In November 2018, Random Acts encouraged all of our supporters to take part in our annual Endure4Kindness (E4K) event, and, as always, you blew us away with your creativity and kindness. Money raised during E4K allows us to sponsor acts of kindness all around the world. Funds from E4K 2018 are also going toward fighting childhood hunger. Whether you challenged yourself with your own E4K activity, spread the word on social media, supported others with their E4K fundraising, or donated to The Bad Idea Tour, your participation is helping to make the world a better place. We love being able to share some of the ways that your hard work is helping to fight food insecurity.
Time to see how #RANoHungryChild made a difference in New Hampshire!
New Hampshire Food Bank
While people tend to focus on food banks’ roles in distributing food, many food banks also help those in need to apply for federal programs like SNAP (food stamps), educate people on accessing and preparing nutritious meals, provide resources for growing produce in home gardens, and more. New Hampshire Food Bank, for example, uses multiple programs to try to address the issue of food insecurity in its community. New Hampshire Food Bank divides its programming into three main categories: Recipe for Success, Mobile Food Pantry, and Fresh Rescue.
More Than Distribution
In the food bank’s own words, “The Recipe for Success programs reach outside food distribution and aim to fight the root causes of hunger by empowering people to learn new skills, enabling them to become more self-sufficient and improve their quality of life.” Recipe for Success programs include the Culinary Job Training Program, Cooking Matters, Production Garden, Food Stamp (SNAP) Outreach, and NH Nutrition Incentives Network.
Cooking Courses for Everyone
The Culinary Job Training Program is an eight week course that prepares participants to apply for a job in the food service industry. During the course, students learn valuable skills such as how to identify different foods, the use of kitchen equipment, nutrition, food preparation, food safety, kitchen cleaning and sanitation, and more. This course is geared toward those experiencing financial hardship. Not only is it free, but students can even receive a small stipend during the last five weeks of the course!
New Hampshire Food Bank has been participating in Walmart’s Cooking Matters program since 2004. Cooking Matters courses are six-week-long courses held once a week. There are courses for families, parents, kids, teens, adults, and child care professionals. All of these courses have the same goal: empowering people to access, choose, and prepare nutritious meals.
The Power of Fresh Food
New Hampshire Food Bank started a production garden in 2008. This garden helps to supply their Culinary Job Training Program and Cooking Matters courses with fresh produce. It also serves as a valuable resource for the community as a whole. In the past, they have grown tomatoes, corn, kabocha squash, summer squash, zucchini, green beans, cucumbers, butternut squash, eggplant, and more!
As part of their Fresh Rescue program, New Hampshire Food Bank partners with supermarkets to acquire fresh meat and poultry that the stores would otherwise throw away. These fresh foods are an important source of protein that can be used in the Culinary Job Training Program, distributed through the food bank’s other programs, and delivered to the food bank’s partner agencies throughout New Hampshire.
#RANoHungryChild Chips In
When #RANoHungryChild went to New Hampshire, we reached out to New Hampshire Food Bank to see how we could help with their amazing work. Thanks to your generosity during E4K 2018, we were able to donate 162 pounds of shelf-stable food to New Hampshire Food Bank. We were also able to give them a monetary donation so that they can directly buy additional food. In total, our donation will help to provide about 3,135 meals to those in need!