the
4702 Transport Drive, Building 6 | Tampa, FL 33605
813-254-1190 | FeedingTampaBay.org
Scoop
MEMBER AGENCY NEWSLETTER
JUNE/JULY 2016
Hurricane Season
Hurricane season has officially arrived in our area. The season lasts from June 1st until
November 30th and preparing for this powerful and destructive event is extremely
important. If your pantry is able to open up after a disaster, creating a plan will help keep
your volunteers and staff prepared to respond as quickly and efficiently as needed.
Here are some tips to help your pantry open up after a disaster:
1.
Establish a leader that will be available in the event of a disaster to lead your pantry.
Having a person who can take charge in a disaster will ensure that everyone knows
their role and is preparing for the next step.
2. Create a contact list of volunteers that are ready to help in the event of a disaster.
Having the contact information in one place will save you time in locating all of the
volunteers’ numbers.
3. Have a documented plan for volunteers and staff that lists assignments and expectations. Visuals and lists of assignments and expectations provides your volunteers
with clear directions.
4. Have your volunteers and/or staff trained and ready to be activated in the event of
a disaster. By assigning volunteers or staff to certain duties ahead of time, this will
have them ready when a disaster happens.
5. Review your plan with your volunteers and staff at least once a year. This will keep
all of your volunteers informed of any changes or additions to your plan.
6. Please also make sure that Feeding Tampa Bay has your most up-to-date contact
information to keep you informed in the event of a disaster and how we can all work
together to help out!!
You can search for more information on how to remain prepared for a disaster in your area
by visiting www.ready.gov. The FEMA App is also a helpful tool that you can download on
your phone or tablet and it will provide you with disaster routes, weather alerts and safety
tips to help prepare you in the event of a disaster.
AGENCY CONFERENCE
FEEDING TAMPA BAY
Mark your calendars for the 2016 Agency Conference on
Friday, August 26, 2016.
This year’s conference will focus on building agency
capacity and will provide your agency with useful and
meaningful information for your pantry. Please plan on
having at least one person from your agency attend the
conference. Registration is required and will open up the
first week of August.
EMPOWER
ENHANCE
ENERGIZE
AGENCY CONFERENCE
SAVE
Feeding Tampa Bay’s 4th Annual Agency Conference
When :
Where :
August 26, 2016
|
the
DATE
8:30 AM – 1:30 PM
University Area Community Development Center
14013 N 22nd Street | Tampa, FL 33613
More details to follow!
REMINDERS
Feeding Tampa Bay’s
warehouse
will
be
closed Monday, August 1st.
Please contact our front desk at
813-254-1190 if you need to re-schedule pick-up times for your online
order or shopping appointments!
Rhonda Gindlesperger is your new
Agency Services Manager! Contact
her for all Agency Relations needs at
330-217-9072 or [email protected]
did you know ?
Making slight modifications to
your recipes when cooking or
baking is an easy way to help
reduce the amount of fat in your
meals. While these changes
may seem small, they can make
an impact on your health over
the long-term.
Suggestions!
When baking, you can use
unsweetened applesauce in
place of oil in order to drop the
amount of fat. Unsweetened
applesauce is low in calories
and does not contain any fat.
Slicing eggplant or zucchini
thinly and using it in place of
lasagna noodles when making
lasagna is a lower calorie and
lower carb option. This is also a
great way to sneak more fresh
vegetables into your meal.
When making your own salad
dressing, you can replace half of
the oil with apple, orange,
grapefruit, lemon or tomato
juice. Not only does it cut down
on the amount of oil you will
use, it will also add extra
vitamins to your dressing!
Love butter but are trying to cut
down on the fat? Try using fruit
butters instead of regular butter
as they are fat free!
meet Kat RETAIL STORE COORDINATOR
Kat joined Feeding Tampa Bay in May as the new Retail Store Coordinator. Kat is originally from upstate New York
where she completed her Bachelor’s degree at SUNY Albany. She moved to Tampa Bay to attend business school
at the University of Tampa where she graduated with her MBA with a concentration in Non Profit Management in
2015. She has been a fan of Feeding Tampa Bay since she was introduced to the organization a few years ago, and
is excited to join the team! Kat lives in St. Pete with her boyfriend, Jason, their dog, and their cat. In her free time,
Kat enjoys painting, trying new restaurants, and spending time with friends. An interesting fact about Kat is that
she is from the same hometown as Jane Simon, who she works with in Procurement!
food safety tip :
When sorting through your cans
to distribute out to clients, their
health and safety is a top priority.
Remember to discard cans with
the following defects.
highlights
1
Severe dent in seam
Deep dents in can body
Visit Tampa Bay hosted their 3rd annual Tourism Gives Back event at Amelia
Arena where 26 teams from Tampa Bay's hospitality industry packed 5,600
bags of food, equivalent to 28,000 meals! The event included a race to see
which team would be the fastest team to pack 200 food bags. A new activity
was also added to this year’s event - can structures - where 19 teams competed against each other to build unique sculptures using canned goods. The
guests of honor at this fun event were 20 members of Kingdom Kids, who
helped cheer on the 250 representatives! This event not only raised more than
$30,500 in cash donations, creating an additonal 305,000 meals but also
increased awareness of hunger in our community! A huge thank you to Visit
Tampa Bay for all creating such a wonderful event for our network’s mission!
Competition Winners:
Fastest Team to Create 200 Food Packages: Hooters
Best Team Spirit: Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Best Can Sculpture: Epicurean Hotel
Most Money Raised: Hilton Tampa Downtown
Missing or unreadable
labels
Swollen or bulging ends
Holes or signs of leaking
Rust that cannot be
wiped off
Following these simple rules will
help your pantry to determine if
you should distribute the item or
throw it out. When in doubt,
throw it out!
2
A few months ago Megan Carlson, Feeding Tampa Bay’s Volunteer Services
Manager, began incorporating a monthly Family Night. Family Night allows
families of all ages to visit the Feeding Tampa Bay warehouse to volunteer
together and learn about hunger in our communities. Kid-friendly and age
appropriate activities are provided and help bring awareness to the 1 in 4
children in our community who goes hungry.
agency tip :
You can find other local pantries
on our website at
www.feedingtampabay.org.
Connecting with other agencies
is a great way to learn how other
pantries operate and how they
secure volunteers. Click on "FIND
FOOD" and type in the zip code
under "SEARCH FOR A NEARBY
FOOD PANTRY" or click on the
city where you would like to
locate another food pantry. This
is also a great resource to
provide a client if they need to
obtain food at a different time or
a closer location. Collaborating
with another agency is a great
way to get different ideas for
your pantry!!!
The next Family Night will take place at the Feeding Tampa Bay Warehouse
on Friday, August 19th from 6 pm - 8 pm. If you are interested or know someone who is interested in being a part of this fun volunteer experience, please
visit our website and click on the Volunteer button to sign up. Also check out
all the fun going on at Family Night by following us on Facebook!
FoodPantryHelper.com
Food Pantry Helper is a free web-based tool that can help your pantry track the
number of clients and households you served, inventory, volunteers and donors. The
tool also has a feature that allows you to track grants that you have applied for and
reminds you of tasks that need to be completed. The Food Pantry Helper has "how to"
videos under the Learn section to show you how to enter your information. It allows
you to use only the features you want to use and is a great resource to help keep your
pantry organized. It even has a reporting section that helps you plan for your pantry’s
upcoming distributions.