Food & Art for Thought

The evening included an amazing collection of Food Art plus samples of hors d’oeuvres prepared by the sous chefs from Cuisiniers, The Ravenous Pig, Crave, K Restaurant and Antonio’s. Everything was delicious!

The event raised more than $3,600 for Second Harvest’s High-Five Kids Pack Program. We are so grateful to have individuals like Chef Jamie McFadden and George Arredondo of the Peas Foundation. They put together this amazing and successful event.

Sponsors included: HG Art & Design, Winter Park Magazine, Cuisiniers’ Catered Cuisine and Events, The Ravenous Pig, K Restaurant & Wine Bar, Antonio’s, and Crave.

The PEAS Foundation seeks to Produce Eating Alternatives Simply for food insecure households by providing grants for fresh fruits and vegetables to local homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other charitable organizations, helping to improve the quality of life with a fresh approach. The foundation was created in 2009 by co-founders Chef Jamie McFadden and George Arredondo

Our Hi-Five Kids Pack Program provides nutritious meals to children who do not have access to school cafeterias during the weekend. Second Harvest partners with 15 public elementary schools that have a significant percentage of student participation in free and reduced lunch programs. These schools each receive around 3000 food packs per year.

Pictures fromFood & Art for Thought:

until next time,  

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

We have 34 restaurants participating in Central Florida’s favorite foodie event this year. I bet some of your favorite Central Florida dining spots are on this list .

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation event is put together by a volunteer committee group. I attend the meetings as a representative of Second Harvest Food Bank. Both beneficiaries, Coalition for the Homeless and Second Harvest Food Bank help out with the planning of the event. If you are attending, make sure to stop by our tables.

To enable you to fully enjoy the endless supply of wine, beer and delicious cocktails, Orlando World Center Marriott is generously offering Taste of the Nation guests a discounted rate for rooms on the night of June 5th! Click here to take advantage of this fabulous deal. The code will show up automatically on the page.

Everyone has worked so hard these past few months bringing this event together. I can’t give away everything that we have planned … but I can give you a sneak peak of what to expect. 

Here is a small food preview: 

      -  Chef-carved Rosemary and Dijon Crusted Roasted Pork Loin Served with a Wild Mushroom 
          and Sun-Dried Tomato Pearl Barley Risotto
      -  Chef Jean-Louis’ Bananas Foster
      -  Greek Tuna Tataki in Lettuce Gyros with Sumac, Onions and Avocado Tzatziki
      -  Roasted Beet Brownies with Gorgonzola, Spicy Cashews & Vanilla Honey

We also have some very unique auction items this year. Don’t forget to make your way around the silent auction. You never know what you will find!

      -  New York Yankees 27 World Championships ticket replicas
      -  Tickets to the Rachael Ray taping in New York plus plane ticket
      -  A  trip Chicago: flight, hotel, and dining included
      -  Chefs tables from Taste of the Nation participating Restaurants
      -  Many more!

100% of ticket sales help ensure no kid in America grows up hungry.

Hope to see you at Taste of the Nation Orlando! If you want to find me … look for the person twittering, facebooking and taking photos.

Click here to buy tickets!

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

Don’t forget to check-in. I will be leaving tips throughout the night!

Apple, pecan, key lime, cherry, French silk, you name it … I tasted it! So you might be asking, “So what does this have to do with Second Harvest?” Well the folks at the Pie Council and Village Inn care so much about Second Harvest Food Bank’s Kids Café program, that they dedicate some fun activities to raise funds for our afterschool program.

There were buckets spread out throughout the festival for pie lovers to drop donations into. There was a great booth set up where kids can give a dollar to participate in a “Pie Walk” similar to a cake walk, where they could win a free Village Inn Pie!

Finally, the Pièce de résistance…the 4 ft in diameter pie! Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life???

It was a chocolate cookie crust with a chocolate ganache and cream cheese filling…with fantastic local grown strawberries, raspberries, and wild blueberries in a glaze with fresh whipped cream on top!

Each piece of this pie was sold for a donation to Second Harvest. It was a hit! All of these great fundraisers brought in over $500!

In food bank math, we are able to provide up to $4,500 in buying power to feed our neighbors in need. We are so happy and thankful to have such a great partnership with the Pie Council and Village Inn!

Check out this great video to see the other yummy things that went on during the weekend!

Are you interested in coming out to the Pie Festival next year? Keep checking our events page every so often so you don’t miss out on the fun!

In the mean time, take a look at our other events coming up…we’d love to see you there!

Until next time!

Sasha Hausman
Events Specialist

Today, MOSAIC, PepsiCo’s African-American employee network is organizing a day of service with Feeding America. PepsiCo volunteers will work in over 30 food banks nationwide to impact over 2 million people. 1,400 PepsiCo employees will generate more than 5,000 volunteer hours in one day. That’s a pretty incredible project!

Second Harvest Food Bank is excited to take part in PepsiCo’s Employee Day of Service. We are one of four food banks in Florida that is participating in this project. The other 3 food banks are in Tampa, Miami and Ft. Pierce. I went around and took photos and video of these employees hard at work.

Second Harvest Food Bank would like to thank PepsiCo for their time and commitment in the fight against hunger.  Enjoy the photos and video!

Pictures:

Video:

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation is the nation’s premier culinary benefit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America.

All proceeds locally benefit Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida and Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida; state wide beneficiary is Florida Impact.

Imagine yourself in a room full of food catered by some of your favorite restaurant chefs. Just in … five of the Taste chefs will have the great honor of cooking at the James Beard House in June!

• Jamie McFadden of Cuisiniers Catering
• Kevin Fonzo of K Restaurant & Wine Bar
• James & Julie Petrakis of The Ravenous Pig
• Scott Copeland of Antonio’s Cafe & Deli. 

This is a small glimpse of some of the amazing talent that help put this event together. View a list of all participating restaurants.

So go ahead and make a big mark around Saturday, June 5 on your calendars. The 21st Annual Taste of the Nation Orlando will take place at the Orlando Marriott World Center on 8701 World Center Drive.

Last year was my first Taste of the Nation experience. It can be a bit overwhelming to see all the different tables of food and trying to decide on which auction item to bid on. Did you know that last year there were over 200 auction items?

Here are 5 tips to surviving Taste of the Nation Orlando

1) Get there early and beat the rush. 

2) Bring cash for raffle items. Last year we raffled of some pretty cool prizes and trips.

3) Take time to look through all the auction items. You will be surprised to find some very affordable hidden gems in there. Also, there are always very unique opportunities that you will only find at Taste of the Nation.     

4) Take a moment to stop by the beneficiaries displays. Learn more about what this whole event is really about!

5) Take advantage of the VIP package. You enjoy early admission, reserved seating, a champagne reception and a goody bag. That’s not bad for $50 more.  

If you are a Taste of the Nation Veteran, feel free to post any additional tips below!

See you at Taste of the Nation,

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

So we try to think of something to help us stay on the right track…It could be a pair of jeans that you have outgrown 5 years ago. But for Robin Le Roy-Kyle it is something bigger. It’s about helping feed our neighbors in need.

Please meet Robin aka “The Orlando Turtle Runner” and our Pound for Pound Challenge Champion.

In 2006 Robin was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and decided to make a change. Since then, running has been her exercise of choice. Her running blog www.RunningCirclesAroundTheTurtles.com, has taken off quite nicely with rapidly growing readership. This led her to her next venture.

Robin began hosting a running club called Pay it Forward 500 Mile Club: Running with a Purpose in 2010. Participants commit to running a certain number of miles (minimum 500), select a charity/organization of choice, and get sponsors to donate 10 cents per mile for every mile they run in 2010. Runners can sponsor themselves and/or get others to sponsor.

Robin’s organization of choice: Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Her mileage goal for 2010? 750 miles!

“I’m sponsoring myself and recruiting family members, my dear sweet husband, and friends/coworkers to sponsor me, pitch in, etc… so I will be very excited to make my donation to Second Harvest in late December! Hope my efforts and commitment to feeding our neighbors helps in some small way!”

I hope Robin’s story can inspire you to make a change in your life and meet those personal goals you have been putting off! Don’t forget to pledge your pounds on the Pound for Pound Challenge Website.

Interested in joining the Pay it Forward Running club? Let us know!

Do you have an inspiring story as well? Let us know!

Thank you Robin and to all our Challenge Champs! Keep up the good work!

See ya next time!

Sasha Hausman
Events Specialist

The Pepsi Refresh Project is looking for people, businesses and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. In return, Pepsi will fund the top winners.

Below is the commercial:

Here is the scoop:

Pepsi is accepting 1,000 ideas per month. During the month you can go in and vote for up to 10 of your favorite ideas every day. At the end of the month the most popular ideas in each category will win. There are 32 potential grant spots each month.

Seeing this as a great opportunity, we took the reins one day and submitted our own idea. We found out yesterday that our idea was approved!

Help us bring our idea to life by voting daily on our Pepsi Refresh page: http://www.refresheverything.com/kidspacks

Our Pepsi Refresh Idea

Distribute healthy food to at-risk children who often go to bed hungry

Our main goals are to:

• Provide kid-friendly food packs to chronically hungry children
• Provide fresh fruit to chronically hungry children
• Teach the importance of eating healthy and of physical activity
• Expand the Hi-Five Program to more locations

Watch the video below that we created to promote our idea:  






P.S. Don’t forget to share this with at least 5 of your friends!

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

Now in its 18th year, the Stamp Out Hunger! effort is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Last year, Letter Carriers collected 376,514 pounds of food in Central Florida. Nationally, 73.4 million pounds of food was collected.

What Can You Do To Help?
1. Place bags filled with nonperishable food items next to your mailbox.*
2. Your letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.

* Donate items like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice. Please do not include items that have expired or those in glass containers.

Sign up here to receive a reminder email!

Below are photos and videos from last year:

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

Guests heard from our President and CEO, Dave Krepcho. He explained the study, talked about the numbers, gave insight on what Second Harvest plans to do about it, and gave examples on what our community can do to help.

Then a special speaker came up to the podium, her name was Annie Busby. She received food from one of our partner agencies, Jewish Family Services. She explained how she was self employed and was doing pretty well, until the economy took a turn. Annie was left with her children, and grandchildren to support. She explained that the food wasn’t just something to eat … it was a sign that things were looking up and that she could get through this tough time.

Annie read a poem that she wrote in dedication and honor to Second Harvest Food Bank

Oh shine on me with greatness, thy one who prepares thy meal, show me thy love; by the bread that you yield.
Give to me the importance of nutrient to my body, so that I can achieve.
Give me supplements to help with my yield, that I will grow strong to face the dawning morn.
Walk with me through the pain of hunger, by filling my stomach so that I know not hunger.
For I was hungry and you fed me, I was alone and you gave me hope. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.
Thanks for the out stretched hand, thanks for the morsels of food.
From me to you; thank you, that I am stronger because of you.
For I too, am a child of the king, a pilgrim in a strange land.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to learn more about Hunger in Central Florida. If you were not able to make it to the reception, please check out the hunger study results online.

Have any ideas on how to help? Give us a call! (407) 295-1066

Photos from the reception:

 

Sasha Hausman
Events Specialist

CVS/Caremark

Without the support of corporate partners like CVS/Caremark our job would be much harder. Volunteers help us get food into the hands of needy families quicker and more efficiently. In today’s society there is a renewed spirit in helping fellow Americans. Feeding America is glad that CVS/Caremark show their spirit of giving through involvement with our organization and member Food Banks.  

Photo Slideshow:

Sasha Hausman
Events Specialist