Small Management Company Makes Big Difference

“Bright Styles, Food for Smiles”, Management 101 Spring 2013 Company B, sparks the flame needed to make a big change. The Management company works with Bucknell’s Office of Civic Engagement to ensure that Bright Styles, Food for Smiles increases availability of fresh, healthy,low-cost food to families of the local community. Bright Styles, Food for Smiles is the first management company to enforce a collaboration with Community Harvest and Community Garden.

The goal will be achieved by assisting with gardening of fresh produce at the Lewisburg Community Garden and donating time, labor, and monetary support to Community Harvest’s hot meal program. When complete, the garden will be revived to a state where it can serve as a sustainable resource for low-cost produce and a total of approximately three hundred and sixty hot meals will be provided.

Volunteering opportunities also are available and always welcome. For more information about volunteering with Community Harvest, contact Lynn Pierson at lcp008@bucknell.edu. If you want to get involved with the Community Garden, contact Stacey Sommerfield at sns004@bucknell.edu.

We're back!

After having to cancel last week's meal due to inclement weather and experiencing even more wintery precipitation this week, I think it's safe to say that Spring is a little confused. I'm beginning to think Groundhog Day might be a hoax and that groundhogs can't actually predict the weather.....

Regardless, we're happy to be back after our time off from Community Harvest! This week we served beef stroganoff with noodles, peaches, and salad. Ben and Lynn clearly enjoyed themselves as they prepared the meat for the stroganoff. As you can see in the picture below, Ben was actually shocked at how much fun he was having, preparing for the weekly meals (this is a normal response among the newcomers).

And remember how we were chosen as the service project by a company from Management 101? Well, they provided us with a small army of volunteers for this week's meal, and as we are all well aware at Community Harvest, many hands make light work. We were happy to have them assisting us with pantry inventory, serving the meal, and cleaning up. 

And last, but certainly not least, I am thrilled to announce that the GIRL SCOUT COOKIES HAVE ARRIVED! This time of year may be my favorite (even if it is snowing far past winter's allotted snow time frame) because the girl scouts have once again donated a generous amount of cookies our way. And who doesn't like girl scout cookies?! Needless to say, our dessert table will be stacked for the next few weeks. 

But don't get me wrong. We recognize the importance of balanced meals at Community Harvest. You may not find lettuce on the dessert table, but if you pop on over to our donations table, the salad is abundant!

And with that, I would like to thank our friends from Management 101 for deeming us worthy of their volunteer efforts this semester and also the girl scouts for making sure we never have to experience a day without a cookie. :)

Congratuations!

At the Women In  History Dinner, 5 women from our office were recognized for their contributions in the area of community service. Pictures from left to right:

Katie Janda, Casey Coffman, Wallis Gaillard and Jasmin Johnson (not pictured Katie McAvoy)

 

You will recognize Casey from her work with Community Harvest, Jasmin and Wallis for their contributions at the Community Garden and Katie and Katie with the Bucknell Brigade.

EMPTY BOWLS!

I couldn’t be happier to report that Empty Bowls was a huge success this year! We raised over $2,0000!
So many members of the Bucknell and local communities came together to help us surpass our fundraising goals and beat last year’s totals! The one-of-a-kind ceramic bowls were beautiful and the soup was delicious – what more could we ask for?

For those of you who may not be familiar with Empty Bowls, it is a fundraiser that we hold once a year to benefit Community Harvest, while spreading awareness about food insecurity. Generous volunteers at the Craft Center make unique, clay bowls that we sell, along with soup, bread, crackers, and drinks. This year, we had soup/chili donations from Parkhurst, Country Cupboard, Ric-Mar Restaurant, Townside Garden Café, and Hotel Edison. We offer the meal for a few hours at lunchtime and again for dinner. Some of our dinner guests were experiencing Empty Bowls for the first time, while other "regulars" were eager to add bowls to their growing collections. 

From everyone at Commuity Harvest, we would like to send a big thank you to everyone that came together to support our program and help fight food insecurity! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Spring Fever

The Bucknell students are gearing up for a long-awaited Spring Break next week, and everyone is excited about warmer weather in the near future! And you know what warmer weather means? Fresh garden food (and lots of chopping)! This week, the volunteers were hard at work preparing celery, carrots, and apples for the meal.

In addition to the fresh veggies, we served casserole (chicken, broccoli, stuffing, and cream of mushroom soup) and baked cinnamon apples. The dessert table was stacked with cake, homemade cupcakes, and no-bake cookies. Volunteers from the St. Andrew's Youth Group helped serve and clean up.

Meanwhile, Eddie modeled this season's latest and greatest kitchen fashion trends,

Helen posed for a picture,

And we helped Alicia celebrate her 20th birthday!

But, let's not forget about the unsung heroes, the ones who take on some of the less desirable tasks around the kitchen. I'm talking about you, girl in the *insert color here* scarf (formerly known as Carly). Take note of her form while mopping. We're dealing with a natural here. :-)