How can we improve?

Hi, this is Lynn. I've been volunteering at the Beth Day Memorial Food Pantry for about 2 years now, mostly assisting at the registration table and welcoming those that come through our doors. It's an honor and a blessing to be a part of this ministry.

This past Saturday at the food pantry was similar to most, there were some complaints about the pre-signup list from a few folks, which seems to be a repeat issue here lately. Aaron has come up with a fix that will hopefully solve this problem, one of the volunteers will go out at 10:00 to get those waiting signed up on the list. Hopefully with this in place we'll have fewer complaints in this area.

I've pondered this week over this issue and wondered what other issues or complaints the folks that come to our food pantry may have. This past Saturday was the last food pantry of 2008, what can we do in 2009 to make this ministry more impactful for the Lord and better serve our community?

So I thought, why not do a survey? I would love to know how many people come to the Beth Day Memorial Food Pantry for the prayer as much as the food, what do they take away from it, what other food pantry's do they get food from each month and how often, and also what complaints people might have.

The Lord has reminded me of James 1:5 this year time and time again. If we simply ask for wisdom then God will give it to us. Lord, give us wisdom how to better serve you in this ministry. To you, Lord, be all honor and glory and power. Amen.

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Blessings to each of you!

This is an interesting group

Share our Strength is nationwide. Locally, they support the Georgia Citizens Coalition on Hunger in Atlanta. Georgia Citizens Coalition on Hunger expanded its outdoor farmers market to six statewide. These markets provide more than 2,000 low-income families with fresh produce, some of it grown in the Coalition’s own inner-city community garden. Share our Strength focuses on three primary areas:

• Increase access to public and private programs that provide food to children and their families.
• Strengthen community resources that connect children to healthy food.
• Improve families’ knowledge about available programs and how to get the most from limited resources.

Share!

We would love to hear about your experiences at the food pantry. Please share any stories, prayer requests, ideas, etc. by posting a comment (no names except your own please!) below.

Sharing the Bread of Life

I've been thinking a lot about how to get the people at our food pantry more nutritious food. One idea I've been pursuing was linking up with Real Bread Ministry which wants to help get fresh bread to food pantries.
Sue Becker asked me to put my ideas together, so I did.
She has such a great network of bread makers in this area, so I thought why not each person who makes bread make one loaf for the hungry and freeze it, then donate to their local food pantry.

Hopefully that will resonate with her. I often have more dough, and more bread than we can use and freeze the extra. But can't make 60 loaves extra every two weeks--financial and kitchen-wise.

Also trying to find ways to use some of the beans and grains I have to package into small quantities to make lentil soup, etc. Don't know if anyone noticed the bags of millet !! People probably wondered what the heck is this . . .
need to label, give directions on it if it's something they might not be familiar with.
Anyway . . . let me know if you have any ideas!
http://www.breadbeckers.com she's willing to give supplies at cost for food pantry baking . . .


Shelly
Now accepting food donations for Beth Day Memorial Food Pantry
http://www.chem-dry.net/allstar.ga

How much does it cost?

There is an interesting post over at Get Rich Slowly about the cost of food.

Could You Eat Healthfully on One Dollar a Day?


Check out the link in the article for the one dollar diet project.

The hungry in the news

For The Hungry, A Different Kind Of Takeout

Ideas for grocery store savings

Here are some tips you can use to purchase items for the food pantry- or save money on your own grocery bill!

Stephanie Nelson of Atlanta has created a great website that you can use to compare grocery ad prices and coupon deals, as well as print additional coupons. Read about her on oprah.com or watch this video to learn how to save money at the grocery store!

Kroger, Publix, and Walmart also post weekly ads online if you do not receive the newspaper. If you haven't tried Aldi, you may want to check it out. The church purchases items in quantity from this merchant for the food pantry and other events.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Beth Day Memorial Food Pantry blog for those interested in keeping up with happenings at the food pantry. Feel free to post your own suggestions, ideas, comments, etc.