Capital Area Food Bank of Texas
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“The Capital Area Food Bank is committed to providing a meaningful experience in a positive, safe work environment. We offer a variety of opportunities, including one-time efforts, weekly leadership roles, and off-site activities that will enable KUT listeners to find just the right match for them. We are well suited for group projects, for those interested in making a difference with others. When you volunteer for the Food Bank, your gift of time goes far as it supports our 370 partner agencies in 21 countries.”
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas Mission:
The mission of Capital Area Food Bank of Texas is to feed the hungry by providing food and grocery products to human service agencies serving people in need throughout Central Texas. The Food Bank currently provides food and grocery products to 370 partner agencies in 21 Central Texas counties. In 2004, CAFB distributed more than 16 million pounds of food.
Major Activities and Services:
CAFB collects, stores and distributes more than 16 million pounds of food and grocery products to 370 Partner Agencies in 21 Central Texas counties every year. CAFB’s 370 Partner Agencies provide hot meals served on-site or groceries to be taken home by families and individuals in need. Thousands of people receive food assistance each year through the agencies including soup kitchens, church food pantries, neighborhood centers, halfway houses, family crisis shelters, hospice programs and low-income daycare facilities. CAFB’s service area covers 21,600 square miles in Central Texas.
CAFB Partner Agencies – including soup kitchens, church food pantries, neighborhood centers, halfway houses, family crisis shelters, hospice programs and low-income daycare facilities – provide CAFB food and grocery products to their clients. Through the network of Partner Agencies, nearly 415,000 people receive food assistance each year.
In addition to providing weekly food distribution to more than 370 Partner Agencies, CAFB conducts several programs that serve hungry Central Texans. All programs are free of charge and include:
Kids Café:
The 24 Kids Cafe sites in Central Texas serve more than 20,000 meals per month to more than 2,500 children in need. This after-school program provides a safe, nurturing place where neighborhood children receive a hot, nutritious dinner, as well as help with homework from caring individuals.
Fresh Food for Families: 28 distribution centers located across Central Texas provide families with quality fruits and vegetables. FFFF distributes more than 450,000 pounds of produce to more than 7,000 families each month.
Regional Food Delivery: For Partner Agencies serving rural populations, Regional Food Delivery (RFD) brings perishable and packaged food items to 21 conveniently located drop sites in the outlying areas of Central Texas.
HOPE: The Healthy Options Program for the Elderly (HOPE) provides senior citizens living on a fixed income with supplemental staple groceries on a monthly basis. Partner Agencies already working with senior citizens aged 60 and older help the Food Bank serve more than 1,500 seniors each month.
CHOICES: CHOICES, a nutrition education program, is funded in part by the USDA’s Food Stamp Program to help individuals and families make smart choices at mealtime. All classes are free and open to qualified individuals.
Volunteer Opportunities:
We match individuals to our volunteer opportunities based on their interests, skills, and availability. Individuals with community service assignments are screened for specific offenses. Groups are typically matched to our product recovery area of operations and community events involving food and fund drives, taking into consideration their age and availability. Our screening process includes telephone conversations and email exchanges, weekly orientations/open houses, and the completion of our Volunteer Profile or our Group Confirmation Form. Instruction is provided for all volunteer opportunities.
Product Recovery: Be the vital link between our donated product and the individuals receiving them! Our donations include canned and packaged goods from recent food drives and reclamation centers, bulk product such as rice or frozen corn on the cob pieces, a variety of fresh produce, and even non-food items like paper goods or health and personal care items. Evaluate, sort, bag, and box these new donations in our climate-controlled work spaces so we can make them available as soon as possible to our partner agencies and the people they serve. The recovery process handles hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations each year and is perfect for team-building projects and groups! This on- going opportunity is available during regular weekday business hours, Thursday nights, and Saturdays and is open to adults and individuals 8 to 18 years of age who, per safety rules, must be accompanied by a parent or other adult.
Administrative Support: Support our administrative efforts with office activities like preparing mailings and informational packets, making phone calls, maintaining files, providing data entry, and tracking volunteer hours. Individuals with a marketing, promotions, or customer service background or strong database and Microsoft Office experience are especially needed. This on-going opportunity is available during regular weekday business hours.
Help End Hunger Campaign Liaisons: Be matched to your nearby H-E-B store to install campaign materials at check out registers and keep us informed during this significant fundraising campaign. As a store liaison, you will make weekly store visits to ensure materials remain accessible to shoppers, visit with store personnel when needed, provide important status reports to Food Bank staff, and replenish materials when the store runs low. This campaign runs from February 20 through mid-May. This is a great way to get involved with the Food Bank, even if you live across town from our facility. Weekly visits may take only an hour. Every dollar contributed represents another five meals we can provide our community!
Trainers and Assistants – the CHOICES Nutrition Education Program: Help individuals and families make smart choices at mealtime! Our nutrition education program provides free classes to qualified individuals. As a trainer, you will use our curriculum to conduct a class series designed specifically for either adults and families or children. Some preparations will be needed prior to each class. The adult and family series includes Planning Healthy Thrifty Meals, Basic Cooking Skills, Cooking for Life, and Nutrition and Health. The children’s series includes Fit for a King and Power of Choice. Each series runs 4-10 weeks, meets once a week, and may be offered during weekday business hours, in the evening, or on the weekend. We are looking for health providers, nutritionists, teachers, and retirees in these fields to serve as trainers. As an assistant, you will support the trainers as they prepare materials and food samples before class and with various activities during class.
Stamp Out Hunger & Mother’s Day Sort-A-Thon: Mark your calendars for May 13th -14th and help stamp out hunger in Central Texas! The National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger initiative is the largest single day food drive in the country. Loc
ally, it will generate an estimated 200,000 pounds of much needed food which will be taken to the Food Bank that same day. The Mother’s Day Sort-A-Thon kicks off at 4:00 PM on May 13th and supports the Stamp Out Hunger drive with a goal to sort and box it all in a 24-hour marathon! This Mother’s Day weekend, we hope you will honor your mother by giving a few hours of your time and join us in a tribute to all the mothers we support. What a great opportunity for workplace teams, civic organizations, student groups, and friends and families (high school and older, please) to lend a hand. With eight consecutive shifts that work through the night on Saturday and conclude on Sunday afternoon, we offer a rare chance to join us in making a difference at all hours. Your organization can sign up for one shift or go the distance and recruit teams for each shift. Night owls are especially needed!
Food Bank Ambassadors: Help the Food Bank’s community relations team connect with our community throughout the year at informational fairs, speaking engagements, festivals, concerts, food and fund drive events, and various other activities that may take place during regular weekday business hours, at night, or on the weekends.
Contact Information:
Celia Silberberg ( csilberberg@secondharvest.org )
Director of Volunteer Services
Phone: 512.282.2111
FAX: 512.282.6606
8201 South Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78745
For More Information about the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, visit their website at www.austinfoodbank.org.
