There is always something to be thankful for, and this holiday season, we are thankful for you!
It is such a privilege to work alongside all of you on this incredible journey to support our neighbors facing food insecurity. Every day, you make a difference. Every day, you provide much-needed relief to a Wyoming individual or family facing impossible choices – including choosing between paying rent and buying nutritious food. As our neighbors face historic inflation rates and with the additional expenses of a holiday season, your services are crucial. Please know that Food Bank of Wyoming is here to support you all the way. As we each continue to provide vital food assistance to Wyoming neighbors facing hard times, Food Bank of Wyoming could not be more thankful for your partnership! It is with great joy that I have this opportunity to express how grateful we all are for your continued commitment and passion. Our entire team is rooting for your success and well-being. And please remember to take time this holiday season to enjoy friends, family, and neighbors! With heartfelt gratitude, Myriam Wolcott Programs Manager, Food Bank of Wyoming |
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| Food Storage Tips The FoodKeeper App provided on the USDA’s website is a great tool to help you and your clients understand food and beverage storage best practices and ultimately maximize the freshness and quality of foods. |
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Rawlins' Christmas Food Baskets
When St. Vincent de Paul was formed in 1983, only a few food baskets were given out each week. Volunteers delivered the food to households in Rawlins that were facing food insecurity. By Christmas of that year, St. Vincent de Paul gave out 12 baskets for Christmas. St. Vincent de Paul continues to help neighbors in need Monday through Friday year-round; a lot has changed in the last 40 years.
During the holiday season, volunteers with St. Vincent de Paul range in age from grade school to 89 years old. To make Christmas a little brighter for Rawlins neighbors, volunteers decorate laundry baskets with greeting cards made by local youth groups and fill them with food. In 2022, St. Vincent de Paul gave out 330 Christmas food baskets in one day. To keep up with demand, the distribution was changed to a mobile pantry style, with families driving up and volunteers placing the food baskets into cars.
Each basket includes a traditional Christmas Eve dinner, a Christmas dinner, and a light Christmas morning breakfast. All of the baskets are pre-made with nonperishable items and, on the day of the distribution, perishable food is added, including a choice of a ham or turkey, potatoes, butter, fresh fruit, and a dessert. There are also some non-food surprises as well: one year, 400 snow brushes were distributed; another year a local dentist donated toothbrushes and toothpaste. Rawlins’ youth groups are a huge component for this Christmas food distribution. Even the young children write cards to include with food baskets. With the help of the entire community, St. Vincent de Paul’s Christmas baskets are a little more special than the regular monthly food baskets.
If it weren’t for Food Bank of Wyoming, grants, and corporate and individual giving of time and money, none of this would be possible. Because St. Vincent de Paul is entirely dependent on donations and grants, no one receives a salary. All of the St. Vincent de Paul volunteers are just that: volunteers who love what they do. St. Vincent’s motto is “Neighbors helping neighbors.” |
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Important Dates To allow our employees and volunteers time to spend with their families during the holidays, Food Bank of Wyoming will be closed the following days: Thanksgiving Thursday, November 23
Day after Thanksgiving Friday, November 24 Christmas Day Friday, December 25 New Year’s Day Monday, January 1
We are thankful for your partnership, hard work, and dedication to helping Wyoming communities. No mobile pantries are scheduled for the above dates. All partner deliveries will be rescheduled.
Contact us with any questions at: helpdesk@wyomingfoodbank.org.
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It is tempting to label the number of people served at a pantry or within a food bank network as the “demand.” But it isn’t, not even close. Most pantries can only serve a family up to once per month. The food provided will last roughly three days. What are those families doing for the other days of the month? And those are just the individuals that walk through the door. Food banking is a low-margin business: we can buy food a little cheaper than the neighbors we serve, but only marginally.
Instead of providing everything a family needs, providing a lot of some of what is needed better maximizes the dollar value of assistance. This is true even when we purchase culturally responsive foods. |
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Food Bank of Wyoming is in the leverage business. We take a dollar and turn it into enough food for 3 meals. Then, our Hunger Relief Partners take that food and enrich it with many more dollars’ worth of referrals for free assistance within their communities that are appropriate for each guest.
Purchasing food is the solution when food is the only thing needed. What sort of services are guests requesting in your area? |
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Reading Your Truck Route Sheet |
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Here is another look at how to read your Truck Route Sheets. In the September newsletter, we looked at how to determine if you are looking at the correct Truck Route Sheet. This month, we will focus on the information that you need to locate when deciding when to place your orders.
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The Holiday Season is Around the Corner!
During any month of the year, Food Bank of Wyoming cannot be certain what products will be readily available through donations or through our purchasing network. This holiday season, you are encouraged to check Agency Express for additional choices as they become available. If there's one thing we know about the holidays, it's that unexpected donations and bulk-purchased items become available when we least expect it!
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2023 USDA Foods & TEFAP
Many Wyoming families rely on food assistance from government-funded programs. While there are various resources offered through a variety of agencies, Food Bank of Wyoming distributes food from two of these programs: The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Both programs are designed to support people living in difficult conditions with hunger relief.
TEFAP serves more than 9,000 families across Wyoming each year. Thanks to our Hunger Relief Partners participating in this program in 19 of Wyoming’s counties, families are getting the food support they need. TEFAP products vary widely and we work with partners to meet the distribution needs of their communities. Over the last year, with help from our partners, Food Bank of Wyoming has been able to distribute food staples such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, meats, milk, cheese, pasta, and rice.
If you are not currently a pantry or site participating in TEFAP and would like to know more, please reach out for information on incorporating this additional resource into your hunger-relief efforts. Please email our Government Programs Representative, Samantha Maxwell. |
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The 2023 AARP Wyoming Survey
Older Wyomingites are more concerned about the economy now than they were in 2020, according to a 2023 AARP survey. The survey revealed large increases in the number of older adults in Wyoming who are concerned with being able to afford groceries or other household necessities.
If your organization serves our older neighbors, you may want to take a look at what Wyomingites shared during the latest AARP Vital Voices Survey. |
| Wyoming Food Coalition Conference
The Wyoming Food Coalition has tentatively scheduled its annual winter conference for January 26-27, 2024, at Central Wyoming College, Riverton, Wyoming.
Visit wyfoodcoalition.org for more details. |
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Partner Resource Page Review |
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You have all probably spent some time on Food Bank of Wyoming’s Partner Portal, especially if you are one of your agency’s shoppers. But did you know that there is a plethora of information available in the Partner Resources “briefcase”? Take a peek… |
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*Reminder* Thanksgiving is just around the corner!
Are your shelves stocked? Watch Agency Express for these Holiday Favorites: Potatoes, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Green Beans, Sweet Potatoes |
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Give Time Back to What's Important
Are paperwork and manual intake diverting you from your clients? Do you wish you had more time to talk with the people who visit your agency instead of spending time documenting whether or not they are receiving all of the services available to them?
With Link2Feed, clients can be rapidly checked in for services, giving you more time to connect with your community. After the initial setup, you can conduct an intake with one click of a button or one scan of a barcode, allowing you time to talk with the people you serve. If you would like to learn more or need a refresher, contact Samantha Maxwell.
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Partner Perks
Food Bank of Wyoming is devoted to our partners – that's you! Just as your team would go the extra mile for your clients, we will go the distance for you. Here are three of our favorite ways to do so: -
Helping you develop services/programs that meet your community's needs
- Training your team on food safety, inventory, and purchasing
- Providing the highest quality and widest variety of foods available
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Is your Produce Climacteric or Non-Climacteric?
For the most part, fresh produce falls into two categories – climacteric or non-climacteric – which are differentiated by the levels of ethylene they produce post-harvest. The above illustrations can help your neighbors understand how to store produce and reduce food waste. -
Climacteric products emit a greater amount of ethylene as they ripen and, after ripening peaks, their ethylene production drops off. The climacteric event also leads to other changes in the fruit, including pigment changes and sugar release. For fruits raised as food, the climacteric event marks the peak of edible ripeness, with fruits having the best taste and texture for consumption.
- These produce items include apples, bananas, tomatoes, pears, guava, mangoes, peaches, apples, and avocados.
- Non-climacteric produce does not ripen after the product has been harvested.
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This type includes citrus fruits (grapefruit and lemon), berries, pumpkin, okra, cherries, and carambola.
But what does this all mean? It means that climacteric fruits can be stored closer to room temperature until they reach a desired ripeness. After that, they should go in the low-humidity drawer of a refrigerator. These have a relatively long shelf-life. Non-climacteric fruits need to be refrigerated in a high-humidity drawer (closed off from the rest of the produce). |
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Fall & Winter Tips
As we move into the colder fall and winter seasons, please be aware that Food Bank of Wyoming may make closure determinations. We will post closure information on our website, social media, and phone messaging system. Please ensure that accommodations are in place for volunteers and clients to remain safe and warm while attending a distribution. |
| We have these tips for fall/winter distributions: -
Assess your organization’s ability to serve clients indoors
- A drive-through model can help accommodate more neighbors
- Provide hand sanitizer and masks for those who want them
- Clean and sanitize surfaces often
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Set occupancy limits (i.e., one person per household)
- And take care of yourself both physically and mentally!
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Food Bank of Wyoming: Join Our Team
We are currently looking for Wyoming residents who are passionate about supporting our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Want to do good with good people? Food Bank of Wyoming works daily to ignite the power of community to nourish people facing hunger. If this sounds like the way you would like to spend your day, check out the positions at this link!
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This institution is an equal opportunity provider. |
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