In celebration of its 25th Anniversary, Rent-A-Center, Inc. today donated 25 refrigerators to the North Texas Food Bank, to assist hunger-relief programs at several of its partnering Member Agencies.
Our Member Agencies were so excited to receive their brand-new refrigerators. This donation is important because we can provide our clients with even more fresh food sources knowing the food will be stored and distributed more efficiently.
Fresh food is very important to the Food Bank and we are extremely thankful for Rent-A-Center’s ongoing support in helping us pursue a hunger-free North Texas.
Group photo! Rent-A-Center’s President Mitch Fadel and NTFB’s Colleen Brinkmann stand with Member Agency recipients.
Gene Sims from Cedar Hill Food Pantry thanks Fadel for the donation.
And it’s off! The refrigerators were quickly out the door and loaded — ready to go to their new home!
Yesterday was a very exciting day for NTFB! We opened our first Dallas ISD Kids Cafe at Rice Elementary!
This cafe is so special because sadly many of the children at Rice do not have a nearby after school community center where they can hangout and enjoy dinner.
So, the students stay at the school and attend the Thriving Minds after-school program, which is organized by Big Thought.
NTFB is excited to jump in on the fun and partner with Big Thought by providing delicious dinners for the students.
Take a look at the grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony!
This site will serve over 100 children! Just imagine children enjoying chicken fajitas or spaghetti for dinner…. Yum!
We want to say thank you to our sponsors Big Thought & Chase for making this program possible.
Check back in a few days for more photos from this celebratory event!!
Recently I attended a Cooking Matters class that was specifically tailored for low-income senior citizens at the Lewisville Senior Activity Center. For those of you who don’t know what Cooking Matters is, I’ll sum it up: Cooking Matters empowers families with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to prepare healthy and affordable meals.
Healthy and affordable is exactly what the seniors learned in today’s class. An onsite volunteer health expert, Carolyn Hagen, explained to me that the class is geared to help seniors get excited about cooking healthy. Hagen says she often hears from the seniors, “it’s just me!”
“Many of the seniors tell me that they now cook just for one,” Hagen said. “This class gives seniors a chance to interact with others and encourages them to keep cooking healthy foods, especially when it’s easy and convenient to eat unhealthy foods like fast food. “
To start the session off, Hagen went over some “tips” on ways to improve their health. Here’s a few:
Hagen emphasized the importance of planning ahead, especially when it comes to eating healthy.
She encouraged the class to grow their own herbs – fresh herbs make a meal taste amazing.
She also spoke on a “hot topic”… sodium! Hagen strongly recommended reducing the amount of salt intake in a meal. She suggested using salt substitutions like using garlic or chili powder AND always taste the food before adding additional salt to your meal.
After learning a few cooking tips, the seniors headed over to the cooking station where Chef Morris Salerno from The Grotto hosted a cooking demonstration.
Chef Morris showed the group how to make homemade pizza dough and pizza sauce, and fresh baked mozzarella sticks.
The recipes were simple, the food tasted great, and the best part – everything was healthy! This class proved that you can cook light and still stay on budget. It doesn’t get much better than this!
The before….
… and now the end result! (Yes, I had a bite and it was YUM!)
Kroger and Jason Terry, also known as the JET, of the Dallas Mavericks recently teamed up to fight child hunger!
For each $100 donation to the Food Bank through the Give & Go Raffle promotion donors were entered into a raffle to meet the JET!
Can you guess how much was raised through the raffle? $31,000! This donation will support NTFB’s Food 4 Kids program. This means 6,200 children will receive a backpack on Friday filled with healthy and kid-friendly food to have over the weekend.
On behalf of the Food Bank, thank you to all our donors, Kroger, the Dallas Mavericks, and Jason Terry! Take a look at the photos from the check presentation!!
The North Texas Food Bank is the proud recipient of Corner Bakery Cafe’s Holiday Baked Goods and Gift Cards Contest! Every holiday season Corner Bakery Cafe holds a contest between all cafes and this year they decided to reward the winning cafe with the opportunity to provide a donation to a local charity that is dedicated to ending hunger.
Fortunately, Share Our Strength, a supporter since 1988, recommended that the Corner Bakery Cafe at Highland Village in Lewisville graciously donate to the North Texas Food Bank! A $500.00 check was presented February 15, 2011.
Thank you Corner Bakery! Your support is invaluable to the North Texas Food Bank. By stepping forward in your commitment to the community, your dollars are supporting our mission to pursue a hunger-free community.
Today Walmart employees gathered to give back to the North Texas Food Bank!Along with having fun by volunteering in the Warehouse, employees and city council representatives gathered as Walmart unveiled their latest donation – a new refrigerated truck!
This generous donation by Walmart means so much to NTFB and the community. The truck supports our Retail Pickup Program, which goes to grocery stores to pick up read-to-eat products like bakery items, produce and protein items. Or, what we like to call the “caviar” for food banking business!
In addition to today’s donation, Walmart has been faithful in their giving to NTFB. In fact, in 2010 alone, Walmart and Sam’s Club store locations in our area have donated 2.3 million pounds of food.
With gratitude, thank you Walmart for passionately pursuing a hunger-free community and thank you for your partnership!
(left to right)
Greg Jenkins; Dallas City Councilmember Linda Koop, District 11; Carrie Strecker; Coleman Taylor; Walmart’s Director of Compliance Eric Bushnell; Dallas City Councilmember Delia Jasso, District 1; Dallas City Councilmember Ron Natinsky, District 12; NTFB’s Colleen Brinkmann.
Gatorade is always ready to give back—to the athlete and the spectator of the recent Big Game held here in Dallas, and also to those in the community who might need a helping hand.
Recently, PepsiCo donated pallets of a variety of Gatorade drinks to the North Texas Food Bank. Not only does the Gatorade keep a person hydrated, it also has loads of electrolytes, which provides energy to the body.
Thank you PepsiCo for helping our community! And a BIG thank you to Heidi Murray from The Foundation for Women’s Resources for organizing this donation!
