December 2024 Holiday Newsletter

Community Coming Together Around Food

DECEMBER 2024 HOLIDAY NEWSLETTER  Hello AIO supporter and advocate,  As 2024 ends I send a heartfelt thanks to all of you. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am for your trust and support in all we do to help our neighbors eliminate the angst of food insecurity. Whether a member, donor, volunteer, food supplier, business sponsor, or a supportive community member, you make it happen with your generous gifts of time and talent, good humor and passion. Thank you. Three recent stories illustrate the sentiment and support of many: A supporter came into the market with a $100 bill and handed it to me. He told me that a business colleague of his gave it to him and said that it wasn’t for him personally, instead he was to give it to a community non-profit organization. In turn he was encouraged to give $100 of his to someone else for the same purpose. We were the fortunate benefactors of this thoughtful, pay-it-forward chain. One our long time members, overheard us a few months back talking about needing help stocking shelves. He said, “I’m no spring chicken, but I can help.” Since then, he arrives before 8am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to help from 8-10. Last week, he came and was very apologetic, “I’m so sorry, but I won’t be here next Monday. I have some medical tests and I tried to get them scheduled on a different day, but they only conduct them at that time. I feel badly because I really love coming and helping out.” We’re a lot more than just a place where people get a few bags of groceries. We had a school class in the market the other day to learn about AIO. I gave a short introductory tour and asked the question, “who knows what food insecurity means?” A young ten-ish year old raised his hand and said, “it’s when people don’t have enough food, like my family.” The lump that formed in my throat stayed with me for awhile that afternoon. Thank you and may you enjoy the peace of the holiday season with those you love. Alan Kearl Executive Director, AIO Food & Energy Assistance alan@aiofoodpantry.org  5th ANNUAL FILL THE STRAND: Monday, January 20, 2025 9:00-2:00 Monday, January 20, 2025 marks our 5th Annual Fill the Strand event! Fill the Strand has become a critical food and fundraiser to help AIO provide services during the most challenging time of the year. In its first four years the event has raised $125,000 to support AIO's programs. We invite the community to gather food, put it in a bag, and bring it to the Strand Theatre in Rockland on Monday, January 20 (snow date is Mon, Jan 27). Bags of food will be placed on the seats in the theater, thus “filling the Strand”. In lieu of a bag of food, you can also "sponsor" a seat with your donation of $35, the equivalent of an average bag of food.  NEW this year:  in early January you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a scavenger hunt of food at WalMart, Shaws and Hannaford-Rockland. We hope this will be a fun way to gather food AIO needs while talking to children about food insecurity and providing them with an opportunity to learn about community service. How can you help?  - Help us spread the word! You can download the event poster at aiofoodpantry.org/strand - Consider holding a food drive amongst family, friends or colleagues. Most needed items include: sauces, canned goods, toilet paper, personal care products, pasta, coffee & tea. - If you are you a service organization or church congregation that would like to hold a food/fundraiser please let us know. We will gladly provide you with a collection box. Contact Alan at alan@aiofoodpantry.org or 207-596-1043 to discuss ways you'd like to be involved. Visit the Fill the Strand event page Snow date: Monday, January 27. Sponsor a seat and help Fill the Strand! YEAR END ANNUAL APPEAL AIO's Annual Appeal is underway. People often ask, “Where does your funding come from?” The answer is that most of our annual budget comes from individual and business donations, with 1/3 of our budget being raised through our annual appeal. We are blessed to live in a very supportive community and to date we have raised about 70% of our $330,000 goal. THANK YOU to everyone who has given so generously thus far. We are most appreciative.  Despite the many holiday distractions, if you haven’t already, will you consider helping us?  You can donate online via the button below, mail a check, or visit our website to learn about other ways to give. THANK YOU! Donate Today! FOOD TRANSPORT VAN CELEBRATES A "WRAP" Starting in late 2023, a fundraising effort was initiated to purchase a food transportation van. Through a combination of numerous individuals, foundations and businesses we were successful in raising the funds and purchased a new van in September.  While finalizing the van artwork and recruiting business supporters to help fund the operating costs, we have put the van to good use. We have already made nearly 20 trips to Good Shepherd and procured about 60,000 pounds of food. We now use the van weekly to deliver school meals and make trips to Vinalhaven with food for island residents and school children there. We held the unveiling of the van wrap with a community focused event on Friday, December 13th. We are looking for volunteers to help load and unload and drive the van. If you’re interested in helping please contact Keisha, keisha@aiofoodpantry.org.  MARKET GROWTH & EXTENDED HOURS! With more than 350 households (about 800 household members) coming to the market each week and up to about 700 school children receiving food for meals each week, we are bursting at the seams. We’ve taken several steps through the fall to meet this increased demand: We refurbished the old AIO market (now referred to as “The AIO Annex”) next door and moved the Weekend School Meals program there. This move created about 15% more space in the warehouse and improves movement and logistics We have added days and hours to the open market schedule. The new schedule is:  Monday and Wednesday 10am - 6pm Friday 10am -1pm extended hours! Saturday 10am -1pm new day! COMING IN 2025: ORDER AHEAD & HOME DELIVERY We know that a key constituency in the community that needs our help are those with mobility limitations and those who don’t have reliable transportation to get to AIO. This is our next big opportunity to reach more people who need our help and in the new year we will begin reaching out to these neighbors with an online ordering platform. We’ll rely on volunteers to pick and pack orders and other volunteers to deliver orders to homes.  This will be challenging, but an exciting new opportunity. THANKSGIVING BOXES WOW!  What a whirlwind. We are so grateful to everyone who came together to make our Thanksgiving distribution plentiful- whether through your donation of food or your time. THANK YOU. When all was said and done we distributed to about 235 households boxes of Thanksgiving themed food or turkeys, and a $15 Hannaford gift card. In all we distributed more than 3,000 pounds of food. A BIG thank you to the more than 50 volunteers who sorted, assembled and distributed the food and to the more than 20 businesses and schools who provided the food. We are grateful to a very special donor who provided 200 of the gift cards. So many gave of their time and funds to help the community with food at this time.  Thank you.  AIO IN THE COMMUNITY September: Christina Breen, Senator Angus King’s mid-coast representative toured AIO and discussed our needs. September & October:  AIO participated in the Rockland Sunday Stroll with pressed cider November: - Food Safety presentations at Camden Rockport Elementary School - AIO becomes a DASH stop in a three month test of rider interest - AIO participates in a panel discussion with New Hope Midcoast and Homeworthy on Creating Communities of Compassion December: AIO participates in the annual Gingerbread contest sponsored by United Midcoast Charities AIO TURNS 35 IN MAY 2025! AIO will be celebrating the big 35 in May 2025. That’s right, in May of 1990, the Area Interfaith Outreach (AIO) was established as a food pantry when six community churches recognized a need amongst their members. People served in a week could be counted on two hands. Now, nearly 35 years later the efforts of so many and their vision has led to the AIO of today. We’ve already begun planning a series of events and recollections to remember and honor all who have worked hard to help the community.  Stay tuned for more. AIO Food and Energy Assistance Mailing Address:    ​P.O. Box 113, Rockland, ME  04841 Location:  1A Gordon Drive, Rockland, ME 04841       Phone:    (207) 596-1043 Email:   email@aiofoodpantry.org​​ Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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