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Our Staff:

Peg Bianca, Executive Director Tim Becker, Operations Manager Wayne Cockrell, Operations Director Deb Gehris, Business Manager Doug Long, Marketing & Development Manager

Lori Lowery, Agency and Volunteer Services Coordinator Deb Mest, Agency and Volunteer Services Manager

Jane Vitalo Customer Service Rep. ____________________

David Bradbury, Warehouse Phil Ciofalo Warehouse Lead Francis Delauretis Warehouse David D’Ginto, Warehouse Tom Marsh Warehouse Jim Welsh Warehouse Rob Wertman Warehouse Supervisor

Bringing More to the Table Formerly Land of Plenty

Greater Berks Food Bank September 2015

HUNGER ACTION MONTH September is Hunger Action Month, when the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks unites to urge individuals to take action in their communities. The goal of Hunger Action Month is to mobilize the public to act on behalf of Feeding America and our food bank network. It is our opportunity to create a movement throughout September that has a real and lasting impact on our mission to help end hunger in America. This September, join Feeding America and Together, We Can Solve Hunger™. As individuals, charities, businesses and government, we all have a role to play in getting food to those in need.

TAKE ACTION TO HELP SOLVE HUNGER How can you help? This September, we are asking you to take simple actions. Visit the Hunger Action Month Facebook App:

CONNECT with your local Feeding America food bank and find out what hunger looks like in your area

SHARE your local hunger statistics on Facebook and Twitter ASK your Member of Congress to visit your local food bank PARTICIPATE in Hunger Action Day. On September 4, 2015, we kick off our month-

long effort to raise awareness for hunger-relief. Express yourself by wearing orange! Show your support online as well by turning your Facebook and Twitter profile orange.

STAY INFORMED and stay in touch with Feeding America be a part of the solution to end hunger PLEDGE to take the SNAP Challenge and live on just $4.50 a day. Get a sense of

what life is like for those struggling to put food on the table by shopping for your meals with the daily average per person benefit provided by the

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps).

REDNERS WAREHOUSE MARKETS is doing their part to “BAG

HUNGER”. From August 30—September 26 when you shop at Redner’s Warehouse Markets you can donate at checkout and all money donated at

all Berks and Schuylkill County locations will be donated to GBFB to continue out mission. Last year we received close to $15,000. Please consider

donating the next time you are out shopping at Redner’s.

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Everyone is aware that Peg Bianca is the executive director here at the Greater Berks Food Bank, but you may not be aware that she has been here for 26 years. She started at the Food Bank not long after it opened in 1983 and has seen many changes over the years, both for the food bank and the local community. She saw the need to move from Neversink Street, which was very small with a bread truck as their first way to transport food, to a larger facility in Muhlenberg Township, which then in turn we outgrew, leading us to our current location in Spring Township. “The need continues to be pre-sent here in Berks and Schuylkill county, and now with our new building we have more room for all types of food items, especially the nutrient rich items that we know folks appreciate”. Peg is married to her husband Tony and they have a daugh-ter Marla. Peg enjoys walking, kayaking and taking part in many outdoor activities like camping. Next time you see Peg, thank her for her dedication and drive which has made GBFB the place it is today!

SEPTEMBER EVENTS... AGENCY ORIENTATION Monday, September 14 at 9 am Held at GBFB, RSVP is required… Please contact either Deb Mest ext. 205 or Lori Lowery ext. 206.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS **GBFB IS CLOSED FOR LABOR DAY, MONDAY SEPTEMBER 7—ORDERS FOR DELIVERY ON SEPTEMBER 8th MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 2nd; ORDERS FOR PICK UP ON SEPTEMBER 8th MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 3rd

VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION (*Please note volunteers must sign up in Volgistics to attend the training) Tuesday September 1 at 9:00 am Thursday September 10 at 1:00 pm Wednesday September 16 at 5:00 pm

BASIC FOOD SAFETY TRAINING Monday, September 21 at 10 am—12 noon FOR NEW AGENCIES/ NEW COORDINATORS… must register with Lori.

Due to the changes in the Child Reauthorization Act 153 it is now required that every volunteer who has direct contact with children have a PA State Police Background Check and a Child Abuse Clearance check. The good news is this is now only required every 5 years and there is no charge for the checks. That being said these checks need to be done for volunteers who are in direct contact with children, with programs like the Weekender Backpack program. The Child Abuse Clearance checks require a lot more information that volunteers must enter in order to complete the Clearance Check. There is no charge for your volunteers to complete this but it is mandatory for your site to have a copy of each clearance for records. If a volunteer has completed it for another youth related pro-gram that they are involved in, they can give you a copy of that for your files. The website is located at https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home.

Child Reauthorization Act 153—Have you had your volunteers update this at

your program?

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RECIPES of the month—Hillshire Farms Little Smokies Many of you have ordered Hillshire product (#513403) from us for your recipients and you will receive a variety of

items under this category. One of the items you may receive are Little Smokies, which most folks heat up in barbeque sauce and serve. There are so many other things you can do with these—here are a few examples of how

to use them:

PigSkin Smokies—a great way to kick off Football Season 1. Heat Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies® according to package directions. 2. Slice cheese into 1/8 inch wide strips. 3. Wrap cheese slices around the dog 1/2 inch from either end (zone). Lace up your little Pigskins by piping in mustard lines.

Quarter Pup Smokies—be the MVP of your party

1. Heat the Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies® according to package directions. 2. At a slight angle, cut 1/3 off the base of some green olives to form a helmet. 3. To place the helmet, slice vertically through the back of the olive and place over the top of Quarter Pup. Pipe on mustard to form the mouth guard and finish by placing two mustard dots for the eyes. Pup Pie—Heat the Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies® according to package directions. 1. Turn on oven to broiling temperature. 2. Slice Lit’l Smokies® into chunks. 3. Spread marinara sauce onto crackers and arrange 4 or 5 slices of Lit’l Smokies® on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Place crackers onto baking sheet and broil until cheese is melted.

Serv Safe Certification

The next Serv Safe class is scheduled on November 9th

and 16th from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, with the exam on

the 16th. If your Serv Safe certification needs to be

updated or you requested information on this class, you

will be receiving it in the mail this month. The course will

be at held at the Berks AG Center in Leesport. Please

complete the registration promptly and include your

payment to the Greater Berks Food Bank at 117 Morgan

Drive, Reading, PA 19608. Registration and payment

must be received at GBFB no later than October 7th.

Thank you for your cooperation!

SEPTEMBER FAST FACTS:

DID YOU KNOW?

September has three birth flowers in

it—forget me nots, morning glories and

the aster. Grandparents day is

observed in the U.S. on the first

Sunday after Labor Day. The First

Continental Congress was called to

order on September 5, 1874. World

War II started in September 1939 when

Hitler invaded Poland. September 12th

is National Chocolate Milkshake Day.

Do you have an Email Address?

As technology becomes more important in our world, it is increasingly necessary to have an email address that you check on a

regular basis. That said, we would like to make sure all agencies have a valid email address on file so we can communicate

via email. We realize not everyone prefers email or likes using computers, but technology will continue to evolve and we want

to be sure we keep up, along with our agencies. If you do not have an email address on file with GBFB, please contact Deb M

at ext. 205 or Lori at ext. 206 to give them this information.

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Bringing more to the table is brought to you through a

joint effort of Greater Berks Food Bank Staff

Editor: Lori Lowery

llowery@feedingamerica.org ext. 206

(610) 926-5802 117 Morgan Drive Reading, PA 19608

(610) 926-5802 (610) 926-7638 Fax

Greater Berks Food Bank 117 Morgan Drive, Reading, PA 19608 610-926-5802

We’d love your input

Nonprofit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID Reading PA

Permit No. 14

BACK TO SCHOOL TIME

Back to School means back to our youth programs Produce 4 Kids and the Weekender Backpack program. We will be reaching out to the schools we

distributed from last year in September to verify the contacts for Produce 4 Kids as well as current enrollment so when we have perishables available,

we are ready to move them out to reach the kids in our community! Last year we were able to distribute fresh vegetables and fruits to 10 Reading

area Elementary Schools at least three times each during the school year. With the Weekender Backpack program we had 15 different sites within Berks and Schuylkill Counties distribute food to a percentage of students

who receive free or reduced lunch during the school year. We are launch-ing this program October 2nd. Please make sure if you are a school site

who participates in this program you complete your agreement and your application in a timely fashion this year. We have a long waiting list of

sites that would love to offer this program at their location, but our funding limits how many sites we can serve at this time. If we do not hear from you or you are late responding to us with that necessary information, we

will move to the waiting list to choose a site from that list. Please

remember, all staff and volunteers having direct contact with children must

complete the child abuse clearance online before they can take part in

either of these programs.

Bringing More to

the Table

Greater Berks Food Bank