Wow. We have great neighbors.  In our own backyard, a community is coming together and hosting a Holiday Helpings drive on our behalf. Foundry United Methodist Church (one of the five founding churches that created Bread for the City!) and Logan 14 Salon~Spa have joined forces to launch Neighbors Coming Together to Fight Hunger in the Nation’s Capital holiday donation drive. We’re stoked to be the benefiting organization. (See this post about it all on neighborhood blog Borderstan.)

This drive, which is going through Thanksgiving Day,  is looking to collect monetary donations and non-perishable food items (more information on the types of items here) as part of our Holiday Helpings campaign to provide over 9,000 DC families with a turkey and all the trimmings for the holidays.

Donations are being collected at Logan 14 Aveda Lifestyle Salon~Spa at 1314 B 14th St. NW during business hours through Wednesday, Nov. 23, and donations will also be collected during the Thanksgiving Day Worship Service at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 24 in Foundry’s chapel at 1500 16th St. NW.

This year’s Holiday Helpings campaign is off to a great start, with the highest number of Holiday Helpings community drives ever! (More than 50 so far.) And it’s not too late to start your own — it’s easy, fun, and we can walk you through every step of the way.

Below you’ll find all the information you need to start your drive. If you need more information, email Emily.

Do-It-Yourself Drive Kit

You can download this kit as a PDF, or click below to go to our sections!

• Why You Should host a Holiday Helpings Drive
• How to Get Started
• Hosting a Food Drive…
• How big is your drive?

Why host a Holiday Helpings drive?

• It’s fun! Successful organizers have turned past drives into competitions with other floors or offices with the winning team receiving a casual Friday or pizza party. Who doesn’t like pizza?
• It’s easy! We can help you every step of the way, and even create a customized online donation page for your organization.
• It makes a difference! You can help us ensure that thousands of vulnerable families can share a plentiful holiday feast in the sanctity of their own home.

Getting Started is Simple!

•  Get approval from the people in charge.
•  Set a goal dollar amount, or the number of families you hope to serve through your drive. Check with your employer to see if they’ll get the ball rolling by making the first gift, or matching employee contributions.
•  Select a timeline that works for your group. Two weeks is the best length for a successful drive. For example, “We will collect Holiday Helpings contributions from November 2 through November 14.”
•  Designate one person who will receive donations, to ensure they are not misplaced.
•  Communication! Keep everyone informed of how close you are to your goal.
•  Let Bread say “THANK YOU!” If you’re organizing a drive, please let us know! Contact Emily Schneider at eschneider@breadforthecity.org or 202.480.8908.

  Hosting a Food Drive as well?

• Decide what containers you will use to store and deliver the food. We encourage you to collect food in reusable bags that will then be given to clients.
• Specify the food items that you are collecting. We are specifically looking for low-sodium stuffing, canned cranberry sauce, and canned yams. We will accept any non-perishable food item, but we request healthy options.
• Drop off the donations. Our Centers are open Monday-Thursday from 9:00 am-5:00 pm and Friday from 9:00am-12:00pm. If you let us know you are coming, we can help you unload!

Northwest Center
1525 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Southeast Center
1640 Good Hope Road, SE
Washington, DC 20020

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to rising transportation costs, we are only able to pick up donations if the amount collected exceeds 25 reusable grocery bags.

   Drive Incentives:

Different communities will ‘drive’ at different scales, and we have something to offer everyone! See below.

Holiday Heroes (Sponsor 200 families by raising $5,770.00)

• Admission for 10 to 22^nd Annual Art with a Heart Reception and Silent Auction
• Enjoy BFC’s rooftop garden with your own garden party
• Certificate awarded for successful drive presented by Executive Director George Jones
• 10 BFC t-shirts (our new design!)
• Featured photo on our website
• Holiday Helpings stickers

Holiday Providers (Sponsor 100 families by raising $2,885.00)

• Enjoy BFC’s rooftop garden with your own garden party!
• Certificate awarded for successful drive presented by Executive Director George Jones
• 5 BFC t-shirts (our new design!)
• Featured photo on our website
• Holiday Helpings stickers

Holiday Helpers (Sponsor 50 families by raising $1,442.50)

• Certificate awarded for successful drive presented by Executive Director George Jones!
• 5 BFC t-shirts (our new design!)
• Featured photo on our website
• Holiday Helpings stickers

Cheerful Givers (Sponsor 20 families by raising $577.00)

• Certificate awarded for successful drive
• 3 BFC t-shirts (our new design!)
• Featured photo on our website
• Holiday Helpings stickers

Stocking Stuffers (Sponsor 10 families by raising $288.50)

• Acknowledgment on our website
• Holiday Helpings stickers