The River Fund; together we make a difference!
What a gorgeous day for a health fair!!! Felisha and I spent the day with Frendy from The Fresh Air Fund in Cambria Heights. The event was sponsored by The Haitian American United for Progress Inc. and we were invited by our friends at Amerigroup/Health-Plus.
Sun was shining quite warmly…we just needed lounge chairs and pina coladas. Deep sigh…
The balloon columns we had inside the office, for our Fresh Air Fund event, were quickly killed by Swami once the event was over.
Yes, the deed was done outside. He wanted to pluck my last nerve by popping them inside the office. But I think I ahscared him with my eeevil look. Please check out his expression. Swami really enjoyed himself and popped those buggers in record time. (Has he been watching those “Chuckie” movies?)
Came in this morning to find the outside balloons gone. Hmmm… Oh look…the evidence of the busted buggers is in the kitchen trash can. When confronted, Swami and Otto admitted that they wanted to leave them on my desk…for ME to pop. I was not amused.
Fresh Air Fund Sign-Up Event
We hosted a mini sign-up event for The Fresh Air Fund this week. Our friends and partners at Amerigroup donated the balloons and both Liz and Gina from The Fresh Air Fund attended. The Executive Director, Jenny, even stopped by to say a quick hello. Of course it was successful! We’re talking FREE camp! And we had cookies.
We’re attending a health fair in Cambria Heights tomorrow; one of its sponsors is Amerigroup. (They assist our clients in obtaining Medicare/Medicaid.) We’ll have a table…Shirley and Felisha will be telling folks about the services we offer and I’ll be “selling” The Fresh Air Fund…And they call this work?
OK, so Coy stopped by yesterday and told me that one of her friends asked if we were now housing leprechauns. She didn’t get the comment until she saw the green and white balloons on our porch. The River Fund Card identifies an individual as male/female/transgender or intersexed; we are NOT including leprechaun…not yet anyway.
Yeah…so we feed the hungry; give people groceries every Saturday and emergency food whenever needed. And we hook them up with health insurance, free cellphones, food stamps and loads of other benefits. Yup, we have Urban Justice come in twice/month for free legal consultations and we just finished with our free tax return processing. I signed 5 kids up for The Fresh Air Fund yesterday. Parker and Raj are at Rufus King Park doling out food products as they do every first and third Tuesday of the month. I can keep going…we do fabulous work…
And…
I saw a robin on our front lawn last Friday.
icing on the cake.
Wanted to share the following with you…(We’re the anchor site for Richmond Hill; TEN – Tiered Engagement Network)
Dear TEN Network,
I have wonderful news to share with you. Our Tiered Network Engagement (TEN) program has won the 2013 Innovation Award from Feeding America, besting 200 other food banks! All of us at Food Bank For New York City are extremely proud of this honor, which recognizes TEN as a national model of innovation, creativity and efficiency. This accolade is an acknowledgement of TEN’s ability to create robust and far-reaching neighborhood networks within communities that not only work to fight hunger, but also to reduce poverty and increase access to vital benefits. More specifically, we were recognized for making the strongest advance in a short amount of time and for the successful integration of our campus pantries, tax program and disaster response into TEN.
This is a proud moment for all of us, but I want to pay special thanks to you. We could not have achieved this honor without your hard work and commitment. You took a leap of faith in becoming a part of TEN. As a new, yet unproven approach to fighting hunger, and more broadly poverty, TEN needed agencies willing to “go all in.” You did that. Food Bank provided the support, but you—our valued network—provided the leadership. It was the power of all of us working together—with you leading the way, doing the on-the-ground, one-on-one work within your communities—that led to this award. While we all celebrate this achievement, the praise truly belongs with you. You are the linchpin that makes TEN work. What’s more, your dedication to continuing your participation in TEN proves how deserving you are of Feeding America’s recognition. We know that you see 2013 as an opportunity to take ownership of your own networks and build upon the groundwork we have laid, and we’re looking forward to continuing to support you in those efforts.
But we can’t rest on our laurels. As we savor this award, let’s also use it as an incentive to push harder. Let’s use it as motivation to do even more. In order to live up to the meaning of this award, we must challenge ourselves to continue innovating. We do that through partnerships: Agencies aligning with each other and Food Bank aligning with all of you. By deepening our partnerships—and creating new ones—we’ll open new avenues to better serve our communities.
Again, thank you for your continued commitment to this effort, and all that you do.
Sincerely,
Dominique R. Jones
Chief Programs Officer
Food Bank For New York City
HELP me mama! OK, so not everyone likes the Easter Bunny!
Where does the time go…
We hosted another “Say Yes to Fruits and Veggies” today. Marlo prepared a really easy recipe today for a cranberry fruit salad and it was yummy, of course!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Makes 12 servings.
Registration for The Fresh Air Fund is starting to pick up…I’m mailing 3 completed applications in today. Checked the website under our account and so far 17 kids are being processed for either camp or friendly town. I have 19 applications that I’m holding that are waiting for the kids’ medical forms. YAY!
Our new office is coming along…Swami put 3 executive chairs together today. He was going to charge us $25 each to do so…Hey, fundraising is fundraising!
I’m still having Twilight Zone moments…The can opener strolled from the cupboard to a drawer that I didn’t even know existed. The cutlery wandered from on top of the microwave to inside the cupboard. Our dishtowel is now hanging from a new magnetic rack on the frig. AND the new bathroom…wow…it belongs in House Beautiful. Every day something new appears…a vase on the floor (in addition to the other vase already in there – which now also contains a plant)…then a rather tall plant in the vase…lovely orange striped throw rugs to match the fluffy orange towels that I’m going to use as a pillow when I take a snooze in there.
I’m taking a proposal writing class tomorrow at City Harvest University (CHU). Am I the only one who sees the humor in going to CHU while working in a food pantry?
rftogether 