Helping Our Neighbors, In and Out of the Kitchen
Volunteer Joan Palmer goes the extra mile by joining The Bread & Butter Club
Every Monday and Tuesday, Food & Friends volunteer Joan Palmer comes through our doors for her morning Groceries-to-Go shift.
“You just feel the warmth. The staff and volunteers are so very pleasant.”
Joan came to know Food & Friends over 2 years ago when she was looking for volunteer opportunities in the area to provide meals to people in need. “I found Food & Friends and I signed up!”
Since then, Joan has been a regular, smiling face here at Food & Friends. As a Groceries-to-Go (GTG) assistant, she has a big job to do here each week. “When I first started, I was assigned to different operations and I liked GTG the best. I asked if I could work there permanently and I have.”
Joan works with full-time staff members Charles Battle and Brandon Carter to pack and prepare our Groceries-to-Go deliveries. This bi-monthly program provides our clients with multiple bags of groceries, at no cost to them, which are selected to meet the nutritional needs of each recipient – with meal plans that include diabetic, renal, and heart-healthy.
“No one should go without food,” says Joan. “And whether it’s a matter of having food donated or whether it’s food being prepared for them, that’s where my heart is. Everybody is entitled to a good, healthy meal.”
But that’s not all Joan does to support Food & Friends. Last April, Joan received an email with an invitation to join Food & Friends’ monthly giving program – The Bread & Butter Club.
“There’s never enough money for non-profit groups to get the job done,” said Joan. “It’s a service that needs to be paid for and it’s always a continuing effort. I wanted to be a part of that.”
After seeing this opportunity to help even more clients in our community, Joan stepped up to the plate and joined our Bread & Butter Club with an ongoing, monthly gift. “It’s very easy to contribute. You sign up and every month, at the same time of the month, the money is going to be deducted from your bank account. It works for me, it really does.”
Members of our Bread & Butter Club provide a steady and reliable source of funding that we truly count on – with the option to make gifts by credit card or automatic bank deduction. Six-days a week, Food & Friends staff and volunteers prepare and deliver meals, regardless of the time of year or the weather outside. The consistent financial resources provided by The Bread & Butter Club allow us to keep our work going – especially during the summer months when donations drop to critically low levels.
In 2018, we will provide nearly 1 million meals to over 2,800 adults and children in the D.C. Metropolitan area who are fighting illnesses like HIV/AIDS, cancer, and poorly-controlled diabetes. Monthly gifts allow us to keep answering these calls for help throughout the year – and we are so grateful.
So what makes Joan continue to support Food & Friends as a volunteer and member of our Bread & Butter Club? “When I was younger, my parents always taught me ‘be kind and help others,’ and that little voice just resonated in my brain over the years.” She adds, “If I can do it, you can do it. All it takes is just one. One signs up, then someone else signs up, and then it blossoms into a major effort.”
To learn more about The Bread & Butter Club or to join right now, please visit www.foodandfriends.org/monthlygiving.