Lionel Sawyer & Collins Pay it Forward Party - Click for more pics

Lesslie Bauer, of Applied Companies is really on to something.  She started a movement in Reno, called Pay it Forward Parties, and from the very first one, people took notice.  She started to get inquiries from people wondering how their company could get involved.  The concept was simple enough.  Members of an office or group all choose something to bring in from the list provided by the Food Bank, and they assemble bags of weekend food for children in need.   

Food Bank employees see every day how a company volunteering together is always well received.  It’s a great team building experience and it helps employees give back in a way that is different from their every day lives.  But, Lesslie recognized that if you could have this experience in the work place and if you could make the committment easy and trouble free, more people would do it and more people would get fed.  Then, those companies would challenge others to do the same and it would spread like wildfire.  

This time, Brenda Riviera, at the offices of Lionel Sawyer and Collins was moved to organize a party at her place of work.  The party was great and 125 snack bags of food were taken back to the Food Bank to go to children in need!  As they worked, they talked about friends, co-workers, family and others that they could involve and you could see Lesslie’s idea come to life. 

Thank you to the employees of Lionel Sawyer & Collins for making a difference today and thank you for challenging those in your lives to do the same!

If you want to have a party too, click here for details. 

Thank you to the employees of Anthem Blue Cross who came out on Saturday to celebrate the national Community Day of Service.  We loved having you for the tour and for your hard work.  We really needed your help to get ready for our big Letter Carriers Food Drive on May 8. 

Check out these pictures from the day! 

Like This and the Nature of Things to Come…

by Peter Whittenberger   

            Like This and the Nature of Things to Come… is a Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition and fund raiser for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada by Peter Whittenberger held at the Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery. Whittenberger is currently working towards his Master of Fine Arts degree and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in printmaking from the University of Montana. Whittenberger’s relational art and videos investigate ideas of what is common to us, exploring experiences we share in our day-to-day lives. Like This and the Nature of Things to Come…, concerns isolating ordinary activities and taking responsibility for them. Whittenberger believes by elevating the common to a level of importance, it is possible to accentuate similarities in our society. The intent of the work is to use these similarities to present ideas of unity and understanding in our community.

            The exhibition will contain videos and interactive works that invite the audience to play games and create sculptures of their own. Participating audience members who create sculptures at the exhibition will be asked for a monetary donation to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, being collected at the gallery. All the proceeds will go to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, who can distribute four meals for every dollar donated. The gallery will host three receptions at different times to allow people with various schedules to attend.

May 3-14, Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

May 6, opening lecture, 5:30-6:30 p.m. and reception, 6:30-8 p.m.

May 11, swing-shift reception, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

May 14, graveyard closing reception, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Gallery will be open till 7:30 p.m. for all Nightingale Concert Hall events

Sheppard Fine Arts Gallery, Church Fine Arts Building

University of Nevada, Reno

Creative Coverings – inventive party favor idea

Local NACE Chapter Donates $1,400 to the Food Bank!            

The Reno Tahoe Chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives donated $1,400 to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada from their 2nd Annual Events Elements and Confectionary Competition.  The event brought together some of the most talented designers and pastry chefs to compete in the categories of table top and cake design.  The Food Bank was very excited to be a part of the event and is thrilled that the donation will provide 5,600 meals to the community. 

 The Awards:  

1st Place, Day Category, under $500- Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe with “Mt. Rose Sunshine”
1st Place, Day Category, over $500- Creative Coverings with “Bee-utifuL Brunch in Blossom”
 
1st Place, Night Category, under $500- A Wildflower by Lori Britton
1st Place, Night Category, over $500- Green Apple Events with “Virginia City After Dark”
 
1st Place, Day Category in Confectionary Creations- The Atlantis
1st Place, Night Category in Confectionary Creations- Circus Circus
 
People’s Choice, Tabletop- Green Apple Events with “Virginia City After Dark”
People’s Choice, Confectionary Creations- Sugarpine Bakery

 Photos of the event:  Jessie LeMay Photography 

Food Bank Photos:  Food Bank Flickr Account

Left to Right: Jim Tatro, State Farm Insurance, Jocelyn Lantrip, Food Bank, & Mark Boge, State Farm Insurance

Mark Boge and Jim Tatro visited the Food Bank and said that they’d love to take a look around.  They received a tour of the facility and were so excited to see all that goes on in the warehouse.  They were especially touched by the Back-Pack Kids program that is now bringing 700 backpacks of weekend food to children who are homeless or chronically hungry in our region every week. 

State Farm had held a “friendly competition” among their agents in six states that ultimately helped 12 different Food Banks.  In northern Nevada, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada was the recipient of $3,500, which helps to provide 14,000 meals to the hungry in our area.  We thank State Farm for their caring nature and we really thank the promotions top producer Jim Tatro and his Agency Field Executive Mark Boge for bringing the check out personally to see us.  You guys are the best!

Pictured left to right: Cary Welsh, Doris Phelps of the Food Bank, and Larry Henkes

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is down right giddy over a visit that they had yesterday from Cary Welsh and Larry Henkes from ISU Insurance Services, The Henkes Welsh Agency.  They made the drive out to the great Donald W. Reynolds Foood Distribution Center and had a tour of the facility. But what they did that was really amazing is they gave us a $10,000 check from the Independent Insurance Agents of Northern Nevada!  They seemed shocked and pleased when we told them that the money represented  40,000 meals to the hungry in our region.  We are so thankful to the Independent Insurance Agents for not only thinking of us and making such a generous donation,  but for coming out to learn more about our operation.    It was great to meet you guys!

The employees of Harrah’s Reno wanted to have a food drive but they wanted to make it a little more interesting.  A little competition never hurt so the different departments tried their hand at raising the most food.  Then, they got a little inspiration from the upcoming CANstruction event and decided to have each of the departments who participated make structures with their food that the employees could then vote on!  The structures were great and the donation an amazing 2,854 pounds to the Food Bank! 

Thanks to Harrah’s employees for having fun and donating food for those in need at the same time!  We’re impressed.  Check out their handiwork here.  Click to see pictures. 

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada could not help even close to the number of people that we do each year without our volunteers.  When close to 7 million pounds of food needs to be sorted, packed, delivered and handed out, volunteers are vital to that mission.  One of the most important thing that we can teach the young members of our community is the importance of giving back.  We love to see children ten and over come out, with their mentors and role models learning what it really can mean to help.  This particular troop of Boy Scouts has been volunteering at the Food Bank for past three years!  They have offered 176 hours of their lives to helping the hungry in our region and for that we say thank you!

We are so grateful for Troop #443 and what they have given back to their community!

Double Diamond Athletic Club is a great partner to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.  They understand and fully support that we are dealing with people’s basic needs.   Like many other organizations, the Back-Pack Kids program is one that really touches them and they wanted to support it.  We are so grateful for their donation today of $3,000 for the Back-Pack Kids program.  Unfortunately, there are many children in our communities that don’t know where their next meal is coming from.  The Back-Pack Kids program offers weekend food to children that are homeless, in transition or are chronically hungry.  The time between the meal on Friday at school and breakfast at school on Monday morning can be very long for a child without enough to eat.  The Back-Pack Kids program is one that receives no state or federal funding so without generous donors like Double Diamond Athletic Club, it would be extremely difficult to make this happen.

You make a difference!

Join DeBell Home Improvement Center in the fight against hunger. DeBell will be donating 25 meals for every demo and 50 meals for every sale to The Food Bank of Northern Nevada, through the month of February.  As of today, They have raised 2,000 meals so far!  There are just a few days left of their promotion, so Call 800-669-3386 to set up your appointment and join the fight against hunger today!
http://www.debellinc.com/

SanMar employees pulled together big this holiday season to help feed the hungry in our area.  They held an employee Food Drive and gathered over 1,120 lbs of food!  They also knew that for each dollar donated to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, that 4 meals would be provided to those who need them in our area.  SanMar employees held an employee bake sale and gave cash donations to the Food Bank that were matched by their employer to bring the Food Bank a total of $9,484.33!  That is over 39,000 meals!  Thank you San Mar for caring so much and working so hard to help the hungry in our community!

During the 2009 Holiday Season, Washoe County Commissioners Kitty Jung and Bonnie Weber reached out to help the children of Sun Valley. Each year, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, the HOPE Nazarene Church of Sun Valley and the Sun Valley General Improvement District (SVGID) work with the community’s children to make ornaments for an Angel Tree, noting what each child wishes for Christmas. Some 400 ornaments hung on a Christmas tree in 2009 compared to just 50 ornaments in 2008. “It was truly heart-wrenching because many of the children simply requested a jacket and gloves, many just clothes,” says Commissioner Weber. “Because of our generous Washoe County employees and giving residents, we were able to give to clothing and gifts to 46 children, “says Commissioner Jung. 

Happy New Year to Wal-Mart Distribution for donating three truckloads of potatoes to us today to distribute to hungry people in the new year!  This is an amazing donation and we are excited to be able to bring these potatoes to the people that neeed them.

Thank you!

Barbara Wallace at Delphi Asset Management (a subsidiary of Oracle Corporation) knew that she wanted to do something for the holidays this year that made a difference.   She also knew that she was part of a worldwide company that could make a really big difference.  She asked for a contribution for the Food Bank and was thrilled with the company agreeing to donate the staggering $5,000 to feed the hungry in our region. 

Barbara didn’t stop there.  When they delivered the money, she brought some coworkers and friends and family members out to the Food Bank to tour the facility and volunteer!  Their volunteer time was spent packing onions for the Mobile Pantry program, that brings perishable foods to families in our region. 

Thank you so much to Delphi/Oracle Corporation and the employees, family and friends of this great company.  You have made a difference and helped to provide over 20,000 meals to those who need them. 

Pictures of the day!