Greater Washington County Food Bank has been providing food to needy families in Washington County for over 34 years. In 2015, we were able to purchase a 26,000 square foot facility that now serves as our distribution warehouse.
This venue has almost tripled the square footage from our previous location and has allowed us to add several exciting new programs. We were quickly able to acquire funding to build a 1,200 square foot Healthy Habits Training Center with two residential ... 阅读更多
Greater Washington County Food Bank has been providing food to needy families in Washington County for over 34 years. In 2015, we were able to purchase a 26,000 square foot facility that now serves as our distribution warehouse.
This venue has almost tripled the square footage from our previous location and has allowed us to add several exciting new programs. We were quickly able to acquire funding to build a 1,200 square foot Healthy Habits Training Center with two residential style kitchens. We set aside 7,500 square feet for the Country Thrift Market, a piece of the organization designed to provide revenue that will sustain the Food Bank's mission. Now, we are launching "The Farm", an innovative educational platform designed to inspire and train people of all ages.
During our 2016-17 Fiscal Year we distributed in excess of 2.7 Million pounds of product to our food insecure neighbors of Washington County. The increased size of our warehouse and a larger delivery truck led to a significant escalation number of pounds rescued and disseminated over previous years. As the premier food distribution agency in Washington County, we do “food” very well.
In 2016, we were granted the opportunity to construct a five bay garage that will prolong the life of our delivery fleet. The onsite construction of an 800 square foot refrigerator / cooler and a 400 square foot freezer allows us to distribute more fresh produce and meat to our pantry clients.
The development of an Innovation Team accompanied by partnerships with California University's "Sustainability Program" and Trinity School District Fab Lab / agricultural programs has let to visioning and ultimately launching programs that exceed our wildest dreams.
Our goal is to stop the brain drain and invest in the brilliant minds of residents who reside in the community. We are not facing a food shortage, we are dealing with the inability of residents to successfully plan their food consumption and address long-term personal and family needs.
Acres of surrounding land lay fallow; wholly uncultivated while tons of garden seeds are destroyed annually. Farmers struggle to both raise and market their products. Our innovative plans address food insecurity by unraveling the mysteries of food production utilizing donated seed, technical innovations, wind and solar energy, hydroponics and natural light aquaponics, specialty crop production, and good old hard work. We will most assured melt a few brain cells in the process, but we will be better prepared to face the future, having expended the energy to make our region productive.
Our outreach to high school students, university interns, food bank clients, and the community at large is designed to co-mingle students of all ages and economic backgrounds. A non-income based approach to program participation will open doors of opportunity for our PhD Advisers, stay home moms, unemployed coal miners, veterans recovering from the ravages of war, or graduate students about to enter a world where competition for jobs is a frightening prospect. AS they say, "The more you know..."
The "Buy Local" emphasis and economic development plans have motivated local government and elected representatives to support our growth. The nonpartisan policies have attracted young and old, male and female, professional and novice as we have opened our doors and invited constituents to join us in exploring the endless possibilities that avail themselves in 2018 and beyond.
It’s time for a new approach and the Healthy Habits Training Center in coordination with"The Farm" is just what this community needs. Through grants, donations and fundraising we are able to provide FREE classroom instruction to neighbors on topics such as finance and computers, cooking and preserving food, saving money, fraud protection, essential oils, extreme couponing, and gardening... Just to name a few.
These educational tools can help food insecure families become less insecure and prevent future generations from becoming food insecure. Along with the classroom instruction, we are providing hands-on workshops on "The Farm", gardens surrounding the building, the kitchens, thrift store and warehouse. Getting their hands in the dirt, handling the clothes, boxing the foods and creating healthy tasty foods will help to fortify the classroom lessons emphasizing learning-by-doing.
There simply is no substitute for discernment and transformation via the five senses. As students see, hear, feel, smell and taste the world that surrounds us they will forever remember the positive experiences they had at Greater Washington County Food Bank's "The Farm".
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