COMMUNITY FOOD NETWORK VOLUNTEERS MAKE A
DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY!
For more than two decades, USA
WEEKEND and Points of Light have joined together to sponsor Make A
Difference Day, the largest national day
of community service. Points of Light leads thousands of projects each year
from coast to coast involving corporations, communities, nonprofit
organizations, entire states and individuals.
Make A Difference Day is
celebrated annually on the fourth Saturday in October and connects people with opportunities to serve, increases
the strength of communities and promotes civic engagement.
The nationwide undertaking
includes revitalizing community centers, rehabilitating parks, improving
low-income homes, creating community art projects, mentoring, serving meals,
developing community gardens and much more.
Here in Montcalm & Ionia
Counties we will celebrate Make A Difference Day by hosting the Community Food
Network's Harvest Celebration recognizing all the wonderful volunteers who work
in community gardens, food pantries, soup kitchens, and conduct food drives and
healthy eating educational classes in our community.
The Challenge: Across
the Feeding America network of over 63,000 agencies, 66 percent of pantries, 41
percent of kitchen programs, and 11 percent of shelter programs have no paid
staff, relying entirely on volunteers.
The Need: One hundred percent of food banks responding
to a Feeding America survey reported increases in demand for emergency food
assistance over the last year. Demand for emergency food assistance
increased at a rate ranging from 28.6% - 37.7%
Seventy-two percent of food banks do not feel as though they
are able to adequately meet the needs of their communities without adjusting
the amount of food distributed. Community Gardens help to fill the need by
growing food locally, teaching community members how to grow their own food,
and encourage local farms to give excess produce to local pantries. By coming
together to address the problems we all face, we are building a stronger, more
vibrant community.
For more information regarding
Make A Difference Day events, please visit
Get CONNECTED! or the
Community Food Network Blog.
Mini-Drive Workshop
The Community Food Network is proud to be the coordinating agency
on the 5 Annual County-Wide Food Drive, originally begun by WION Radio!
Donations will be collected throughout Ionia County to support not for profit
organizations helping families in Ionia County.
There will be a Mini-Drive
Kick-Off on October 21st at the Ionia Co Intermediate School District Admin
Building from 4-7pm.
Mini-Drive hosts are encouraged to stop in to pick up supplies,
pick up marketing materials, and chat with the Food Drive Committee.
Organizations and businesses are encouraged to host a mini-drive at their
location with all donations coming together at the Ionia Intermediate School
District on November 22nd where they will be sorted by volunteers.
Mini-drives can take place any time between Make A Difference Day on
October 26th to National Family Volunteer Day on November 22nd.
Mini-Drives Must
Include:
- Placing a
Collections Container at your business.
- Displaying
Community Food Network print materials.
- Drop off
your collected donations at the Ionia ISD on Friday, November 22nd.
Volunteers Needed
To help set up stations at the Mini-Drive Workshop! Organizations
hosting mini-drives will need help at each station completing tasks. One
of the biggest stations will be the supply station where Organizations can pick
up collection boxes, marketing materials and additional supplies.
We will need a wide variety of
collection boxes! If you have any to donate, please drop them off at the
Ionia ISD on October 21st after 3pm!
Community Food Network Harvest Celebration
As the Community Food Network celebrates 5 years of community
involvement, we want say THANK YOU to each and every one of our
volunteers! Please join us for the
Harvest Celebration and mingle with other VOLUNTEERS who are having an impact
in our community!
5 PM -
VOLUNTEER POTLUCK!
Bring
your favorite Harvest Recipe as a dish to share! You can also bring a recipe
card for our special Harvest Section that will be included in the 2014
Cookbook!
6 PM
- HARVEST WORKSHOPS!
7 PM - VOLUNTEER AWARDS!