Winter/Spring 2015

we were able to accomplish last season. Many of these items such as applesauce, jams, dried fruits, pumpkin puree, frozen zucchini, and blanched greens will still be available to food bank clients for months to come.

Even though we served more families in 2014, the growing amount of produce we received and processed allowed us to provide higher totals of fresh foods per family than ever before.

Home farmers and gardeners provided 12,000 pounds,

As our food bank needs grow, so do our garden programs. This issue of the VolunCheer focuses on the garden programs and preserving. Enjoy the good news from Lissa and Camille, our Garden and Produce Managers.

Preserving Fresh ProduceFrom the desk of Lissa Firor, Produce Manager2014 was a productive year full of big changes in the produce section at the food bank. We handled over 132,000 pounds of fresh produce for the Food Bank. Over 25 percent was from local Whidbey-grown sources!

This is an exciting amount of growth, but it would have been an impossible amount for us to handle without the many, many hours of help supplied by our generous volunteers.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us with lifting, weighing, sorting, cleaning, bagging, and distributing over 66 tons of fresh foods in 2014.

In addition to keeping the food bank well-supplied, volun-teers also helped in the kitchen to preserve bruised, damaged, and soon-to-spoil foods into lasting value-added products. It is a fun challenge for our kitchen crew to come up with creative ways to minimize food waste by using up the ingredients available to us at any given time and turning them into a useful food product.

In total, kitchen volunteers were able to preserve 1,930 pounds of processed foods - more than twice the amount

Improving the nutrition o�ered through the gardens and preserving.

THANK YOU! In 2014, you donated a record 39,489 hours of your talents to your community and to Good Cheer!

volunteers with community gleaning programs supplied 9,000 pounds, volunteers at our on-site garden helped supply 7,500 pounds, volunteer apprentices with the Community Garden Leadership Training Program supplied 3,000 pounds. Local grocery stores gave another 7000 pounds, which was loaded and delivered by volunteer drivers.

We could go on, but the point is that none of this would be possible without the support of volunteers like you. Thank you!

(Cont. inside)

we were able to accomplish last season. Many of these items such as applesauce, jams, dried fruits, pumpkin puree, frozen zucchini, and blanched greens will still be available to food bank clients for months to come.

Even though we served more families in 2014, the growing amount of produce we received and processed allowed us to provide higher totals of fresh foods per family than ever before.

Home farmers and gardeners provided 12,000 pounds,

Preserving Fresh ProduceFrom the desk of Lissa Firor, Produce Manager2014 was a productive year full of big changes in the produce section at the food bank. We handled over 132,000 pounds of fresh produce for the Food Bank. Over 25 percent was from local Whidbey-grown sources!

This is an exciting amount of growth, but it would have been an impossible amount for us to handle without the many, many hours of help supplied by our generous volunteers.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us with lifting, weighing, sorting, cleaning, bagging, and distributing over 66 tons of fresh foods in 2014.

In addition to keeping the food bank well-supplied, volun-teers also helped in the kitchen to preserve bruised, damaged, and soon-to-spoil foods into lasting value-added products. It is a fun challenge for our kitchen crew to come up with creative ways to minimize food waste by using up the ingredients available to us at any given time and turning them into a useful food product.

In total, kitchen volunteers were able to preserve 1,930 pounds of processed foods - more than twice the amount

volunteers with community gleaning programs supplied 9,000 pounds, volunteers at our on-site garden helped supply 7,500 pounds, volunteer apprentices with the Community Garden Leadership Training Program supplied 3,000 pounds. Local grocery stores gave another 7000 pounds, which was loaded and delivered by volunteer drivers.

We could go on, but the point is that none of this would be possible without the support of volunteers like you. Thank you!

Planting the Seeds for GrowthFrom the desk of Camille Green, Garden ManagerEach day sunrise is coming a little sooner, sunset is a little later, and green shoots are pushing up through the winter soil.

Even though things are quiet now, we are gearing up for another productive season.

In 2014, between the Good Cheer and Bayview Garden, we grew over 8,000 pounds of produce, which is almost 500 pounds more than our 2013 season, and approximately 3,000 p o u n d s more than any other season. The Good Cheer Garden, alongside our partner gardens, generous home gardeners, and our friends who farm, contributed to a total of 132,500 pounds of fresh produce in the Food Bank this year! That’s roughly the equivalent of 11 orca whales, 440 harbor seals, or 60,200 geoducks!

While we have the recent sunny summers to thank for such productive seasons, we also applaud the people working on this project. Together we are learning more about this climate, about our soil, and how to be more productive gardeners while maintaining environmentally responsible gardening

practices.

Work parties start up again the last week in February, and we already have big plans for the season. Each volunteer is invalu-able. Thank you to the folks who are committed to digging in the soil, who love to plant carrot seeds, who get excited about compost, who have perfected their basil bunching techniques, who come out and make this garden possible. You make this project possible and we look forward to seeing you out there again this coming season!

Who are we feeding?We all come to work at Good Cheer to help our neigh-bors in need. In 2014, we served 4,880 indivduals. This number breaks down to 1344 Children, 2802 Adults and 734 Seniors.

Lucy, who was highlighted in our last newsletter, told of how she made choices to live a simpler and happier life in Washington. She has always been committed to helping those in need in our community. After an accident last fall many wanted to repay her many kindnesses She was so humbled by Good Cheer reach-ing out to be sure she had food while recuperating.

Teri is a Food Bank client and volunteer who was diagnosed with cancer and at the same time her husband left. This left her with a grim health issue while taking care of two kids on her own. Now she is recovering from the treatments and spends part of her time volunteering at the Food Bank as a way to

continue to be an active member of the commu-nity.

There are many who thought they were done raising kids to find their children and grandchildren moving in with them. This extra burden on a fixed income can only be overcome with some outside help from places like Good Cheer.

Each of you knows the story of a friend or neighbor who has used the Food Bank when a challenge is set in front of them.

As we begin the new year, you can be proud of all you have accomplished and what you will complete this year.

Consider bringing a friend with you when you volunteer. They might just thank you for the opportunity!

volunteers with community gleaning programs supplied 9,000 pounds, volunteers at our on-site garden helped supply 7,500 pounds, volunteer apprentices with the Community Garden Leadership Training Program supplied 3,000 pounds. Local grocery stores gave another 7000 pounds, which was loaded and delivered by volunteer drivers.

We could go on, but the point is that none of this would be possible without the support of volunteers like you.

Thank You!

Preserving Fresh Produce (Cont. from page 1)

Gardening requires a lot of water, mainly in the form of perspiration.

Volunteer Opportunities

VolunteerDinner & ForumFebruary 26th5:30 - 7:00pmLangley United Methodist3rd & Anthes

Wednesday

Garden

Work Parties

Begin Last

Week of Feb.

Questions

About Volunteering?

Julie at 221-0130

or

volunteer@goodcheer.org

Volunteer Forum and DinnerYes, prizes will be awarded to those who attend.

Fill out the volunteer survey online or �ll out the insert and return to your manager for more chances to win prizes.

Thursday, February 26th from 5:30 - 7:00pmLangley United Methodist Church on 3rd and Anthes

HUGE Tent SaleFriday & Saturday

February 27th & 28th Good Cheer Two

Volunteers needed to helpwith running the tent sale

and keeping items restocked.

Do you belong to a church community or other group who might like to

know more about Good Cheer and the opportunities to serve?

We would love to come and speak to your group.

Please let Julie know so we can arrange a time and topic.

Julie 221-0130Volunteer@goodcheer.org

Wednesday

Garden

Work Parties

Begin Last

Week of Feb.