May 31, 2023

Yes, That's a Tower of Collards!!! Last Friday before the Weather Warn days, volunteers collected 66 pounds of collards. A total of eighty seven pounds were harvested, packaged, and distributed to our neighbors along with fresh Bibb lettuce from the garden. On Thursday, WLOS videoed three segments to be aired on the  Carolina Kitchen. Chef Martha used romaine lettuce from the garden to "wrap-up"  tasty spicy sautéed beans from the pantry. Next she gathered some herbs from the raised beds by the pergola and added them to the sliced and chopped fresh collards topped with sesame seeds for a fresh green salad. From the  produce she prepared a yogurt dip to accompany sliced red peppers, carrots, and broccoli.

After a couple of dreary days, the Manna truck arrived on our sunny campus Tuesday with a delivery that just had to put a smile on anyone's face. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and when we unboxed the cases of "tickled´  peaches...chuckles, giggles, and laughter could not be held back. Neighbors will have the opportunity to take a bag of freestone diced tickled peaches home along with sweet potatoes, onions, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and watermelon. Sometimes it's the small things that can put a smile on your face.

Another surprise this week was a generous donation of crocheted dishcloths and soap sacks, bar soap, and detergent from the S.A.C.K. volunteers.  The acronym stands for Supporting A Community with Kindness.  More information visit: www.soapsacks.com.

On Saturday we welcomed 135 families representing 489 individuals and registered seven new families.  City Bakery donated loaves of bread. Other donated  items were Ingles-bread, Bimbos-snacks and bread, Wal-Mart and Big Lots-misc items, Project Dignity-feminine products, Humane Society- dog/cat food and MilkCo-milk.  Fletcher Methodist, Nativity Lutheran, Calvary Episcopal, Tabernacle of Praise, Trinity of Fairview and other anonymous donors contributed food and misc. items  for distribution on Saturday.

On behalf of the executive committee, thank you to our volunteers and our area churches, civic groups, local merchants, and families for all you do to feed our community helping to reduce food insecurity. We thank you and appreciate  your food and monetary donations.