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WILLING HANDS · Willing Hands volunteers and Cedar Circle Farm interns Tom McQuade and Ronel...
Transcript of WILLING HANDS · Willing Hands volunteers and Cedar Circle Farm interns Tom McQuade and Ronel...
We know that you hate to see
nutritious food go to waste. And we
know that you are saddened by the
fact that many of our neighbors here
in the Upper Valley struggle to
provide good food for their families.
That‟s why so many of you have
stepped up to help Willing Hands.
Whether you volunteer to work in
the Willing Hands Farm Project as a
gardener or a gleaner, or volunteer to
drive the delivery route on Sundays,
or help with our cooking classes, or
make a cash donation, or donate
surplus from your grocery store,
bakery, farm, dairy, or orchard, or
work at one of our recipient organiza-
tions to help us distribute food to
those who need it most – you are an
essential member of the Willing
Hands community. By our estimation
there are more than a thousand of us.
The other day, waiting at the
dentist‟s office, I was chatting about
WILLING HANDS DELIVE RS. . .
A Few Highlights:
More than 60 individuals volunteered 800 hours to sow, tend, and harvest crops in the Willing Hands Garden. The fruits of their labor yielded over 7,200 lbs. of
farm-fresh organic produce for immediate delivery to our neighbors in need.
Willing Hands has entered a whole new domain! Please visit our recently
revised website at our new web address: www.willinghands.org While you’re
there, why not check our Facebook page and become our “friend”.
Sunday driver volunteer Corky Scott told us, ”I had a great dialog with Zoey,
the little girl who always wants a peach, if we have one. Well it turns out she also LOVES broccoli! She asked if I had any broccoli...looked at a box that we
had not put out yet and spotted some... it was a heart-warming experience, as
always...”
keep ing wholesome food from going to wast e
and de l ivering i t to our neighbors in need
WILLING HANDS
Linda Boyce and her granddaughter Zoey
after making selections from a Willing Hands delivery
FALL 2011
our work when the hygienist came
into the room and said that she loved
Willing Hands – that a while back her
family was going through tough times
and was grateful to receive our fresh
fruits and vegetables. The dentist
overheard our conversation, went to
his desk and wrote out a check to
Willing Hands!
Last winter, a young man had been
laid off and was struggling to make
ends meet. He turned to The Haven
for assistance and was amazed by the
quality and quantity of fresh produce
available at their food shelf. Willing
Hands delivers about 1250 pounds to
The Haven every week. Turns out,
that young man was one of the help-
ers at our gleanings this fall. He said
he appreciated the opportunity to be
able to give back.
Giving back. Isn‟t that what makes
the world go „round?
Willing Hands - a thousand of us
giving back 360 days of the year.
The Numbers:
Bowls handmade by
volunteers for the
Giving Bowls Project
Heads of Lettuce
harvested from the
Willing Hands organic
vegetable garden
700
1,058
Pounds of apples
gleaned by 30
volunteers in 75
minutes
1,580
WILLING HANDS’ BOUNT IFUL GLEANING
WILLING HANDS’ BOUNT IFUL GARDEN
The following is an excerpt from an
email that Willing Hands board
member and garden coordinator,
Andrea Colgan, sent to our garden
volunteers at the end of the summer:
“We dug the rest of the potatoes and
carrots Tuesday which marks the
end of our regular-scheduled work
sessions. There is a row of winter
squash plus a few melons, green
peppers, and fall lettuce left, but
otherwise everything else has been
harvested. It is looking a little
forlorn compared to that weed-free
masterpiece of a garden that we had
in July.
What an amazing summer! We grew
more, learned more, laughed more
than ever before. How about those
artichokes??? Thank you to all for
your hard work, good cheer,
knowledge sharing, and general
willingness to be a Willing Hand.
Special thanks goes to our Master of
the Garden, Supreme Intern, and
All-Around Good Guy, Tom
McQuade, who led us through heat
and hurricanes to produce such a
bountiful crop… we logged around
800 hours of volunteer labor. I could-
n't be more proud of the work we
did…”
With just 2 work sessions per week,
Master Gardeners and beginner
gardeners, young and old, joined us at
our bi-weekly work sessions to seed,
weed, and harvest our organic garden
in East Thetford. Working thirty-five
300‟ rows, with the supervision of
experts from Cedar Circle Farm, we
ultimately harvested tons of farm-
fresh organic vegetables for our
recipients.
To quote Andrea again, “How hard
is it to grow 6,000 pounds of organic
produce? Actually, it is easy if you
have 60 pairs of willing hands!”
Willing Hands / United Way
“Day of Caring“ apple gleaning
at Whitman Brook Orchard
These volunteers “Care”
rain or shine!
Willing Hands volunteers and
Cedar Circle Farm interns Tom
McQuade and Ronel Lefranc.
Ronel is a student from Haiti,
studying sustainable agronomy.
Local growers invite Willing Hands into their orchards and fields to glean surplus crops. In 2010, volunteers gleaned 22,000 pounds of local crops. We‟re still at it this year! Special thanks to Edgewater Farm, Riverview Farm, and Whitman Brook Orchard for making available literally tons of prime quality, fresh produce to our eager, cheerful and hard-working gleaners!
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
Willing Hands is grateful to the Marion Cross School
for the proceeds from their hunger awareness project,
“Giving Bowls”. Students, staff, parents and potters
made hundreds of cheerfully glazed clay bowls that
participants filled with donations of soup from local
restaurants. Bread was baked by students with the help
of King Arthur Flours‟ Life Skills program. Event leader
and art teacher, Tracy Smith cites John Lennon‟s lyrics,
“Imagine no possessions / I wonder if you can / No need
for greed or hunger / A brotherhood of man / Imagine all
the people / Sharing all the world…”
The VA Hospital has won two national awards for the
“Farmer‟s Market” that they have created for veterans in
their diabetes clinic with produce from Willing Hands.
As part of their “Dream Team” project, Dartmouth
undergrads are teaming up with medical students and
Willing Hands to share their enthusiasm for cooking
nutritious meals with the kids at Northwoods family
housing in White River Junction.
Two of our food donors sustained major storm damage
this summer. Hurricane Flats Farm has always given
generously to Willing Hands when we have stopped by
their booth on Saturdays at the close of the Norwich
Farmers‟ Market. La Panciata bakery has provided us
with bread twice every week, which adds up to literally
tons every year. We are most grateful for their
generosity and wish them well in their recovery.
Yes, I want to help Willing Hands reduce hunger in the Upper Valley. Enclosed is my contribution of: __$30 to cover the cost of delivering just over 100 pounds of nutritious food
__$100 to cover the cost of delivering 8 big boxes brimming with nutritious food __$290 to cover the cost of delivering 1,000 pounds: an entire day of deliveries!
P.O. Box 172 Lebanon, NH 03766
802-698-0265
Name___________________________________________
Address_________________________________________
City _______________________State ____ Zip_________
I’m interested in volunteering to help Willing Hands with:
___ The Farm Project ___ Nutrition Education ___ Sunday Driving ___ Committee Work
Please contact me at this phone number: _________________ or this email address: _________________________
105
The Giving Bowls
Got Eggs? West Lebanon Feed and Supply
and their customers have donated
approximately 25,000 farm-fresh eggs to
Willing Hands through their ingenious
program, “Share The Harvest” !!!
Willing Hands is proud to be part of the
“Farm 2 Plate Network” - a statewide
collaboration working to increase
economic development in Vermont‟s
farm and food sector, and working to
improve access to healthy foods for all
Vermonters.
COLLABORATIONS ARE K EY TO OUR SUCCESS Willing Hands Extends Special Thanks To Our Recipient Organizations
(every week, year ’round, making sure that the food we deliver goes to the folks who need it most)
In New Hampshire: Child & Family Services Claremont Manor Apartments Claremont Soup Kitchen Cornish Food Pantry Earl Bourdon Center First Baptist Church of Lebanon Good Folks Pantry Green Mtn Childcare Centers Hannah House Headrest HIV/HCV Resource Center Lebanon Towers Listen Community Services Maple Manor Mascoma Senior Center Next Step Open Hands Mission Orford Senior Center Pathways Roger‟s House Romano Circle family housing Southwest Community Services Stepping Stones Students Fighting Hunger United Methodist Church of Enfield Upper Valley Hostel Upper Valley Senior Center
BEHIND THE SCENES: Board of Directors:
Jack Lyons - President
Peter Carter - Vice President
Terry Lyons - Secretary
Mark Lindberg - Treasurer
Will Allen
Andrea Colgan
Carolyn Frye
Susan Gault
Tom Ketteridge
Amy Miller
Jay Van Arman
Executive Director:
Heather Bagley
Drivers:
Chuck Egner
Christy Parker
Jim McCracken
Mark Pennell (Substitute: Chico Eastridge)
Contact: Us: [email protected]
802-698-0265
Fall Gleanings
Wellspring Community Dinner & Foodshelf West Central Behavioral Health WIC - Women‟s Health Resource Center
In Vermont: Bugbee Senior Center Fairlee Food District Family Place Graystone Village Hillcrest Manor Hollow Drive family housing Journey Church Foodshelf Junction Teen Center Northwoods family housing Norwich Senior Housing Olde Windsor Village Overlook Housing Praise Chapel Foodshelf Red Door Community Meal Royalton Senior Center Saint Francis of Assisi Foodshelf Sharon Foodshelf Thetford Foodshelf Turning Point Club UU Church of Hartland Foodshelf Upper Valley Haven VA Medical Center Village Apartments West Fairlee Foodshelf
I have heard from parents as well as the child care programs themselves that the produce they have
been receiving through you has substantially improved the menus served to young children. One
parent said, “Every time I walk through the kitchen I see a huge bowl of something beautiful and
colorful like yellow, red, and green peppers or different kinds of apples. It's so wonderful!” M.Ianello Pre-K Consultant, UV Healthy Eating Active Living
www.willinghands.org