(Fanfare Music) It is with great pleasure that we announce that the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Henderson County awarded the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry a grant of $14,348.00 to support a Hoop House for the Lord's Acre of Fletcher, our garden. Garden Master, Doug Kearney prepared a powerful PowerPoint that was presented to the Grant Committee. Highlights of PowerPoint is located at the end of newsletter.

No......It wasn't the Macy's Day Parade this past Saturday on the campus of Calvary Episcopal Church. Arriving a bit after 6 a.m.,  the cars were backed up to Old Airport Road and others were circling the lot.  Thanks to  "Early Bird Dan, number distributor," our neighbors received their numbers to shop, parked their cars, and enjoyed the sunrise.  We welcomed 143 families representing 501 individuals. 15 new families came and received food for the first time with us. Fred reported that for the month of January 456 different households visited the pantry representing 1,563 individuals. 

On Tuesday morning, in rolled the MANNA delivery truck with 5,000 pounds of pasta, soup, beans, vegetables, tuna, peanut butter, tortillas, 20 banana boxes of condiments, and 20 boxes of frozen meat. Fortunately too, we also received 580 pounds of produce which included fresh green beans, zucchini, onions, and Fresh Express salad kits. Rob shared with us that we average distributing food to about 800 individuals in a two week span. That's close to 9,000 meals! Thank you volunteers who helped us with the unloading of the pallets of food from MANNA and placing it on our shelves.

Happy New Year! Welcome, 2023! Our first food distribution for the new year! The Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry was filled with enthusiastic volunteers and 121 "neighbors" ready to shop for three and one-half days of groceries or eleven meals. The neighbors represented 432 individuals and we welcomed nine new families.

Around midnight on New Year's Eve as I listened to the words of that old familiar tune........"Should old acquaintances be forgot"....Absolutely Not!!!!! On behalf of the Executive Board of the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry, we will never forget the many acts of kindness from individuals, generous donations, grants, and our volunteers throughout the year.

Verse 2...."Deck the parking lot trailer with boxes of turkeys and sweet potatoes... "...Fa-la-la-la-la...Thanks to the men of Fletcher United Methodist Church who withstood the frigid temperatures to distribute our Christmas meal items to our neighbors. Our annual Christmas meal included a turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, broccoli, muffin mix, rolls, and butter.

Was just about to leave the pantry early this afternoon, when Lois and her sister Liz, arrived with a load of yummy Carolina Crunch Lettuce donated by Bright Farms in Etowah . We were busy unpacking the boxes and placing the lettuce into the frig when there was the sound of clickity-clack of one of our buggies being pushed to a vehicle. Venturing out to offer a hand, I met a pleasant lady named Jennifer, who had a donation of items many of which were mentioned in our newsletter or website.

"It's beginning to look like Christmas" as we were blessed with several new volunteers this past Saturday. The Bartlett family and Mitchell Bullard were a "gift" to us along with our other volunteers helping to distribute food to our neighbors. As our neighbors arrived, Chef Martha was busily preparing French toast for sampling.

It's the "Nibble Before the Gobble"! Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry parking lot was filled with cars lining up in the wee hours of the morning. Our neighbors were eager to shop for food and pick up items for their Thanksgiving Dinner. Volunteers navigated through the parking lot carefully and positioned themselves at their stations to assist in the distribution. Much gratitude to our donors, area churches, and individuals who contributed funds or food items to ensure we were able to assist in helping to reduce food insecurity in our community. We served 177 households, representing 606 individuals, and welcomed 15 new neighbors.

This past Saturday you would have thought we had tickets on sale for the Super Bowl. Many of our neighbors were in line on the campus before 6:00 a.m. It was another record-breaking day at the Center of Hope, as we welcomed 122 Households, representing 430 individuals, and 14 new clients. Ahhhh.... as neighbors entered the building, Chef Martha was busy toasting bread for our neighbors to sample topped with eggs or jelly, cinnamon, etc. all items from our pantry.

This week let's celebrate our outdoor team of volunteers. Until I walked in Dan's shoes, who distributes numbers on Saturdays, didn't quite get the accurate picture of his job. Last Saturday was the church Barbeque Dinner and while Dan was smoking pork on the grill with his comrades, he ambles over to the Pantry about 6:45 a.m. and passes out 40 numbers to our "neighbors" whose cars were lined up to the entrance. Did I mention it was dark, drizzling, and breezy?

This past week before Halloween was all treats and no tricks! Monday began with a trunk load of items from Bethany Methodist Church of Fairview to help our new neighbors to the area through the winter with quilts, blankets, and coats. Tuesday baskets of food items from Lutheran Church of the Nativity, were waiting in the foyer to be weighed and shelved. We received over 5,000 pounds of food from Manna. Some of the items included were apples, zucchini, sweet potatoes, cabbage, carrots, winter squash, Idaho potatoes, turkeys, and chicken.

The Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry is much more than distributing food on Saturdays. Walking through the doors of the Center of Hope you are welcomed by the Pantry family just as you receive friends into your home. Our Pantry family takes the time to chat with the neighbors while shopping with them, receiving the milk, eggs, and produce, or as carts are moving toward their transportation. Our Pantry is successful because of the camaraderie among our volunteers and neighbors and I must include our support from you in the community, especially our area churches. Some of you who are homebound keep up by reading our newsletter and have emailed me that you have collected toothbrushes or even egg cartons for us.

As part of the Salt and Light Project at VERITAS Christian Academy, their third-grade classrooms choose us to be the recipients of their outreach program. Students collected over a hundred pounds of diapers to donate to the Pantry. They spent time decorating note cards with fall pictures and special messages to be given to our neighbors on Saturday. Two volunteers from the Pantry shared with the students about the importance of the Pantry and how we are helping to reduce food insecurity in the community.

What a glorious Saturday morning at the Center of Hope! Not only were the volunteers bustling about but also the UNC Pharmacy Eshleman School of Pharmacy interns setting up for blood pressure and glucose checks. Flu vaccines were also offered to neighbors and volunteers. We are very appreciative of Walgreens sponsoring this event. 113 households representing 389 individuals and seven new neighbors shopped for healthy food choices this week.

Ian.. Ian go away.... come again any day but Saturday! Many thanks to the hardy souls who participated in the food distribution on Saturday as Hurricane Ian moved through North Carolina. 111 Households representing 357 individuals and eight new neighbors shopped for healthy food choices this week.