Potluck News

"In 2011, Potluck logged more than 41,000 miles collecting food from donors..."



SUPPORT POTLUCK!
Search and shop online with
Support Potluck with GoodSearch

January 2012

Thank you for your support and keeping our 5 trucks on the road and filled with food for hungry children, adults, families and seniors.
In 2011, 96% of every dollar raised went
directly to support Potluck’s mission,
work and programs.

Potluck delivery truck.

With the stakes higher than ever before, our focus for the past year has been on achieving results, starting with the amount and quality of the food we provide to community food programs feeding hungry Arkansans. A wide variety of excess, un-served/unsold nutrient-rich foods like vegetables and fresh produce – and protein items like beef, poultry, pork, fish made up 76% of more than 4.9 million pounds of food we distributed to agencies – and every ounce of food rescued during the year was distributed free of charge.

Potluck logged over 41,000 miles collecting food from 191 local and out of area donors that was distributed to 80 agencies that provided prepared onsite meals and distributed grocery items to more than 7,300 children, adults, families and seniors each week in Pulaski, Desha and Ouachita counties. More than 12,800 pounds of direct emergency food assistance went to 191 households that included 678 children and 25 seniors.

In 2011, thanks largely to your support, we increased food recovery almost 500,000 pounds from 2010 by adding a 5th food rescue truck to our fleet; rescuing food 340 days during the year; increasing our cold and dry storage capacity by over 4,200 cubic feet; purchasing vital warehouse equipment and supplies to facilitate offloading/re-packaging large donations and concentrating our efforts on sourcing new, high quality/volume and consistent donors and finessing larger and/or more frequent donations from current donors.

Potluck’s long-standing mandate to provide all food, services and programming free of charge increased the capacity of all of our agencies to better meet community needs by helping them save/re-direct well over $1.5 million in food costs toward better serving their own important missions – as did targeting a core group of frontline emergency food programs with the greatest needs and increasing deliveries from an average of 5 times during a month – to multiple times a week to help them keep pace with the rapidly growing demand for food.

The outcomes of this report highlighting our ability to deliver results have only been possible thanks to a broad system of support – which thankfully has remained loyal and strong despite an uncertain and volatile economy.

On behalf of Potluck and the individuals, agencies and communities we serve, thank you for your help in 2011. We wish you and yours a happy, healthy New Year and look forward to your standing with us in 2012 so together we can continue making a daily difference in the lives of others.

 
Carol signature
Carol Herzog
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

2011 Snapshot of
the KIDS’ PANTRY

Developed in 1997 to bridge the hunger gap many children from resource poor families face daily by not having access to enough food and/or nutritious food at home – the KIDS’ PANTRY is Arkansas’ only charitable out-of-school meal program solely developed to ensure kids at-risk of hunger have the opportunity to gain access to nutritious food for meals when school is not in session throughout the year.

Jac'Lynn

KP site, Girl's Afterschool Academy - Southwest Little Rock

During  2011, the KIDS’ PANTRY fed 2,430 children at 40 sites throughout under-served communities in southwest Little Rock, North Little Rock – to include Walnut Grove, McAlmont and Rose City – Jacksonville, Hensley, Sweet Home and in Strong and Camden, Arkansas.

Each week prior to delivery, almost 3 tons of a wide assortment of high quality prepared, fresh, frozen and nonperishable food was matched up as full and complete meals to ensure kids had a variety of multiple nutritionally balanced meals during the week.

Our first new KIDS’ PANTRY site in 2012 is TOPPS, Inc. in Pine Bluff, Arkansas – a program that provides approximately 300 children with a variety of educational and enrichment activities – and meals each week – after school and during the summer.  In one of the most impoverished cities in the U.S., the TOPPS program – like all KP sites – is committed to better meeting the needs of children living in poverty and at-risk of hunger.

TOPPS Executive Director Annette Dove is steadfast in her determination to delivering the support and services necessary to “empower families and change communities by breaking the negative cycles associated with poverty.”



“Without a sense of caring,
there can be no sense of community.”

– Alfred D’Angelo

 Photographs by Nancy Nolan Photography

Make a Free Website with Yola.