The Monthly Morsel

Recap of June 2023

Volunteers sharing their thoughts at the Volunteer Town Hall on Friday, June 23.

Announcements and Updates:

Volunteer Town Hall - Thank you for making it such a success!

Our first ever Volunteer Town Hall was incredible. Nearly 30 of you came out and pondered a few questions about the program, your volunteer experience, and how we can improve, and you had so many wonderful ideas, suggestions, and questions. We are still sifting through and figuring out how we can put many of them into action, but here are a few takeaways that will be implemented in the next month or two:

Staff will review instructions and procedures of each activity at the start of each shift to make sure everyone is on the same page and up to speed.
Staff will also let you know what event or distribution you are preparing for, how much food you packed, and other relevant info about the direct impact of that specific shift before you head home.
The bulletin board is getting a makeover and will soon be updated weekly with info about packing and distribution totals, volunteer hours, and other info. Let us know what you want us to include on the board!
The Urgent Shifts page will be updated at a minimum once each week on Mondays so you can always tell where your help is most needed.
Spoilage instructions and example sheets will be available during produce shifts soon to help you decide what to keep and what to compost.
Staff are working on a sorting re-training and will be rolling it out in the next few weeks to review the sorting process and get everyone operating on the same system. All sorters will be required to attend the re-training at some point in the near future in order to continue sorting.

There are many ideas that we are still workshopping, so don't worry if there is something missing from this list that you are excited about - we're working on a handful of longer-term projects based on your suggestions and will give you more info about them soon!

We want to extend an enormous thank you to everyone who participated, we so appreciate your time, creativity, and the ideas you shared with us. We're hoping to make this a regular part of our volunteer get together calendar that is in the works and we look forward to the next one already!

Heat Safety

It's that time of year again, friends! Please check the weather before your shifts and take care of yourselves in the heat! A few important reminders and tips:

Start hydrating 1-2 days BEFORE planned heat exposure (like food distributions). Drink more water than usual in the days leading up to your shifts.
Wear comfortable, breathable clothing, ideally with sun protection.
Put on sunscreen and reapply after a few hours!
Take breaks in the shade to cool down, even if you don't "feel like" you need it.
Remind your fellow volunteers to drink water and take care of themselves too!

Story Gathering Volunteers

We need help gathering stories from our neighbors at our food distributions! If you like meeting new folks and talking with people about their lived experiences, this is the opportunity for you! Click here to sign up for an info/training session. No further commitment required to attend the training, all are welcome to come check it out!

Pantry To Go

Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Recap

In FY 2022-2023 (July 22-June 23), 1,934 individual volunteers served 20,445 volunteer hours, which enabled PFB to distribute 1.62 million lbs of food across our 10 distribution sites. This incredible amount of food packed and distributed by volunteers like you fed approximately 33,244 households*, made up of 102,586* individuals.

Of those 101,586 individuals, 34% were children under age 18, 25% were seniors over age 60, and 41% were adults between 18-60.

*Because our distributions are anonymous, we cannot distinguish how many times a specific household utilized our services, so these numbers represent the total number of instances when a household came through our distributions. 24,488 of the 33,244 households reported that they had attended one of our distributions at least once in the past.

June 2023 Recap:

Produce bags packed: 20,523 bags

Total lbs distributed at Pantry To Go sites: 136,799 lbs

Total volunteer hours: 1,805 hours

Individual volunteers: 338 people

Cameron Park:

6,237 lbs distributed

146 households

484 individuals

This time last year, we served 149 households and 489 individuals

Pollock Pines:

11,283 lbs distributed

247 households

626 individuals

This time last year, we served 198 households and 494 individuals

Sheridan:

9,768 lbs distributed

193 households

661 individuals

This time last year, we served 153 households and 474 individuals

Georgetown:

8,475 lbs distributed

89 households

243 individuals

This time last year, we served 98 households and 281 individuals

Foresthill:

9,936 lbs distributed

197 households

512 Individuals

This time last year, we served 79 households and 200 individuals

Roseville:

24,209lbs distributed

730 households

2,371 individuals

This time last year, we served 329 households and 1,091 individuals

Placerville:

12,507 lbs distributed

341 households

980 individuals

This time last year, we served 239 households and 759 individuals

Colfax:

6,955 lbs distributed

160 households

441 individuals

This time last year, we served 132 households and 317 individuals

Lincoln:

19,217 lbs distributed

354 households

1,114 individuals

This time last year, we served 217 households and 670 individuals

Rocklin:

28,213 lbs distributed

Households and individuals still being tallied. They will be included in July's recap.

This time last year, we served 300 households and 936 individuals

Volunteer Spotlight:

Operations and Transportation Volunteers

Lovingly compiled by Jeremy

Matt S.

Matt Sharp has been volunteering since August 2022. Since then, he has raked in over 210 hours. When gathering information for this spotlight, the first thing Matt wanted to share is that his grandson is #1. Matt retired from Folsom Prison after 31 years. He loves 70’s country music and reading about WW2. One of his favorite books is Truman. His Favorite food is fish tacos. To say Matt is a fan of the San Jose Sharks and San Francisco Giants would be an understatement. He worked on the force but always wanted to do something that gave back to his community. The biggest thing that Matt is thankful for is being able to spend time with his family. Matt will help in any way he can at Placer Food Bank. Some tasks that need to be done are sometimes not the most glamorous or immediately rewarding but Matt will always step up to the plate. We are forever grateful for his help and understand that without his help, our well-oiled machine has a harder time running.

LaDonna B.

LaDonna has been volunteering with Placer Food Bank since before 2021. She is a very insightful person and can seem very quiet and task-driven but, she is such an interesting person once you get to know her. LaDonna's favorite food is lasagna. Her favorite hobbies are jogging, playing with dogs, and hiking. Wizard of Oz is her favorite movie and her favorite book is “The Spy That Came in from the Cold”. She is also a big Star Wars fan. She has two dogs, Dirk is a twelve-year-old long-haired dachshund, and Cal a three-month-old border collie. Her favorite place to hike would be in Yosemite. She also loves to visit the northern California coast. LaDonna is always up for the task, whether it be produce or her favorite shift, sorting. She understands the end result of her work is that families are being fed. She always shows up with a positive attitude and a strong work ethic. If you happen to be on a shift with her, join her. You won’t regret it.

Sabrina M.

Originally from East Germany, my husband and I moved to Vancouver, Canada in 2010 before we relocated to California in July of 2022. Shortly after that, I started volunteering at Placer Food Bank because helping out in my community has always been a great passion of mine. I started and ran a brand new farmer's market in our small neighborhood outside of Vancouver for 4 years and worked as a community builder for United Way British Columbia where I learned a lot about the importance of community connections and the amazing kindness many neighbors share. My favorite thing to do is working in my garden, travel with my husband and son, and trying new restaurants everywhere we go. My favorite thing to do at the food bank is check-in neighbors at our local distributions - it's a great way to experience how grateful everyone is for all the hard work that we put into packing all the produce and meal kits.*While Sabrina has been volunteering at Placer Food Bank for less than a year (September 1), she has had such a big impact and is a real joy to be around!*

July Birthdays

Happy birthday to all of our volunteers born this coming month!

Be sure to wish these folks a happy birthday if you see them this month:

Sudhir K

Isabel T

David F

Shelby G

Jessica P

Stanley L

Toni T

Ashley L

Robert G

Yanbin Z

Jack M

Ray M

Ryan L

Patti M

Caitlin O

July 1

July 2

July 3

July 4

July 8

July 9

July 12

July 13

Michelle T

Dustin D

Al C

Maureen R

Michelle W

Amanda H

Katie

Adrienne B

Rosie C

Berri C

Jayla E

Anne R

Jennifer E

Sean D

Steve A

Marsellus K

July 13

July 14

July 15

July 16

July 18

July 19

July 21

July 26

July 27

July 28

July 30

With gratitude and best wishes,

Heidi, Grace, Jeremy, Shatonia, and Johnny

We want to hear from YOU!

Use this link to submit anonymous comments, concerns, feedback, or other thoughts about your volunteer experience at Placer Food Bank!

All feedback helps us keep growing and improving the volunteer program. Thanks!

Submit your feedback here!

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If you ever feel inclined and able to make a financial donation,

click here to view our online donation website.

Please know that the last thing we want is to make volunteers to feel pressured to donate money, because you are already so generous with your time. We so appreciate your gift of time and spirit, so please don't ever worry that it's not enough on its own.