Food For Thought

Food For Thought!

We are very happy to announce that we have received the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organization’s Nonprofit Excellence Award!    

Applicants throughout the state competed regionally in two categories:  small to mid-size (less than $1 million budget) and large (greater than $1 million budget).  Honors were then divided amongst Northern, Central and Southern regions. Food For Thought received the Northern Region Small to Mid-Size award. 

Our mobile pantry serves multiple cities and neighborhoods throughout Lucas County by providing three to four bags of groceries to    low-income families.  The 17-foot trailer (and our new SUV!) stop at four regular locations each month:  Monclova Community Center, Lake Township Fire Department, NuVizion Church and Cedar Creek Church-Toledo Campus.  We cannot thank our partners at these locations enough for providing volunteers, space and resources to provide food and relationships to their neighbors.

We also participate in the CARE (Community Asset and Resource Engagement) Team, created by Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak, United Way of Greater Toledo, Lucas County Job and Family Services and other agencies, to provide a variety of services to different neighborhoods each month.

We met with Senator Teresa Fedor and were announced during a Point of Personal Privilege at the Ohio Senate Session!  Senator Fedor expressed her appreciation for our efforts. 

Last but certainly not least, our friends and partners at Toledo Seagate Food Bank were also nominated and received recognition as a finalist for the Northern Region Large Group Award.  Our program could not exist without their generous food donations each month.  Congratulations to their wonderful team and volunteers for the nomination.

Thank you again to all of our volunteers, sponsors, donors, partners and everyone else that makes it possible for us to develop and foster relationships with those we serve.  We are all winners because of you!

We are honored to announce that we are a finalist for the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations’ Nonprofit Excellence Award.  Across the state, nonprofits are nominated in 2 different categories (small to mid-size or large) in 3 regions (North, Central, and South) for a specific program or project.  The program we chose to feature is our Mobile Pantry, which brings emergency grocery assistance to neighborhoods in need five times per month.  Through this program, we feed approximately 400-500 families per month with the help of our partners, who make this possible.

We would like to take a few moments to thank these site partners for their help in continuing this amazing program:

• Monclova Community Center
• Lake Township Fire Department (and the Firebelles)
• CedarCreek Toledo Campus
• Nu-Vizion Church
• Lucas County CARE Team

And again…thanks to YOU, our amazing volunteers and donors, whose dedication keeps us going.

Also, a great big congratulations to Toledo Seagate Food Bank, who is also a finalist!  We are proud to be a partner of Seagate, who provides us with FREE food to distribute through our pantries.  Congratulations and Good Luck!

For more information on these awards, please visit www.oano.org.

Empty out those piggy banks!  Join us in supporting Food For Thought by participating in Penny Wars and collecting coins for a cause.  We tried it in November when we discovered that Michigan fans are much more generous than Ohio State fans.  Let’s see which Super Bowl team will win this time. 

It’s healthy competition to help our brothers and sisters in need.

 
 
The concept is very simple:

You can compete as individuals or teams.
Collect pennies (or nickels, dimes, quarters, Susan B. Anthony’s) in decorated containers.
The contest can last as long as you like – one day to one month.
At the end of the contest, whoever collects the most money wins.

There is one catch–Participants can deposit paper money into the opposing team’s container which negates the corresponding coins in that jar.  In other words, if I put one dollar into team A’s container, one dollar is subtracted from their coinage total.

When we had the OSU/UM penny wars at my office, the dollar bills were flying as competitors were trying to take down their opponent’s totals. 

Sounds like fun, huh?

If you’re interested, join us by sending an e-mail, and let us know about your participation.  Take lots of pictures and e-mail them to us for inclusion on our Facebook  page.

Here’s a handy flyer to distribute to all your family and friends to initiate their own penny wars program.

May the best team win!