KNA received this thoughtful thank you letter after we supported this great event.
Jambalaya Fest Meals On Wheels Thank You Letter.pdf
Want to help out Meals on Wheels?
http://www.mealsonwheelspeople.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/
http://www.mealsonwheelspeople.org/how-you-can-help/donate/
and don’t forget about our wonderful Backpack Program providing weekend meals to kids in need in and around our neighborhood.
http://kingneighborhood.org/backpack-program/
-KNA
SAVE THE DATE! Cooking up Community
Do you work with an organization or non- profit that is thinking about integrating community cooking programs into your work?
Are you interested in using collective cooking groups as a way to support food justice and increase food security in your community?
Have access to a kitchen space that can be utilized by the public?
If so, join Kitchen Commons for an informal info session and training on Collective Cooking Group Facilitation. Our group leaders and coordinators will share what we have learned throughout the year in our pilot cooking groups, share resources and help you navigate through the initial steps of organizing your own cooking group. We’ll be meeting in one of our partner kitchens, with a chance to prepare a simple dish together. Our brand new Collective Cooking Group Handbooks will also be available to share with participants.
Collective Cooking Groups are a way of stretching food dollars, strengthening community ties and fostering resource and skill sharing. A typical group meets monthly or weekly, divides into teams to cook large quantities of several recipes, shares a meal together, and then takes home portions of each recipe to freeze or use during the week. Participants learn from each other, sharing tips and tactics for cooking healthy food even with busy schedules.
WHEN: Saturday, October 20th 2012 12-2 pm
WHERE: Trinity Full Gospel Pentecostal
Church, 4801 NE 19th Avenue Portland, OR 97211
Light refreshments provided. Send RSVPs or questions to rell@kitchencommons.net. Space is limited.
MISSION: Kitchen Commons matches kitchen resources with community need, making it affordable and practical to cook healthy food, putting the dream of a food business in reach of low-income entrepreneurs, and advocating for food justice. http://kitchencommons.net
The June meeting of the King Neighborhood Association will take place 6:30 tonight at the King Neighborhood Facility, 4815 NE 7th Avenue. Access is via the door facing 7th. The draft minutes from the May meeting are online here.
Tonight’s Agenda:
6:30 Welcome & introductions, agenda, announcements, meeting minutes.
6:40 Update from the Portland Police Bureau.
6:45 Update from the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN).
6:50 KNA tasks & projects:
KNA needs a secretary to keep minutes & records.
7:30 KNA by-laws; Neighborhood Association structure.
At last month’s meeting:
From Kitchen Commons:
Hello my name is Mollie and I would like to inform you about a new organization called Kitchen Commons.
MISSION:
Kitchen Commons is a network of Portland metro area community kitchen and food preservation organizers. Our goal is to improve community food security by supporting and developing spaces in our neighborhoods where people can come together to learn about cooking and preserving food on a budget, and access equipment and resources for both personal and microenterprise use. Our vision is to build community through food by joining together, cooking together, and feeding families together.The role of Kitchen Commons is to support, develop, and promote and match kitchen resources with community needs. By fostering the development of lots of different kinds of kitchens, we can help to meet lots of different evolving needs in different communities. We do this by connecting neighborhood kitchen organizers with resources and tools, creating opportunities to network and share ideas, and advocating for policies that facilitate the development and use of community kitchens.
We’ve found that it’s important to emphasize that there are lots of community kitchen activities that don’t require certification or special equipment like classes and community cooking events. Also we are interested in helping groups fundraise or solicit in-kind donations in order to improve their kitchen space. Several groups with kitchens have thought that they could not participate with us at all because their kitchen isn’t certified or has various deficiencies.
PROJECT:
Right now our website is in the process of being built. Kitchen Commons is a very new non-profit. The first step to making this website successful is to find organizations that are interested in publicizing their accessible kitchen, and adding it to our website.My question to you is, do you have a Kitchen you would like to open up to your community or neighborhood? If so we are a free resource to publicize your kitchen to the public and help overcome barriers to community use of your kitchen.
Please let me know if your interested in knowing more information and I would love to speak with you more about it. Thanks so much for your time!
Sincerely,
Mollie
mollie@kitchencommons.net
It’s early notice, but we’re going to let you know about a volunteer opportunity that will be coming up next month. We invite you to join the MLK Loaves & Fishes staff and volunteers in helping to raise money for the center. It’s easy – all that’s required is a friendly face, a smile, and the chance to say hello to some of your neighbors who are heading into the Concordia (NE 33rd) New Seasons store!
Food security issues have really come into the forefront of public discussion in the past couple of years, as study after study has documented hunger in our community. Loaves & Fishes is an excellent example of one of the many ways community efforts are being drawn together to relieve hunger and help us to help each other be well-fed.
I, hedda, will be signing up to volunteer. I hope you will to! Details on the event are below…
Got two hours? Join my Donate Dinner team!
I’m helping Loaves & Fishes Centers, The Meals-On-Wheels People, provide meals to local seniors by leading up a Donate Dinner team. I hope you’ll consider donating two hours to help us greet customers at the New Seasons Market – Concordia store on Tuesday, November 22, 2011.
Donate Dinner is one of the largest fundraising events in the Portland metropolitan area, held the five days before Thanksgiving. Last year, more than 1,500 people volunteered for 2-hour shifts and the outcome was incredible – they raised more than $220,000 to support the Meals-On-Wheels program. That’s 60,000 meals!
We’ll greet customers as they come in to the store to shop for their Thanksgiving dinner, offer them a Donate Dinner card, and let them know they can buy dinner for a senior just by telling the cashier when they check out. It is that simple!
Please join my team for a 2-hour shift. Having volunteer greeters more than triples the amount of money that’s donated each hour. Last year, each volunteer raised an average of $225 per shift – That’s enough to feed 61 seniors!
Together, we can make sure that no senior in our community goes hungry or experiences social isolation. Click here to see my team’s current schedule and pick a shift that works best for you.
If you are not available on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 to volunteer for my team, please go to www.donatedinner.org and see if another date and store are available. It takes a village to feed our seniors!
–David Lomax, MLK Loaves & Fishes Senior Center Manager
Loaves & Fishes Centers, The Meals-On-Wheels People is a secular nonprofit corporation that prepares 5,000 meals each weekday for seniors in Multnomah, Washington and Clark counties. Unlike most other Meals-On-Wheels programs, our local Loaves & Fishes has never had a waiting list for meal services. Why? Because of the generous community support from volunteers and donors, a meal can be delivered within 24 hours of notification.