Mayors' Feed the Hungry Program, Inc
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Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program, Inc. 2019-2020 Background .................................................................................................. 3 Overview ...................................................................................................... 3 Food Drives .................................................................................................. 4 Thanksgiving T-Shirts for Turkeys; Oktoberfest ......................................... 5 Annual Fund Drive ........................................................................................ 6 Flanzer Trust Matching Funds ...................................................................... 7 Homeless Veterans Stand Down .................................................................. 8 Giving Hunger the Blues .............................................................................. 9 Fund Raising Events .................................................................................... 10 Food-for –All ................................................................................................. 11 Food Gift Cards ............................................................................................ 11 Participating Committee Members ............................................................... 12 Description of Member Services ................................................................... 13-15 Holiday Food Drive Providers and Participants ............................................ 16-17 Corporate Sponsors ..................................................................................... 18 Donor Appreciation ....................................................................................... 19 Accounting and Not-for-Profit Information ................................................... 20 Website and Facebook ................................................................................. 20 Giving Partner ............................................................................................. 20 2 President Ronald Regan proclaimed 1987 to be the National Year of Thanksgiving. That same year, Sarasota Mayor Fredd Atkins and representatives of various organizations in the county gathered to decide how to effectively feed the hungry and homeless in the local communities for Thanksgiving and the holiday season. The Mayor’s Feed Hungry Program was established in Sarasota to address this issue. Its original mission was to collect funds and distribute them during the holiday season. Over the years the program has expanded to include food drives, community feedings and providing food gift cards. The program is now endorsed by the Mayors of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach, Longboat Key, North Port, Palmetto, Sarasota, Venice, and the County Commission Chairpersons from Manatee and Sarasota counties. Services are provided to local communities throughout Sarasota and Manatee Counties. The Mayors’ Feed The Hungry Program is a volunteer organization. No government funds have been used to support the program. Membership is open to anyone who is interested to help. Member organizations who regularly participate in meetings and activities are eligible to receive donations to distribute free to the needy in their communities. Please visit the website at www.mayorsfeedthehungry.org for more information. Since its beginning, the Mayors’ Feed The Hungry Program has raised over 3.7 million dollars enabling the program to help feed over 765,000 hungry citizens in our local communities. All the money has been raised from generous community support and is distributed here in Manatee and Sarasota Counties. There are over 25 participating organizations and several concerned citizens that participate in the Mayors’ Feed The Hungry Program. Activities include: Community Feedings Food Drives Public Awareness Promotions Stand Down for Homeless Veterans Giving Hunger the Blues Fund Drives Food Gift Card Distribution 3 Holiday Food Drive Over 330 schools, companies and organizations participate in the annual holiday food drive. Over 56 tons of food were collected and distributed to food pantries at no charge in time for Thanksgiving and the holiday season. We thank the Baltimore Orioles for supporting our food drive by offering their facilities to collect and sort food. We gave away 3,000 turkeys. Some were frozen turkeys and some were paper turkeys ($10 food gift cards). Sonny’s BBQ donated meals to over 250 volunteers who showed up to helped sort food. 4 Thanksgiving Turkeys The Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program partners with The Joy FM for their annual T-shirts for Turkeys program. Collection stations were set up at Chick-Fil-A restaurants in Sarasota and Bradenton with a live broadcast by the Joy FM asking people to donate a frozen turkey or a paper turkey ($10). We provided volunteers to help at the events and collected 3,000 turkeys. Oktoberfest Hotel Indigo held a fund raising event for the Mayor’s Feed the Hungry Program during Oktoberfest Our volunteers helped by being in the booth during the event, greeting customers and promoting our pro- gram. In addition to the proceeds from the event Hotel Ingdigo made a gener- ous contribution. 5 6 Your Donations to the Mayors' Feed the Hungry Program Can Be Matched by the: The Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust January 25th - Dec. 31st, 2020 Please consider making a donation now ! The Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust has offered a $500,000 matching chal- lenge for not-for-profit agencies in the Suncoast Area. All donations $5 to $500 will be matched 1:1, up to $500,000, through 2020. Donate online or mail a check as described below. Note: If you want to donate more than $500 you can make $500 monthly donations and each will be matched. To Donate Online: Go to: Flanzertrust.org. Click on the red “Donate Here” button. Enter the dollar amount. If you would like to make a monthly donation, check the box to make it a monthly donation. Enter: Donate with PayPal bar OR Donate with Debit or Credit Card Follow the instructions for either option. Most important is to enter the name Mayors' Feed the Hungry Program in the “Add a note”, “Write a note (Optional)” section. If you forget to include the Mayors' Feed the Hungry Program in the notes, then send a separate e-mail to: [email protected] to have your donation directed accordingly. To Donate by Check Make your check out to: The Louis & Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust In the memo line on the check write: Mayors' Feed the Hungry Program. Mail the check to the: Louis & Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust 1843 Floyd Street Sarasota, FL 34239 7 Stand Downs are one part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to provide services to homeless veterans. The Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program participated in Stand Downs in both Sarasota and Manatee Counties. A variety of services were offered from different local agencies and organizations. including: Food Clothing Medical Screening Hair Cuts Job Placement Assistance Dental Services Bicycle Give Away Music and Entertainment Hot Cooked Meals Flu Shots Amnesty Court Community Services The Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program provided: Food Gift Cards for needy Vets; and Breakfast for the event. 8 Giving Hunger the Blues is an annual music festival that brings together music lovers, family and friends to raise funds to help to feed, protect and nurture the children in our community. The proceeds from this event are donated to the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program which helps us provide meals for needy families. The theme for 2019 was the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock. The main event was performances by Regi Hendrix and Woodstock alum Gerardo “Jerry Velez” formerly of Jimi Hendrix Band. 9 4th of July Booth in Palmetto 10 During the holiday season in November and December, Publix Supermarkets raises funds to feed the hungry by taking donations at the checkout as part of the Food-For-All program. Donation tickets can be purchased in $1, $3 and $5 amounts. The Mayors’ Feed The Hungry Program received a total of $27,500 from the Food for All Donation. Food Gift Cards allow People to Shop with Dignity Each year the Mayors’ Feed The Hungry Program purchases food gift cards and distributes them during the holidays. This year over $170,000 in food gift cards were distributed. Food gift cards are given to participating member organizations. Each member takes them back to their organization and distributes them to their clients and through those that assist via food pantries. The program members have established a guideline to give one $10 food gift card per person with a suggested limit of four gift cards per family. Distribution of food gift cards is coordinated among our participating member organizations so that recipients can only receive them at one location. Food gift cards allow people to shop with dignity, allowing them to purchase food items they might not otherwise have been able to afford. The Mayors’ Feed The Hungry Program purchases food gift cards through Publix Supermarkets. These cards can be used at any Publix store for food only. The cards are programmed to prohibit the purchase of alcohol, lottery tickets or tobacco products. 11 The Mayors’ Feed The Hungry Program is Open to all who Desire to Participate Monthly meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month from January through August. From September through December weekly meetings are held. Meetings are held in Sarasota City Hall, from 11:00 am to noon. 2018-2019 participating