Pantry Patter

Bowie Interfaith Pantry and Emergency Aid Fund

September/ October 2020

Pantry Statistics

Sept. 22 Evening Hours 6:00-7:00 p.m.

October 4 Community Food Drive—Kenhill Ctr. 9 a.m.-12 noon

October 13 Evening Hours 6:00-7:00 p.m. (last Tuesday evening until Spring)

Upcoming Events:

Inside this Issue:

2020 Holiday Meals/Gifts

Volunteer Opportunities

Food Drives/Donations

COVID-19 Update

August 2020

August 2019

July 2019

Households Served 329 275 257

Client Visits 456 356 329

New Client Households 32 22 19

Children Under Age of18 305 217 190

Totes of Groceries 916 714 654

Value of Food Distributed $41,385 $27,015 $31,195

Percent to City of Bowie Residents 48% 50% 41%

Percent to “Bowie Area” Residents 21% 18% 19%

July 2020

353

482

36

372

958

$40,545

45%

23%

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The Pantry has been open on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday evenings for food pick-up and donation drop-off for several years. However, we will be suspending our evening hours after October 13 until spring. It will be too dark and cold to operate safely outside during the fall and winter months. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Evening Hours

Donation Drop-off: Mon, Weds, Fri 8 - 11 a.m.

Please call or email if it will be a large donation (more than two shopping carts) so we can plan ahead.

Client Food Pick-up: Mon, Weds, Fri 9 - 11 a.m.

Pantry Hours through December 2020

Page 2 September/October 2020

School Backpack Project

Thanks to your generosity, 96 children in grades PreK -12 began the school year with fully stocked backpacks. Many thanks to all of you who helped these students get off to a good start this school year:

Smith & Associates

Unity Center of Light

Countless Individuals

Soup

Canned Fruit/Applesauce

Fresh fruits and vegetables

Greatest Needs

We are looking for people to pick up bread/dessert items from Wegmans (Waugh Chapel) on Friday mornings and every other Wednesday morning.

Pick up time is 8 a.m. There is one short set of stairs and some lifting involved. It takes about 20 minutes to pack up the items in your own tote bags and then you need to bring them directly to the Pantry. If interested, please email or call for more information.

Volunteer Opportunities

The Pantry has been blessed to have the support of so many for our annual Thanksgiving Food Basket program, Christmas Food Basket program, Adopt-a-Child program, and our toy and gift room. Due to the pandemic, our programs will be different this year.

We will not be accepting/distributing food baskets or gifts/toys this year.

Instead, we plan to give our families gift cards to purchase their Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets. In addition, we will give our moms and dads one gift card per child to purchase holiday gifts. If you would like to contribute to this effort, we are accepting monetary donations and gift cards.

2020 Thanksgiving and Christmas Special Programs

Bowie Baysox—Chicken Sale This summer the Bowie BaySox and Mountaire Chicken partnered to host two mega chicken truckload sales to benefit members of the community. We would like to thank all those who purchased chicken for the Pantry. Our families were very grateful to receive your donations.

NBC4’s Food 4 Families We would like to thank NBC4 for including our pantry in their virtual summer food drive. Special thanks to all those who donated to the Pantry as part of this effort; we appreciate your support.

Non-Profit Status The Bowie Interfaith Pantry and Emergency Aid Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 93% of Pantry donations go directly to assist clients. Tax receipts are available for all donations.

Page 3 September/October 2020

Adobe, Inc.

All Saints Lutheran Church

Ascension Catholic Church and St. Vincent DePaul

BJs

Bay Area Christian Counseling

Berwyn Rod and Gun Club

Blue Skys Stable

Bowie Church of Christ

Bowie City Church

Bowie Ice Arena

Bowie Lions Club

Bowie Town Center

Bowie Victory Christian Ministries International

Charlie Hochman Fund

Christian Community Presbyterian Church

Church Without Walls - Sent 4 U Ministry

City of Bowie

The Cleaning Authority

Collington Life Care Community

Cresthill Church

Davidsonville Ruritan Foundation, Inc.

Dr. Dobin

Faith Fellowship Church

First Lutheran Church of Bowie

Fragrance of Grace, Int’l.

Giant Community Bag Program

Grace Baptist Church

Grace Lutheran Church

Grace Lutheran Church – Altar Guild

Greater Mount Nebo AME Church

Healthcare Solutions, LLC

Holy Trinity Episcopal Day School

Jack and Jill of America – Prince George’s County Chapter

Jet Blue – DCA Reagan

Longleaf Neighborhood

Masks by Hannah

Microsoft

Moms Club of Bowie

Mount Oak Dry Cleaners

Mount Oak United Methodist Church

NASA Federal Credit Union

Northridge Community

Novo Nordisk

Nzuko Umuada Anambra Advancement International

Perfecting Worship Center

A special thank you to all those who donated food and/or money to the Pantry in July, August and early September:

Food Drives/Donations

Our Mission We are a community-based social services program providing emergency food and financial assistance* to those in Bowie and Prince George’s County, who are experiencing need – without regard to race, creed or gender. If we are unable to meet the needs, we will make referrals to others who may be able to provide the needed assistance.

To serve with respect, dignity and without discrimination those in need in our community by providing food, financial assistance and other resource referrals.

* Financial assistance is only available to residents of the City of Bowie

Preceptor Lambda Chapter, Beta Sigma Phi

Prince George’s County Alumni Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

Reformed Presbyterian Church of Bowie

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church

St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church

St. Pius X Church

Sisters Fellowship, Int’l.

Smith & Associates

Temple Solel

Top Ladies of Distinction – Prince George’s County

Trinity Lutheran Church

United Parish of Bowie

Unity Center of Light

Unique Ladies Association - Nigeria

Village Baptist Church

Walmart

Wegmans

Weichert Realty

Williams Financial Services

Page 4 September/October 2020

It is hard to believe that it has been almost six months since the Pantry moved its operations outside. It has been a challenge but our volunteers, donors, and clients have all adapted to the change in environment. We plan to continue operating outdoors through at least the end of the year.

Our inside pantry set-up does not allow for the necessary social distancing or proper air circulation to operate safely indoors. We miss the one-on-one interaction with our clients, but with flu season rapidly approaching and COVID-19, it is best to continue operating outside.

In June we instituted summer hours due to the heat. Drive-up service allows us to quickly and efficiently check people in and load their vehicles. Even though our numbers have increased, we will continue with our shortened hours (9-11 a.m. food pick-up) for the fall and winter months. Donations can be dropped off 8-11 a.m.

Donations continue to pour into the Pantry. We are overwhelmed by the support of the community. With your help we have been able to provide food to all those who come to us in need. It is heartwarming and humbling to walk into the Pantry each day to see our shelves fully stocked and our tables overflowing with food, fresh produce, and personal care items. We have not run out of toilet paper, either!

Pantry COVID-19 Update Celebration and Recognition of our Pantry Director

On Saturday, September 11, the Board of the Bowie Food Pantry held a surprise celebration in honor of our Director, Debbie Langdon, for her outstanding efforts guiding the Pantry for TEN years!

Debbie has not only led the Pantry through changes to improve the amount and quality of food given to our clients, but she has navigated us safely through many transitions due to the impact of COVID-19.

Dozens of volunteers arrived in vehicles for a safely-distanced drive-by parade at the Pantry. The mayor of the City of Bowie, Tim Adams, read a proclamation praising Debbie for her accomplishments and leadership.

The local papers covered the event which can be seen at:

http://bit.ly/DebbieLangdon

We are thankful for Debbie’s leadership at the Pantry as we are thankful for all of you!

Page 5 September/October 2020

Bowie Interfaith Pantry and Emergency Aid Fund

2614 Kenhill Drive, Suite 134 Bowie, MD 20715 Phone: 301-262-6765 E-mail: bowiefoodpantry@gmail.com Website: www.bowiefoodpantry.org

Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00 —11:00 a.m. 2nd & 4th Tuesdays each month 6:00—7:00 p.m. Please note that Tuesday opening ends October 13. The Pantry is located in the blue building behind the Kenhill Center. Park in the back parking lot and enter through the blue building.

The Pantry garden has been producing LOTS of peppers

this summer.

Members of Bowie City Church went shopping for the Pantry on Sunday, August 30. They did a fabulous job of focusing

on our most needed items.

We love our shoppers!

(above) Shopping in progress

(below) On its way to the Pantry

Fall crops have been planted.