Gleaners Dispatch

Donation from Winn-Dixie

2009-08-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

The Winn Dixie Foundation has generously gave us a donation of $2,500. We are so thankful for the partnership we have with them to help our local neighborhood. We recently attended the check presentation at the store located on Blanding and Wilson.

Dave Fountain (Founder) and Linda Lee (Marketing) accept a check from Larry (Winn-Dixie Store Director)

Back In The News

2009-07-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Our hard work made it into the news recently. This article was so wonderful because it informed so many people of the services we offer. For two days after this article ran we received non-stop phone calls from people asking how they can receive our services.

Read the full article here:
http://jacksonville.com/lifestyles/2009-07-14/story/jacksonville_nonprofit_feeds_the_hungry_with_cast-off_supermarket_goods

It is such a blessing the way we are able to reach others!

Here is some feed back we recieved about the article:

Good morning!

In the recent newspaper story about your work, one recipient commented on trying to figure out what to do with the rutabaga. Of course it can be peeled and cooked like a potato, but it can be a bit bland and bitter. Here is another option, that you may consider worth passing on:

Rutabaga casserole

1 rutabaga
Water to cover rutabaga
½ tsp salt
½ cup plain (not flavored) breadcrumbs
½ cup milk or cream (water can work, too)
1 small onion
1-2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp dark syrup (pancake syrup)
Dash white pepper
Dash nutmeg
Dash ginger

Combine the milk and breadcrumbs in a bowl; set aside.
Peel and cut the rutabaga; cook in salt water. (This can also be done in a slow cooker, but it’ll take longer)
Chop the onion; sautee in butter/margarine unti it’s light brown; let it cool.
Mash the cooked rutabaga. Add all other ingredients (breadcrumbs+milk, onion, spices), and mix together.
Put in a buttered casserole dish; sprinkle top with breadcrumbs; dot with butter.
Bake at 350 for one hour or more.

This is a dish that gets better the more you bake it. The syrup and breadcrumbs take away the bitterness, so it’s quite tasty.

Hope this is a useful idea!
Anna

Dinner Update

2009-07-03T08:35:00.001-07:00

Our first two months of hosting a free community dinner in Callahan has been more of a success then we ever could have imagined!

Our first dinner we served about 40 guests. Since then it has grown every Wednesday and we currently serve about 150 guests a night. Because we are able to help so many people we now have to change our location. July the 8th we will start serving dinner at the Callahan Fairgrounds in the 4-H Building. This is where we hand out our weekly distribution on Mondays.

We are so very thankful the community has benefited from the dinners. We have heard so many thanks from everyone who attends. The Gleaners Office would like to take a moment to personally thank Paul Schwend, Linda Lee, and DJ who work extremely hard throughout the week to ensure these dinners are a success. We would also like to thank the First United Methodist Church of Callahan for their volunteer with the dinners in the month of June. We hope other churches will also help us in the coming weeks as it takes many people to help feed those in need.

What we are seeing is more than just providing a free meal to those in need but also finding other resources the community can use. An example of this is Eddie Jordon aka "BB", who volunteers at the dinners on Wednesdays. While working with him we found that he was in desperate need of an eye exam and glasses. Through networking we found Dr. Marks who offered to help BB free of charge. There are many other examples of neighbors helping neighbors going on. Which is really what it is all about, PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE!

Callahan Dinner- Photos

2009-07-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

We always say a prayer before we eat. Volunteers help serve food.

We have a full house!

We were even able to get a volunteer a free pair of glasses!

Hosting Callahan Dinners

2009-05-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

We have started hosting a FREE weekly dinner in Callahan for anyone in need of a hot meal. The dinners will be served on Wednesday evenings from 5pm until 6:30. We had about 50 guests at our first dinner, which was held at the Tax Collectors Office on Mickler St. We will have the dinner at this location until June. We will be sure to let you know of the new location once it is set up.

Here is a link to the news article that featured us!

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=137383

2009 Photos

2009-04-27T11:11:00.001-07:00

Dave Fountain (Organization Founder) and Michelle Adams talk to volunteers at the Ramona Flea Market

The Mayor took time out of his busy schedule to tour our distribution site and visit with our volunteers and line guests:

Look for our soup truck as we use it to feed people in need. It will be used at our event for "Paint the Town Red" on the north side and also in Callahan for a weekly dinner we are hosting starting May 6th.

Jump Start 2009

2009-04-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

Gleaners began its tenth year of operation in 2009 and we have never been busier!

In February we enjoyed a wonderful fellowship at a Volunteer Get-Together at the Londontowne Apartments. In March we competed in a Gumbo Cook-off at the Jacksonville Landing and took first place for presentation. April was extremely busy with a visit from Mayor Peyton & the Westside Business Leaders Association at the Ramona Flea Market. We also participated in the Veteran's Fair at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds and the Cecil Field Air Show. To wrap up the month we are working with the City's Housing Department at their Annual "Paint the Town Red" event where we will be serving the community lunch and having a special distribution.

We are still seeing weekly increases in the number of families needing our help with free fresh food. We were blessed to meet the matching goal last year that the Sontag Foundation challenged us with. Because 2009 is the first year in three years that we are not in line to receive matching funds from them, we are now challenging OURSELVES to match the funds we raised last year!

We are in current need of mechanical work. We have three vans in desperate need of repairs. We are also starting our Soup Galley Ministry back up. If you would like to help drive our van, make soup or serve soup to those in need of a hot meal, please contact our office.

Our New Blog

2008-12-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

Gleaners Dispatch Gazette

Last week was Thanksgiving and the food donated by our good and loyal benefactors went to good use in helping underpaid and some elderly local folks enjoy a brighter holiday.

Two days later in keeping with the Gleaners Dispatch tradition, our family of volunteers was invited to a Gleaners appreciation dinner and evening of Karaoke graciously provided by Tony Creppel, who said “I really am impressed with what Gleaners does all year round and I just want to donate an evening of entertainment to this group.”

This year’s event was held at the Oak Hill Church of the Nazarene on Old Middleburg Road north.

Tony owns Delaine & Tony Entertainment and Karaoke on Hammond Blvd.
“The attendees very much appreciated Tony’s time and gracious donation of some fine music to entertain the crowd and even allow them to participate,” said Dave Fountain, CEO and founder of Gleaners, “even more amazing was to find so many talented singers in our midst; our volunteers it turns out, are multi-talented, Dave added.

Special thanks to a well-known construction business owner Lee Crowe for providing a wide array of Christian and rock and roll performances enjoyed by all.

Trent Bosley, Daniel Buck, Linda Lee, James Mitchell and Betty Rowland made sure the Turkey and all its fixins’ were right on schedule to feed hungry people. “It is, after all, what we do best,” said Terry Fountain.

Trent and his wife Lisa and Linda Lee recently joined the volunteer force with Gleaners. Linda is a superb outside sales person with experience she now uses to find donors and supporters of the noble cause of feeding hungry souls; spiritually as well as nourishing their bodies. Between Linda and Diane Brink, another newby, they found door prizes for meals and groceries presented to lucky ticket holders.

Just a week earlier, Bent Creek Homeowners Association kindly permitted Gleaners Dispatch to set up a booth at their annual Fall Festival. Gleaners told many residents about the ways we can help hungry folks and asked them to direct the increasing number of desperate Westsiders toward our distribution points.

We want to thank Bent Creek residents for supporting Gleaners with monetary donations, food by the hundreds of pounds left over from the party and even furniture donations from the Deborah and Roland Esque family and lots of clothes and a little girls bicycle from Doug and Sue Ehly.

Dave said this morning all five of our vehicles were loaded to the hilt with donated bread so he was off to find people beyond our scheduled distribution in Callahan at the fair grounds to give away the extra because “It isn’t doing anybody any good if it isn’t on a families bare table.”

This is the first of a weekly update on events at Gleaners. Look for a new post on Monday or Tuesday each week depending upon our schedule and of course…

Feel free to contact me with contributions especially for use in these gas guzzling vans and trucks. We know where the food is, it is getting there that is becoming a challenge. Help me think of ways to “wean” them; if gas hadn’t fallen lower, we would have already parked some of our six trucks. And we know, what goes down will come screaming sky high in a few months -especially speaking fuelishly.