Community Marketof the Food Bank of East Alabama375 Industry DriveAuburn, Alabama 36832

FEEDING

THE NEWLETTER FOR COMMUNITY MARKET SUMMER 2016

thePRSRT STD

U.S. Postage

PAIDOpelika, AL

PERMIT NO. 505

The Community Market, a program of the Food Bank of East Alabama,

provides a friendly grocery-store environment

for Lee County families in need. We are now serving an average

of 850 unduplicated families each month.Want to learn more about what we do,

about the issue of food-insecurity in our community, and what can be done

to help our neighbors? Please come to our

Open House to learn more.

Staff member Carolyn Finley writes: “I interviewed a client who was using a walker because of an inoperable tumor in her back. The tumor had been shrunk with radiation, so she was feel-ing so much better and was able to walk with a walker. This client volunteered that she would rather work but she is not able to so she now relies on disability income. Despite needing food, she was reluctant to ask because she had never had to ask anyone for help. I noticed that she was a very care-ful shopper and would only take things that she could use. She was so thankful to Community Market and as she left, she said everyone treated her with the utmost respect in helping her select items. She said that when she felt better, she would come in to volunteer because she wanted to give back. This woman had such a posi-tive attitude despite her current medical situation. “

Another client, Samantha, was helped at the Commu-nity Market and she wrote the following: “We need help because we have fallen on hard times. I have a ten month old daughter and there have been times when she was out of formula. We turned to the Community Market and they had formula for us in their Baby Manna cupboard. They have helped us so much.”

It's All About the People We Serve…

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable,

to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Snapshot of Year-to-Date Accomplishments

(January - June):• An average of 810 unduplicated

households served each month• A total of 468,555 pounds of food was

distributed to families• 4,476 volunteer hours were given to the

Community Market• 301 referrals were to made to connect

CM clients with local resources

Want to Help? HERE’S 4 IDEAS!

❶ Donate peanut butter and jelly for kids’ lunches.

❷ Drop off plastic grocery bags (re-member more than 400 bags are used each day!)

❸ Donate extra produce from your garden or pick up something special at the local farmer’s market.

❹ Come to our Open House on August 20th and learn more about what the Community Market does and how you can help.

Mission Outside the Church Walls

Our friends from the Church of the High-lands organized the 3rd annual Community Yard Sale on July 16th. The result? The equiva-lent of more than 3,170 meals will be provided to food insecure families! Special thanks to Ash-ley Reid and her team for all their hard work.

Auburn Rotary Club Continues Strong Support

Auburn Rotary Club was one of our founda-tion donors and has continued to faithfully sup-port the Community Market every year since we opened our doors. We were honored to re-ceive a generous grant of $7,850 which covers food acquisition costs for an entire month!

Tremendous Support from the

Lee County Association of Realtors

The Lee County Association of Realtors pre-sented $20,500 in proceeds from their 2016 spring charity fundraiser Kentucky Derby-themed “Denim & Diamonds” to the Communi-ty Market of the Food Bank and Mercy Medical. This generous support covers a full month of food acquisition costs at the Community Market – feeding more than 850 households!

Turn Out, Reach Out Showcases

Local TalentOutreach Program

of East Alabama Community Ballet

The local community was treated to a dance performance that showed the depth and variety of local talent while supporting food-insecure families. Proceeds from the event enabled 67 families to be served at the Community Market.

Pictured is LCAR President Monte Atkins; Martha Henk, Food Bank; Robert Ham, Mercy Medical representative; and Michelle Batchelor, LCAR Community Service Chair.

The Community Market Helps the Hungry By…..

• Providing food to clients with regular hours of distribution.

• Using the Client-Choice distribution system.

• Allowing clients to receive a sufficient amount of food to supplement their existing food supplies.

• Creating a welcoming and user-friendly environment.

• Providing complete information to clients about local private and public aid programs, and referring clients as needed to appropriate agencies.

• Communicating with elected officials at the local, state and national level about the hunger needs of the community.

• Getting a good account of the need in our community.