Tualatin School House Pantry The Pantry Post DECEMBER 2014 TSHP Gets a Face Lift for our 10 Year Anniversary ! INSIDE THIS ISSUE: As you have hopefully already heard, TSHP began a healthy pantry initiative July 1st. Although our pantry already was committed to supplying healthy items such as fresh milk, meat and eggs, we Face Lift at the 1 wanted to do more. In this push, we had reached Pantry out for more fresh produce items. We saw a great response and the last two summers our produce supply has nearly doubled. Our tables were over- flowing and additional tables were added blocking 2 Three Com- walk ways and making it a tight fit for our clients munity Gro- to shop. The addition of so much produce also cery Partners doubled our wait times as their normal 20 minutes to shop saw an extra 20 minutes of shopping just for produce! A great problem to have but one that Turkeys Tur- 3 needed some attention. keys and More To cut back wait times, make walk ways Turkeys open and usable and to be able to accept even more produce next summer, we opted for a major rear- ranging of our pantry. We needed to shift our pro- duce to the end of our clients shopping experience Volunteer 3 from the middle for two reasons. It would mean our volunteer shoppers who go around with clients Opportunities could drop them off to our new Produce Hosts and then go help our next client cutting wait times in half. It also meant that we would have more square footage to fit this growing produce department. It feels weird to say ‘department’ but it’s really the right word for it for several reasons. One, because of the Top Needs 3 sheer size of this area and due to a very generous donation from Whole Foods. Whole Foods remodeled their stores and donated to us 11 of their older produce display tables. They are solid dark stained wood and the tops tip up to display our produce so cli- ents can more easily see and pick what they Get Involved & 3 would like. We are looking more and more like a Contact regular grocery store every day. These types of Information changes and upgrades not only help functionally, they also help clients feel better about coming to a food pantry. As you know, it’s hard for clients to ask for help and the stigma about food pantries isn’t great. We are changing that by welcoming Merry Christmas our clients in a clean, hospitable and professional grocery store setting. Don’t you feel better about From the your food and yourself when you are in a store or Pantry to restaurant that is clean, professional and friendly? We’d love for you come by and take a All! look for yourself. We are always happy to give our 5 minute tour to all donors and community partners. Next time you are in the area or have a donation don’t hesitate to ask for a quick look around. because we You will be impressed with what you see and what we are able to offer to our clients because of our in- care... credible community partners like Whole Foods!
THANK YOU WHOLE FOODS FOR OUR NEW PRODUCE DISPLAYS!
Three great local grocery community partners! New seasons market We were excited to be asked to be a part of New Seasons Market Nyberg Rivers grand Opening October 22nd. TSHP picks up a truck load of perishable food each morning we are open. Some days we even have to go back for a 2nd load! The other week we ea- gerly accepted 300 dozen brown eggs. A great addition to our pantry’s healthy pantry push! We pick up a wide variety of items from bread, to dessert, produce, deli items, seasonal items, milk, eggs and more! We’re happy to welcome New Seasons into our community; they’re a natural fit and are passionate about giving back to the community to make it a place where people can thrive. We’re appreciative of the ongoing weekly food donations we’ve received through New Seasons gleaners program and now we’re honored to be the hunger relief partner for the Nyberg Rivers store. Their team is exceptional and their food is unique and high quality. We hope you will thank New Seasons next time you shop there on our behalf!
We were really excited to see Haggen Food & Pharmacy’s recent crea- tive food drive. They sold cool t-shirts and donated all of the proceeds haggen to the pantry. They also do food drives and collect contributions for us throughout the year. For one food drive customers can buy a $10 bag of groceries for us. They ask about our current shortages ensuring that what goes in those bags is what we and our clients need. These activities are in addition to the gleaning program that provides day old bakery items, seasonal items and slightly damaged goods twice a week. Thank you Haggen for your on going support!”
We receive a check for around $400 each Fred Meyer quarter from Fred Meyer’s community giving rewards program. This is with just a few families partici- pating. Imagine what it could be if more of you added us to your card as your non-profit reward agency of choice. It just takes a second online or over the phone, cost you nothing and gives us a significant financial donation on a regular basis! This is in addi- tion to the perishables we pickup twice a week year round. These pick-up’s include bread, dessert, seasonal items or slightly dam-
aged goods. They also do food drives on our behalf. Thank you Fred Meyer! P A G E 2 Turkeys Turkeys and more Turkeys!
As is tradition here at TSHP, we give out turkeys and a special turkey kit for Thanksgiving. Clients look forward to this for *DONATIONS months. We were able to give out over 400 turkeys again this HOURS year to clients from our service area. Their turkey kits included ARE in addition to the turkey itself, cranberry sauce, fresh squash, canned vegetables, stuffing, gravy and raisins. AS FOLLOWS: A special thank you to Target who let us purchase 300 of those MONDAY turkeys at a significant discount so that we would be able to give out as many as we did. Target employees also joined us for Fri- 9AM-8PM day and Monday with four separate teams to help pass them out TUESDAY on our busiest 2 days of the year. We have a great partnership 9AM-2PM with them and are always impressed with their generosity. They also donated all the plastic bags we needed to put the turkeys and turkey kits in. These small, yet important and needed donations, WEDNESDAY save our donated funds for more important things like milk and eggs. 8:30AM- The pantry purchased 300 turkeys with donated funds and the other 100 were donated from local businesses and individuals. Thank you all for your continued support of this fun and special event. 4:30PM Donations to help pay for these turkeys are a bit down this year and it’s not too late to donate to FRIDAY help pay for these! Donations can be made online at www.schoolhousepantry.org or put in the 8:30AM- mail PO Box 248 Tualatin, OR 97062! 3:30PM Or ONLINE at Current volunteer need is shoppers on Fridays from 1-3pm. We are looking for 1-2 more. You www.schoolhousepantry.org could do weekly or every other week. If interested please email [email protected]
CURRENT TOP NEEDS AT TSHP:
TOILET PAPER, SOAP , TOOTH- CEREAL: Hot and Cold are both needed PASTE & SHAMPOO MEAT: We try to give families 3-8lb of meat depending CANNED PASTA (Ravioli, DONATE on family size. We take fresh, frozen or canned meats of all varieties! Spag ’Os etc) & CHILI IN BULK! Powdered LAUNDRY DETERGENT: Pow- Key CONDIMENTS: mus- dered is preferable. We can divide & repackage powered tard, ketchup, salad dressing, mayo etc. where we can’t divide the liquid. SUGAR: bulk is great, we can repackage it Used Brown Paper or Plastic Bags: This is a great way to donate without cost!
We’re on the web, check us out at Tualatin School www.schoolhousepantry.org House Pantry Because We Care... The mission of the Tualatin School House Food Pantry is to Located in the basement of Rolling Hills provide emergency food to qualified households in a wel- Community Church coming environment. Thanks to many individuals, Compa- 3550 SW Borland Rd nies, Donors & the Oregon Food Bank, we PO Box 248 are now serving around 650 families each month! Tualatin, OR 97062
If you’re interested in volunteering, please Phone: 503.783.0721 contact the Program Coordinator; Tracy Fax: 503.210.0361 Smith, to find a time & job that fits you! E-mail: [email protected] You can call the pantry or email www.schoolhousepantry.org [email protected].
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