Food Pantry Hope Project Scotts up date

This last Saturday was a blast...we went to 5 Points Elementary then on to Garland Apartments. 490 bags of groceries plus cheese, meat, eggs, salad, and bread. All were very grateful that we showed up. Garland was like going into a third world country. The hotel looking apartments were lived in by primary white poor. Hope was offered. Scott's line we prayed that you'd show up...Their reply...we prayed you'd be here we have nothing. Great servers joined and helped us work the bugs out of the food delivery system.

The VIneyard recently developed a partnership with The Hope Foundation. To better understand that relationship, check out the link to their web site… http://hopeofdayton.com/letter.html.

We will be picking up a shipment of 2,000 to 3,400 lbs. (2-4 skids!) of food EVERY WEEK from the Food Bank in Dayton. Our pick-up is scheduled for Wednesday, 3:15 PM. It takes about an hour to load, then we’ll return to the Vineyard about 4:45 PM for unloading (although this week our pick up is Friday morning at 10:30 AM).

Here is the basic rhythm of the schedule, thus far…

1st Saturday of the month, 11:00 AM, serving families at Fairborn Primary School. Secondary delivery at Garland Apts. to give away any remaining food. Bagging the food will be done Wednesdays 5:30-7:30 PM at the Vineyard Pantry. We prefer to NOT bag it on Saturday morning if possible. (Having it pre-bagged is honoring to the families we are serving, versus having them bag it themselves at the point of distribution, and it also prevents a time crunch on Saturday if we are short on volunteers.) Meet at 10:00 AM at the Vineyard in Beavercreek and go from there. Or you can just show up at Fairborn Primary to serve. Please let us know you will be there for our planning purposes! Thanks!

Lisa and Elom helping load our shipment from the Food Bank. They are hard workers!

2nd Wednesday of the month food pick up will be used to stock our Beavercreek and Dayton Pantries, bagged Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30 PM at the Vineyard Pantry.

3rd Saturday, 11:00 AM distribution at Camp Fire USA at 4301 Powell Road off Troy Pike in Huber Heights. Same bagging strategy/Wednesdays at 5:30 PM. Meet at 10:00 AM at the Vineyard in Beavercreek and go from there, or just show up at Camp Fire to serve!

4th Thursday, 8:00-11:30 AM, distribution to 125 families at our Dayton Campus Pantry. Same bagging strategy/Wednesdays at 5:30 PM. This could be packed in the morning at the Dayton Campus if necessary. We may mix it up between the 1st and 3rd weeks depending on the need at each location and our stock.

Keep in mind it is possible for this schedule to shift a bit, due to the fact that some months may have five Wednesdays and only four Saturdays… Yes, it is possible… September has five Wednesdays, only four Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays!

Our Beavercreek Campus Pantry acts as our warehouse. It’s open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Monday through Friday. (The church is open until 4:30 PM M-F.) To have volunteers there after hours can be arranged, but you can’t just show up at this point and expect that someone will be there. It needs to be scheduled. Elom Dossa, our Loving People Pastoral Assistant, is working on a schedule…

In that several people have expressed interest in serving after-hours... We are developing a team of 15 people to help bag the groceries on Wednesdays at 5:30 PM. Contact Elom to be on the team.

Volunteers include The Vineyard Church (Beavercreek and Dayton Campuses), The Biltmore and Dayton Christian/RUGBY and The Hope Foundation! What a group!

There is also an interesting and fun challenge. We are considered a “nine meal” pantry. What that means is that we are required, by the Food Bank, to distribute food in “nine meal” increments. A “meal” can be as simple as a box of cereal. Or, it can be as substantial as a box of cereal, a carton of milk and two cans of fruit cocktail. Both are considered one “meal.”

In the same manner, one or two cans of beef stew can be considered a meal. Or, you can add a box of crackers, three cans of green beans and a cake mix. Still considered one meal.

Larger families (5+) receive a double portion.

We are inventorying all the food and will have printouts available to use for meal planning. Once meals are planned, we can bag them. It’s best to set up an assembly line with a handful of people and do it one shot.

Each week the inventory will be different and the meals planned and bagged.

For the week that we keep the food to stock our Beavercreek Pantry, we will still pre-bag it and shelve it for distribution there. Any inventory that is not given away from one week to the next can be taken to any of the other points of distribution (primarily our Dayton Campus where the need is always huge.)

We could use a couple extra sets of hands to help us load the food every Wednesday at 3:15 at the Food Bank downtown. It only took Steve and I an hour to do the pick up. Unloading at the Vineyard back in Beavercreek is not difficult. (But we could begin bagging as soon as we return…)

Elom doing the registration!

One additional requirement is that each family fills out a half-sheet form with basic address and family info. This is true for everyone who receives food from us (via The Hope Foundation.) It is not cumbersome or intrusive, although it does as for their household income. No ID is required though.

Please bear with us as we develop a system around the massive amount of food God is providing. We want to have a system in place, so when you show up, there is work to be done. The main needs are bagging on Wednesdays and help with distribution on 1st and 3rd Saturdays. Scott, Steve, Elom, David Anderson and a couple of key volunteers already in place are handling the meal planning.

Shelves at the Pantry almost always need a little stocking and TLC though! Stock often needs restacked...

Just so you have it, here is our POC (Pastor on Call) schedule. The POC works in the Pantry in Beavercreek from 10-2, as I mentioned before.

Monday Hal Hester hhester@daytonvineyard.com
Tuesday Steve Bowen ssbowen@daytonvineyard.com (yes, it is ss)
Wednesday Scott Sliver ssliver@daytonvineyard.com
Thursday Rebecca Holihan rholihan@daytonvineyard.com
Friday David Anderson danderson@daytonvineyard.com

To speak with the POC working in the Pantry on any given day, simply call 937-427-1912 and ask for the Pastor on Call. They will put you through to the Pantry extension (10 AM to 2 PM only).

If you would like to be on the schedule to serve at the Pantry, contact Elom at edossa@daytonvineyard.com.

I hope this helps as you think through your schedule and availability to serve.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

“I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you…” Romans 1:8

Sincerely,

Scott