Eagle Scout candidate, Mason Heth, and members of his scout troop worked Saturday afternoon in The Lord's Acre of Fletcher constructing two picnic tables. Over the winter and into early spring, Mason raised the funds to purchase supplies needed for the tables. Boards were purchased and cut into lengths for the benches, tops, and supporting structure pieces. As the scouts under the supervision of Mason began the construction task, his leadership skills were evident. He circulated throughout the site encouraging each scout in their particular task, and modeling when needed. For example how to use an electric sander. When the project was complete, Mason's father had hot pizza ready for the hungry scouts. Please come by the garden and enjoy "time at the tables" and the garden.

When our neighbors arrived on Saturday morning, they were so appreciative of all the time and effort that the pantry volunteers had spent in preparation for food distribution and items for a tasty Easter meal. Not only were the shelves stocked with over 4,556.5 pounds of additional food items that have been delivered over the past two weeks from a Manna Food Drive.....(that's over two tons)....they also received a ham, a bag of potatoes, fresh green beans, a can of pineapple, dinner rolls, and a stick of butter. VERITAS provided Easter cards and two baskets of food items collected by their third graders. Hendersonville Middle School's entire student body participated in their food drive which was sponsored by the Student Council. Several representatives from the Student Council were ambassadors for the school and helped unload the 812 pounds of food items last Thursday.

A picture is worth a thousand words! Last Friday look who backed up to our unloading area at the Pantry! Jacob and Rose from MANNA Food Bank with their van literally filled with food from two area schools. TC Roberson High and Fernleaf Community Charter School's students participated in a food drive sponsored by MANNA Food Bank. Again, it confirms what collaboration with the community and especially our young people can accomplish to help in reducing food insecurity in our community. We just barely unloaded the 2,750.5 pounds of food when Koontz Intermediate School arrives with a large pickup truck packed with 985.5 pounds of baskets and tubs of food items. The generosity of the community warms our hearts. We immediately began filling our shelves with these donations to ensure a quick return to our neighbors with food challenges. Saturday morning we were able to distribute lots of the food items to our 134 families representing 463 individuals and seven new families.

The Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry's primary mission, goal, focus is the distribution of food each Saturday morning to help alleviate food insecurity in our community. Since 2009 when the Pantry opened, we have stayed the course. However, along this journey, we have evolved into more than a food pantry. Thanks to agencies like MANNA, who have many "wrap around services,” offer assistance in providing healthier choices of food through the SWAP program as one example. The UNC School of Pharmacy interns provide blood pressure, blood glucose checks, and seasonal flu shots several months over the year. The Lion's Club of Mills River offers eye screening twice a year for our neighbors. Volunteers have available the 211 cards. Twice a month Chef Martha provides cooking demonstrations using food items that are available on Saturday mornings. Neighbors enjoy a sample of the prepared item and are offered a recipe. WLOS videos Chef Martha for the Carolina Kitchen segments in the Pantry and garden where she uses items... again that are available in the Pantry. Most recently Chef Martha is featured in the spring Ingles Table Magazine for her deviled eggs and Green Pea Soup.

What an uplifting way to start your Saturday! This picture, shared by Debbie, after she parked on the campus early on Saturday morning to volunteer. Neighbors began arriving in the early hours and they too witnessed the dawn of a new day. Sue began distributing numbers around 6:00 to keep the traffic from backing up onto Old Airport Road. Tom and Dino help us by assisting with registration and shopping with our Spanish-speaking neighbors. Ludmilla speaks several Eastern European languages and helps our neighbors from these countries. This week we welcomed ten new neighbors and 122 households representing 430 individuals.

What a "cool" week to be building a hoop house in the Lord's Acre of Fletcher. Moderate temps, a bit breezy, low humidity, and a group of energetic men equipped with tools in hand launched into this mammoth project. It's a bit like building a tunnel-dimensions must be exact. Levels, twine, and tools for inserting cyliners exactly 36 inches into the ground were placed strategically. The next day a frame was added and an "aha moment" could be heard echoing among the men. Our "neighbors" at the pantry will be receiving fresh produce grown in the garden and hoop house in the next few weeks. We will be able to offer significantly more produce thanks to this grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County.

The Community Foundation of Henderson County awarded the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry $14,348.00 to construct a hoophouse to be placed strategically in the garden. This grant ultimately allows for a longer growing season in the garden providing fresh produce for our neighbors on Saturday mornings. What an exciting morning on Tuesday when a large truck southbound from Ohio delivered a massive amount of items to be assembled. Yes..."Some assembly required." Did you enjoy Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, or Legos as a child? Then you might enjoy this project on a bit larger scale.

(Fanfare Music) It is with great pleasure that we announce that the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Henderson County awarded the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry a grant of $14,348.00 to support a Hoop House for the Lord's Acre of Fletcher, our garden. Garden Master, Doug Kearney prepared a powerful PowerPoint that was presented to the Grant Committee. Highlights of PowerPoint is located at the end of newsletter.

No......It wasn't the Macy's Day Parade this past Saturday on the campus of Calvary Episcopal Church. Arriving a bit after 6 a.m.,  the cars were backed up to Old Airport Road and others were circling the lot.  Thanks to  "Early Bird Dan, number distributor," our neighbors received their numbers to shop, parked their cars, and enjoyed the sunrise.  We welcomed 143 families representing 501 individuals. 15 new families came and received food for the first time with us. Fred reported that for the month of January 456 different households visited the pantry representing 1,563 individuals. 

On Tuesday morning, in rolled the MANNA delivery truck with 5,000 pounds of pasta, soup, beans, vegetables, tuna, peanut butter, tortillas, 20 banana boxes of condiments, and 20 boxes of frozen meat. Fortunately too, we also received 580 pounds of produce which included fresh green beans, zucchini, onions, and Fresh Express salad kits. Rob shared with us that we average distributing food to about 800 individuals in a two week span. That's close to 9,000 meals! Thank you volunteers who helped us with the unloading of the pallets of food from MANNA and placing it on our shelves.