Newsletter - 3-02-09

She's Done It Again

Nick couldn't believe his eyes. "This is fantastic," he exclaimed. "I can make stew with this and serve these for breakfast tomorrow morning," he said rifling through the packages of beef tips and the boxes of fat sausages that he knew the over 100 seniors served daily at the Russian Community Club in Anza Vista would love. "This is a blessing," intoned Regina at Community of Opportunity in Hunter's Point. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the freezer bags full of bacon and ground beef. "We used to reach into our own pockets to help provide food for the members of our program," she continued, "but with the economic mess, that money dried up." "This will really help our families," enthused Mabel of La Raza Community Resource Center in the Mission as she unpacked vacuum-sealed bags of cut chicken and pork chops. "The need right now is so great," she said in a subdued voice.

Food Runners founder and director Mary Risley has done it again. She put her compassion and her incredible business acumen together and came up with a plan. She called her good friend Jim at Golden Gate Meat Company and told him that Food Runners wanted to purchase $1,000 worth of meat every Monday for the purpose of delivering it to shelters and food programs in San Francisco. Golden Gate Meat Company jumped on board. "I'll do right by Food Runners," Jim assured. "It's such an important cause. Golden Gate Meat Company is thrilled to contribute."

The first pick up took place on Monday March 3rd. I asked Food Runners weekday, full time truck driver Brian to swing by my office and show me the haul. I wanted to see how much and what kind of meats there were in order to best direct distribution. Brian arrived at my office at 9:30 AM. I went down to the truck. Brian rolled up the back door. What a beautiful sight! Twelve boxes with the variety of meats described above nestled side by side on the truck shelves. Twelve boxes may not sound like a lot, but you'd be surprised at how many portions the boxes contained. And everything was good quality and fresh or fresh frozen. Golden Gate Meat Company did indeed do right by Food Runners. This week's load was even bigger and better including a half dozen whole hams and a huge block of Swiss cheese. Think of all the sandwiches that could make. Food Runners newly established meat program is truly amazing. Day old bread and pastries are easy to come by in the world of food donations, but protein is a different matter. Just imagine the difference this makes to programs trying to stretch their dwindling budgets. I can't wait to see what Golden Gate Meat Company sends our way next week and the week after that and the week after that. I can't wait to send it where it's needed. All I can say is: wow, Mary Risley. Wow!

Food Runners picked up 104,565 pounds of food in the month of February. Volunteers performed 761 runs and the truck did 264. Please welcome February's new recipients, West Bay Filipino Mulit-Service Center and At the Crossroads for Homeless Youth. Also welcome new donors Carolyn Davis Catering, Saralanoka, Vic Ferrer Productions and Filmcore. Please give a big shout out to Filmcore, a video post production house who donates the leftovers from their daily in house lunches. I used to work in craft services at a video post production house and let me tell you that the food is always great. Since Filmcore is never quite sure if they will have leftovers (they usually do) on a given day, Food Runners provides an at-the-ready Food Runners volunteer who checks in everyday after 2PM to see. It's a great system. And so easy. Nothing gets thrown away!

Do you know anyone coming to town for a vacation or a convention? Are they staying at a downtown hotel? If you should happen to join them for a meal at their hotel, ask the hotel restaurant staff what happens to their leftover food. Tell the hotel about Food Runners. Donating is a snap. Food Runners is safe. It's legal and it's free.

Nancy

P.S. Don't miss Mary Risley's article in "The New Fillmore" newspaper!

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