Food Rescue Math

Hello Food Rescue Family,

During this holiday season, I wanted to take this moment to express my thankfulness for each of you who have donated your time, talents, and treasures to Food Rescue in 2008.   All of you make “Food Rescue Math” possible: 2 cents = $1

As a result of the massive effort of so many volunteers around the country, for every 2 cents that comes into Food Rescue we are able to rescue $1 of retail value food in our country. That means a $50 per year contribution in our 500 Club results in $2,500 of retail food being given to people in one of the many lines that form daily in the communities we serve. There are now over 100 members in our 500 Club, and our goal is to reach 500 partners giving $50 per year to be the financial foundation of our organization. This Christmas season, as we remember the people described by my friend in those lines across the country, I honestly believe that Food Rescue offers the opportunity of a lifetime to maximize a modest gift that impacts so many. Just as the names and faces of our chapter presidents and volunteers play a vital role in telling our story, so do the names of our 500 Club members, and we add each member to the website as a partner in hopes that together we can raise awareness regarding the 27% of food waste in our country.   Please click on the 500 Club link to become a modest financial partner with Food Rescue.

Novmeber News:

1)  Food Rescue is in discussion with Food Runners, an organzation in Connecticut about to launch in Connecticut by Andy Geremiah, regarding how we can work together to feed children and families in Connecticut.

2)  Food Rescue is collaborating with Sandy Obarski in Minneapolis and her church to help alleviate hunger in her community.

3)  Food Rescue has become an affiliate of The Food Donation Connection, which is partnered with the national restaurant association to find oppportunities for charities to pick up extra food at food establishments.

4)  Juanita Kelsaw in Indy is seeking recipients in Indy to add another 24 “food rescues” from Panera Bread on Washington St. in Indy.

5)  Food Rescue is being considered by Forum Credit Union for a grant in 2010.  We have been nominated by an employee, and we bank there.  Please pray for God’s favor during the decision process.

6)  Jack Burgess, our chapter president in Arlington Texas, added about 1o food rescues in Irving Texas through Panera Bread.

A Few New Stories to Share

“I have been seeing wonderful things out here in Portland.   As Chapter president I have 3 stores and doing 5 pick ups a week. We are helping over 40 families and multiple agencies.   Some would have no food if we weren’t there every week.   I am working with Bales Thriftway to give turkeys for Thanksgiving and toys for tots is doing toys again this Christmas.”

Candice Saltsman:  Chapter President in Portland Oregon

“I went and picked up the food Wednesday night but did not deliver it until Thursday.   When I arrived on Thursday, there were 20 -30 people there waiting to receive food for their families.   It was a very powerful picture of what Food Rescue is doing for this community and communities all over the country.   Every basket of food that I saw go out the door had a Little Caesars Pizza and something from Panera.  “

Mark Humphrey   Food Rescue Volunteer

During a “food rescue” on the national front,  one of our volunteers  connected with a citizen in need that was a complete stranger, and assist them to find the proper social services.   Our volunteer was able to introduce Jane Doe to many people who cared for her and prayed for her in the midst of a difficult circumstance.

October Food Rescue E Newsletter Update

Hello Food Rescue Family,

Here are some “happenings” with Food Rescue for the month of October

1)  Food Rescue volunteer and partner Donna Huss, will be leaving us for a few years to join one of Americas Foreign Embassies overseas.   Thank you Donna for all of your support!  If you want to view a great interview with Donna regarding her experience with Food Rescue, simply scroll down to the previous blog post.  Please pray for her safety and that God would bless her during her time of serving our country abroad.

2)  I want to welcome Michelle Stafford from El Dorado Hills California as a chapter president.  Special thanks to Karen Muheim in Sacramento for assisting Michelle with the “ins and outs” of things!

3)  After 6 months of extreme difficulty with our lines of communication with our strategic partner, Panera Bread, they have assigned Abbi Glossier in their marketing department to deal with Food Rescue exclusively.  Abbi has resolved many issues that had been problems for many months, and she resolves them in less than 24 hours.  What a blessing!

4)  Chapter President Jack Burgess in Arlington is beginning his own ministry to the poor and hungry called “Being the Fathers Hands”.  Please pray  for Jack as he seeks contacts to expand his efforts.   Jack continues to seek volunteers and recipients for the Irving Texas area, which could add as many as 20 monthly food rescues to his chapter.

5)  The United Way has added Food Rescue as a potential recipient of donations that can be specifically designated from Eli Lilly employees in Indianapolis.  Thanks to volunteer Mark Oehler for his efforts in that area.

6)  Sharon Gordon added 4 more monthly food rescues to her chapter in Atlanta Georgia.

7)  Linda Curd added 8 more food rescues to her chapter in Lexington Kentucky.  As a side note,  Linda worked on that for 5 months, and Abbi Glossier with Panera Bread solved the problems associated with the assignment as mentioned above in 24 hours. 

8)  Kathi Crothers in Jacksonville Florida is submitting a proposal to her church to become a partner with Food Rescue.  Through Kathi’s efforts, Food Rescue received a $250 partnership this month.  Thanks to Kathi and the Londons for their generous support.

9)  Dr. Kent Erb and his wife Bobbi became “Founding Partners” with Food Rescue this month.  Dr. Erb in Sheridan has also been the physician for my family and has provided his talents and skills as a donation to Food Rescue, as have Burns Family Dentistry in Noblesville, and Shrout Family Chiropractic in Carmel.  These sponsorships have been critical to Food Rescue as we have built up a base of partners.  Thanks to each of you for your steadfast and ongoing support.

10)  Shenee Nelson in Minneapolis Minnesota took over the duties of one of our original chapter presidents, Angela Zuniga.  Thanks to Shenee for stepping in and continuing what Angela started, and thanks to Angela for being one of the first people in the country to catch the vision of Food Rescue.

11)  We await new opportunities in Nasheville TN, Gaelsville Illinois, and Ann Arbor Michigan, and I continue to not give up on the Washington DC area.  I have contacted many churches and food banks in the area, and posted multiple ads on Craigslist in hopes of finding a home for the millions of dollars of retail value food being thrown away in the Washington DC/Northern VA area alone.

12)  We now have 100 members in our 500 Club, which is 500 people giving $50 per year.  All of our partners can be seen at the “partner” link at FoodRescue.net , as well as the opportunity to join the 500 club using the “donate” link at the same site.

13)  Unknown to Food Rescue,  we were infringing upon their trademarked red cross, and we had to alter our design.  We are no longer able to put out any material with the old logo, but fortunately the Baldwin Brothers who host, design, and maintain our website were able to design a logo similar to the old one that the Red Cross approved of.  Thanks David and Luke for all you guys do for Food Rescue.  Next months e newsletter will show the new logo, or you can go to the website at foodrescue.net to view it.

God bless and thanks for your ongoing efforts to feed chilren and families in need!

John Williamson

Food Rescue President

jw@foodrescue.net

317-694-4006

Donnas’ Story

done

An Interview with Food Rescue Volunteer and Partner Donna Huss

An Anderson Indiana Food Rescue

September Food Rescue News

Hello Everyone,

 

September was packed with incredible opportunities, and stories of thankfulness to share.

 

1)  David Mark, founder of hungrybrick.com, is partnering with Food Rescue in Indianapolis.  We are one of 4 charities to receive $10 when an affordable deck of fine dining restaurant cards is sold from hungrybrick.com, with food savings of over  $500 per deck to the consumer for only $25.   The irony of feeding children and families through the act of eating is as poignant as it is brilliant. 

 

2)  Sharon Gordon is now a chapter president in Lawrenceville, Georgia, which is near Atlanta, lannding us in our 18th state.  Sharon says, “It has always been a passion of mine to touch the hearts and lives of others in some special way. Through much prayer and in God’s timing another chance has been presented and I was given the green light!!!”   Welcome Sharon!

 

3)  Sandy Hofer had been contemplating becoming a chapter president for a year in Fort Collins Colorado, and she took the plunge as a result of being compelled to care for people in need in her community. Colorado is our 19th state where chapter presidents are organizing citizens to  rescue food for the benefit of children and families in need.  Welcome Sandy! 

 

4)  Locally, in Franklin Township in Indiana, we had forfeited the opportunity to rescue food from one Little Caesars franchise, as it was too far away from our local chapter in Indianapolis.  Jackie Farris, who had been volunteering on the south side of town called me one day seeking an opportunity in that area to share the 3,600 yearly pizzas wasted in Franklin.  She took on the whole project.  Thank you Jackie!

 

5)  In Arlington Texas, chapter president Jack Burgess hooked up the “The soup man”, a mobile soup kitchen that feeds homeless citizens, providing food for his mission.  Soupmobile.org.

 

6)  IBM, Kraft, and Carmax  are partnering with Food Rescue nationally by matching the contributions that their employees make to Food Rescue.

 

7)  Grace Community Church adopted Food Rescue for its Weekend of Service in late October as one of it’s 77 service projects.  Over the course of a 2 days, about 100 people will gather to create small thank you packages and notes to all of our chapter presidents, and pray for them as well.  A few will also be sent to rescue over 100 pizzas each day and deliver them to Wheeler Mission.

 

8)  Food Rescue received a few notes from parents indicating the lives of their children had been changed as result of volunteering with Food Rescue.

9)  Holiday Inn and The American Legion in Indy both became partners with Food Rescue, donating tasty extra food from catered events to people in need.

God Bless,

John Williamson

Food Rescue Founder

jw@foodrescue.net

1-317-694-4006

Food Rescue Updates

Hello Food Rescue Family,

Through Food Rescue volunteer Nicole Glasel efforts, Food Rescue is now partnering with a Holiday Inn in Indianapolis.

Jackie Farris is leading a team of people to schedule 30 Food Rescues each month at a Little Caesars franchise in Franklin Township. All the food goes to a food pantry in Johnson County.

Due to our partnership with Panera Bread corporately, after many months of prayerfully waiting, they have provided a list of all openings nationally for their end of the day donation program in hopes of filling as many of their empty slots as possible.

HungryBrick.com has selected Food Rescue as one of four charities locally to benefit from the sales of their incredible deck of cards that they market to provide substantial savings to consumers that frequent such well known restaurants as Palominos, Iaria’s, and Urban Element.  Every deck of savings cards they sell for $25, their selected charities receive $10

Food Rescue received note from a church partner in Indianapolis saying the following, “Thank you so much for our work of love. Because of Food Rescue, a man who has cancer and was told he has 1-3 months to live now has heard the gospel and accepted Christ.”

Thanks for your continued support!

A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words

NOW THATS A FOOD RESCUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  114 PIZZAS FOR WHEELER MISSION.  THANKS BRENNAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Children of Food Rescue

Here is another story from Kirsten Johnson, and Indinapolis Food Rescuer.

My 5 year old son and I have been rescuing food from the Noblesville, IN Panera since Christmas Eve.  I really wanted to get involved with Food Rescue as a way for my son Brennan and I to serve together.  It has been an absolute blessing for us to serve in this capacity.  To see Brennan grow has been amazing.  At first Brennan would help me load the car at Panera but would stay in the car when I got to Third Phase Food Pantry.  Now he always wants to help me carry food into Third Phase and really enjoys seeing the people there.  He will gladly tell you about what we do with the Panera food and who the food is for.  I truly thank God for John and his wife who had the idea for this organization and the exeptionally compassionate hearts to take action!  The idea of utilizing wasted food to feed people is amazing!  I thank God for the opportunity to serve him in this way!  The attached pictures are of my son Brennan on Wednesday, 22 Jul 2009.

Brennan Serves Up a Food Rescue

A child plays “Food Rescue”

Hello Everyone,

I had to share this from a Food Rescue partner and volunteer, Todd Walter.  He refers to his wife Elise in this very brief story.  Very cool story!  Todd writes:

Real quick funny story: my two and half year old daughter Alaina is playing with Elise one day and they decided they wanted to play pretend.  Elise says: “what do you want to pretend?”  Alaina says “Let’s pretend Food Rescue”.  They went on to rescue bagels, pizza, and Alaina’s choice: carrots.  She must have picked it up from one of the many conversations we have had in our house.  Kids say the funniest things!

I watched a child eat dirt

Hello Food Rescue Family,

I’ve spent a lot of time recently giving some positive updates on things that the sacrifices of Food Rescue volunteers have produced, but I was watching a program on hunger today, and if you have any time, I believe it is not possible to watch this video without understanding why God has blessed each and every one of us.  There must be a purpose in our profound abundance, and it has to be related to an action step.

http://lifetoday.tv/qt/2009/06/90618.htm

God bless,

John Williamson

Summer Camp in Indy Supports Food Rescue

Hello Everyone,

 

In support of Food Rescue, Moriah Musicals, a summer youth theater program in Hamilton County staffed by CCS and HSE teachers, is putting on a musical comedy that takes a light hearted look at how individuals get their needs met in different economies.  The play was awarded the Olin Davis Award for Excellence by the Indiana Council of Economic Education.  
    
The performance will be at Cumberland Road Christian Church, 12650 Cumberland Road, Fishers, 46038.    Admission is $5.00 per person. All proceeds from the program go to support the work of Food Rescue.  The performance is at 7 PM on Friday, June 19th.  Hope to see some of you there, and thanks for supporting the work of Food Rescue.

John Williamson

Food Rescue President

jw@foodrescue.net

What’s up around the country?

 Hello Everyone,

• Here are some updates on what’s happening around the country with Food Rescue.

 

• Suzannah Park, our district coordinator in Chicago added 2 new days, or 8 new monthly food rescues to the growing Chicagoland area.

 

• Tresha Souza in San Diego coordinates 76 monthly food rescues with 9 stores.

 

• Jon Duch and Darrell Grissen completed our Exact Target customized automated sign up and reminder program, that allows all of our volunteers in Indy to receive a reminder email the night before their food rescue, as well as signing up to volunteer immediately online.  This is the result of 100’s of hours of work on their behalf.  We look forward to introducing  this in some of our larger markets in a few months.

 

• Kathi Crothers just added the “Healthy Bagel” in Jacksonville.

 

• In Indianapolis, Mudsocks Grill joined the Food Rescue team of stores that we rescue food from, as well as the Steak N Shake corporate office.

 

• In Indianapolis, Beverly Manuel has become a chapter president on the South Side, coordinating with the food pantry ministry at University Heights Baptist to pick up pizzas from Little Caesars.

 

• In Oregon, our chapter president Candice Saltsman is seeking stores in Portland Oregon to rescue food on behalf of a food pantry that is in need, and is beginning the process of seeking a partnership with Little Caesars Pizza.

 

• In Arlington Texas, Jack Burgess has become a chapter president and is delivering rescued food to the hungry.   He is also working on bringing on Little Caesars franchises in his community.

 

• The Food Rescue Walk a thon raised over $4,000 at the end of April, and we added 70 members to the 500 Club of $50 per year partners. 

 

• There are still Large and Extra Large Food Rescue T Shirts available for $15.  They come with some great coupons in Indy that basically pay for the price of the shirt.  Email me at jw@foodrescue.net to get  your shirt and coupons today.

 

Telling the Story

Hello All,

I’ve been sadly lacking on the blog posts of late.  I sadly forget sometimes impact the stories about Food Rescue have in the midst of all the details of the organization.    Sorry about that, but hopefully you will find some of these stories encouraging to you.

This week, locally in Indy we picked up about $3,000 worth of retail food from a corporate restaurant headquarters testing facility.  A volunteer who has been out of work for months was able to feed his family for a week with some of the food delivered to the food bank.  We have 2 volunteers that have 10 children each, and who have struggled to find employment.  They picked up a volunteer day on a Food Rescue route that averages 40-60 pizzas per day, and were able to not only feed people that the food pantry services, but also their own families. 

In Texas, there is a ministry that is feeding low income families the food from Food Rescue, and then delivering a message of hope of the goodness of God and how much He loves them, and several have professed to come to know God for the first time as a result of coming to have their physical hunger met.  Finally, with the 1000 monthly Food Rescues performed around the country each month, it is staggering to consider the amount of children being exposed to the social injustice issue of hunger for the first time in the context of an action step.  What great things might they go on to do in the world as a result of God tugging on their hearts at a young age?  It boggles my mind the impact a group of people doing the crazy/simple thing of delivering food once a month to children and families in need have had in our country, acting in concert with one another each night.  How fortunate we are to serve.

Only a Good God

Hello Food Rescue Family,

On the eve of our first fund-raising event, I would like to share with you a vision for the future of our mission and organization.  Over the last 16 months, I have been contacted by many people who are familiar with not for profit charitable businesses, and they have all drawn for me something I had never seen before.   They’ve all drawn a triangle, made up of events, small financial partners, and large financial partners, with the large partners carrying the most importance in sustaining the charitable activities.

As I have digested this model, I cannot help but recognize how distinctly different that model is from our actual organization.  There are very few “key people” within Food Rescue, or should I say that everyone involved with Food Rescue is “key”, depending on your point of view.  In a perfect world, I would like to look back on things and for it to be impossible to point to one financial gift that led to families and children continuing to be fed in our country, rather the contributions of many, which is exactly how the Food Rescue service model was born.

It is my vision to see Food Rescue funded in the following manner.  500 people giving $50 per year, followed by 1000 people giving $25 per year.  After reaching that benchmark, 2,500 people giving $10 per year, and then 5,000 people giving $5 per year.  Each partner in that chain would be as important as the next, just as each volunteer is just as important as another volunteer.    With all of those partners in place, we could expand our impact beyond our imagination.

16 months ago, there was no reason to believe 1500 people could deliver 3 million dollars of retail value food to families and children in need acting in concert together across our nation.  Yet God allowed our story to travel, and here we are today.  Could our funding occur the same way?   Since rolling this vision out to just a few people 6 days ago, 50 people have responded to our 500 Club, which is the first wave of partners at $50 per year.  We need 450 more to move onto phase 2, which is the 1000 club, which would be 1000 partners at the $25 per year level.  Please prayerfully consider sharing this vision with the same passion you have shared your passion for service with Food Rescue, and we will have a story to tell that will confound all conventional wisdom in any world, let alone the not for profit world, and will leave no one with any explanation other  than a good God stretched out His mighty hand to provide for families and children in their time of need, having nothing to do with any one individual.  We will proclaim together that we serve a God of ”sufficiency and abundance” and leave the simplictiy of our actions as a testimony for our world to examine.  This is my vision, this is my passion, and this is my prayer.  Thank you for your encouragement with this vision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot4sgVYCeas

Click Here to become a member of the 500 Club  http://foodrescue.net/volunteers/contactus

God Bless,

JW