July 19, 2023
Many of us have a personal goal to make it a habit to eat healthier. Let me just say that volunteering at the Pantry/Garden, you are surrounded by healthy food reminders. Just last week a group of volunteers, the "Veggie Belles” harvested close to 200 pounds of vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeños, squash, beets, and one watermelon. On Tuesday, the Servant Adventure Campers, from throughout the United States, weeded in the watermelons, blueberries, picked gallons of bush beans, and tasted ground cherries from the hoop house.
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July 12, 2023
One of the many bright spots this week was the number of families who came and volunteered at the pantry and garden last Thursday night. There was a massive amount of work needed in the garden from weeding, to watering, and harvesting. Five members of the Stay family joined us in the garden to harvest beets, squash, and cucumbers. As a note: every part of the beet was harvested. The red leaves were cut from the stems, leaves were rinsed off, and along with the beet offered to the neighbors on Saturday morning. Michael and his dad were pulling weeds along the long rows of green beans that are full of bean blooms.
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July 5, 2023
Reflecting on Saturday, July 1st at the Pantry and our upcoming week as we celebrate(d) the 4th of July, reminded me of the patriotic song, America the Beautiful. The lyrics include such phrases as spacious skies, amber waves, of grain, and purple mountains majesties.....from sea to shining sea. Have you noticed our glorious sunsets in the evening, our garden rows of flourishing greens, and the Pantry facing our Blue Ridge Mountains? America is the Beautiful! Reaching out the hand of friendship to our neighbors near and far, thank you volunteers and our area churches, civic groups, local merchants, and families for all you do to feed our community helping to reduce food insecurity.
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June 28, 2023
What a blessing it was for the Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry to be the recipient of the "Love Erin" outreach crew on Saturday. Christie Pickel, mother, shared the family's mission: "Love Erin" is to continue to share Erin's love and light to those in need. Ten members of Erin's family gathered to donate needed items (cereal and personal care products), shop with the pantry neighbors, and assist with carry out…filling 131 shopping carts with food and supplies. Our pictures this week represent the passion that filled our pantry on Saturday.
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June 21, 2023
Quiet on the Set! Last Wednesday, Kristen and Meredith, from MANNA, along with several volunteers from the Pantry arrived to be part of a PSA (Public Service Announcement). MANNA is in the process of providing information on the "Neighbor Shopping Model" for the community at large. MANNA serves many counties in Western North Carolina and wants to ensure that everyone understands about food insecurity in the community and resources available in their area.
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June 14, 2023
It's one for the records! MANNA delivered items weighing 11,500 pounds on Tuesday. Tyson frozen chicken, canned goods, red and white onions, honeydew melons, oranges, apples, squash, and cabbages are some of the items we will distribute on Saturday morning between 8:00-11:00. We welcomed several new volunteers from Fletcher United Methodist Church who helped us efficiently place our record-breaking order efficiently on the shelves, in freezers and refrigerators. Grants for food and your monetary donations help us purchase food at a greatly reduced price from MANNA.
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June 7, 2023
LAST CALL for collards! Yes you heard it here first. Our spring harvesting is coming to an end. This Friday at 8:30 a.m. will be the final collard picking. Join us for this celebratory day as we are about 50% poundage above 2022. The only reason to mention this.... is that the number of neighbors shopping for food is up over 50% from last year. Our beets are also part of our spring planting and they won't be ready for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, no idle hands in the garden as the tomatoes, peppers, beets, jalapenos, cucumbers, watermelon, and squash are peeking their tiny green stems above the fertile soil. Green beans were planted last week and with the soil temperature in the upper 60's you can rest assured that with these soaking rains we'll have some beans breaking ground in the near future.
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May 31, 2023
Yes, That's a Tower of Collards!!! Last Friday before the Weather Warn days, volunteers collected 66 pounds of collards. A total of eighty seven pounds were harvested, packaged, and distributed to our neighbors along with fresh Bibb lettuce from the garden. On Thursday, WLOS videoed three segments to be aired on the Carolina Kitchen. Chef Martha used romaine lettuce from the garden to "wrap-up" tasty spicy sautéed beans from the pantry. Next she gathered some herbs from the raised beds by the pergola and added them to the sliced and chopped fresh collards topped with sesame seeds for a fresh green salad.
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May 24, 2023
"We are Marching in the Light of God…" could be heard throughout the Lord's Acre, our garden, as Father J. sang a cappella. The community was there to celebrate Rogation Day with the Blessing of the Garden, Hoop House, churchyard, and Tierra Fertil. Many of our community friends and volunteers including Nativity Lutheran, Fletcher United Methodist, Feed and Seed, Calvary Episcopal, and Tierra Fertil participated in the procession, singing, and Blessing of the garden. Father J. concluded with a blessing for protection of the garden and all who labor, that the plants may bear good fruit and our area for the earth.
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May 17, 2023
An interesting phone call from Arlington, Virginia concerning what type of nutritional communication the pantry provides our "neighbors" or with our food. Hmmmmm...Where do you begin in responding about a pantry that has been in operation since 2009? We have evolved from distributing a box of food from a closet to a stand-alone building. Along the way have we increased our awareness on the impact of healthy nutrition options for our "neighbors." Food items are not randomly placed on a shelf. Lots of research and support from agencies like MANNA have provided a framework for us.
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May 10, 2023
Journal entry for May 4th...... First harvest of the season at the Lord's Acre of Fletcher! Volunteers traveled up and down the rows of collards snipping the tender leaves and gently placing them in containers for Saturday distribution. Fifty-four pounds of collards were gathered and stored in the pantry until Saturday morning. Our leaf lettuce will fill our baskets in about a week and there will be more collards ready. Herbs, donated from the French Broad Garden Club, fill our raised beds by the pergola. Chef Martha uses them often to flavor the recipes she prepares for the neighbors on Saturday mornings.
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May 3, 2023
Going once, Going twice.........ooops you might have missed it if you weren't on the campus of Calvary Episcopal Church last week. The community turned out daily between 9-4 to donate lots of treasures — from a Barbie house, Instapot, golf clubs, a bunk bed, books, linens, a bicycle, wreaths, framed and unframed art, seasonal decorations, sets of china and flatware, a kayak complete with oar and life vest, and three pick-up truck loads of flowers from Van Wingerden, International. Folks were lined up in the rain on Saturday well before the doors opened.
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April 26, 2023
Quiet on the Set! Lights! Action! Yes...., You are looking at a videographer with the United Way of Henderson County along with several of our pantry volunteers. UWHC is in the process of producing a short community impact video highlighting some funded partners. Our pantry operates on the MANNA neighbor shopping model which they wanted to highlight. We offer neighbors the opportunity to shop, using a grocery cart, to choose from a variety of foods within specific categories. Thank you to our volunteers, Carol R., Carol C., Jeff, and Martha who shopped, distributed meat, milk, and eggs, and helped with carry out.
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April 19, 2023
Eagle Scout candidate, Mason Heth, and members of his scout troop worked Saturday afternoon in The Lord's Acre of Fletcher constructing two picnic tables. Over the winter and into early spring, Mason raised the funds to purchase supplies needed for the tables. Boards were purchased and cut into lengths for the benches, tops, and supporting structure pieces. As the scouts under the supervision of Mason began the construction task, his leadership skills were evident. He circulated throughout the site encouraging each scout in their particular task, and modeling when needed. For example how to use an electric sander. When the project was complete, Mason's father had hot pizza ready for the hungry scouts. Please come by the garden and enjoy "time at the tables" and the garden.
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April 12, 2023
When our neighbors arrived on Saturday morning, they were so appreciative of all the time and effort that the pantry volunteers had spent in preparation for food distribution and items for a tasty Easter meal. Not only were the shelves stocked with over 4,556.5 pounds of additional food items that have been delivered over the past two weeks from a Manna Food Drive.....(that's over two tons)....they also received a ham, a bag of potatoes, fresh green beans, a can of pineapple, dinner rolls, and a stick of butter. VERITAS provided Easter cards and two baskets of food items collected by their third graders. Hendersonville Middle School's entire student body participated in their food drive which was sponsored by the Student Council. Several representatives from the Student Council were ambassadors for the school and helped unload the 812 pounds of food items last Thursday.
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April 5, 2023
A picture is worth a thousand words! Last Friday look who backed up to our unloading area at the Pantry! Jacob and Rose from MANNA Food Bank with their van literally filled with food from two area schools. TC Roberson High and Fernleaf Community Charter School's students participated in a food drive sponsored by MANNA Food Bank. Again, it confirms what collaboration with the community and especially our young people can accomplish to help in reducing food insecurity in our community. We just barely unloaded the 2,750.5 pounds of food when Koontz Intermediate School arrives with a large pickup truck packed with 985.5 pounds of baskets and tubs of food items. The generosity of the community warms our hearts. We immediately began filling our shelves with these donations to ensure a quick return to our neighbors with food challenges. Saturday morning we were able to distribute lots of the food items to our 134 families representing 463 individuals and seven new families.
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March 29, 2023
The Calvary Episcopal Church Food Pantry's primary mission, goal, focus is the distribution of food each Saturday morning to help alleviate food insecurity in our community. Since 2009 when the Pantry opened, we have stayed the course. However, along this journey, we have evolved into more than a food pantry. Thanks to agencies like MANNA, who have many "wrap around services,” offer assistance in providing healthier choices of food through the SWAP program as one example. The UNC School of Pharmacy interns provide blood pressure, blood glucose checks, and seasonal flu shots several months over the year. The Lion's Club of Mills River offers eye screening twice a year for our neighbors. Volunteers have available the 211 cards. Twice a month Chef Martha provides cooking demonstrations using food items that are available on Saturday mornings. Neighbors enjoy a sample of the prepared item and are offered a recipe. WLOS videos Chef Martha for the Carolina Kitchen segments in the Pantry and garden where she uses items... again that are available in the Pantry. Most recently Chef Martha is featured in the spring Ingles Table Magazine for her deviled eggs and Green Pea Soup.
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March 22, 2023
What an uplifting way to start your Saturday! This picture, shared by Debbie, after she parked on the campus early on Saturday morning to volunteer. Neighbors began arriving in the early hours and they too witnessed the dawn of a new day. Sue began distributing numbers around 6:00 to keep the traffic from backing up onto Old Airport Road. Tom and Dino help us by assisting with registration and shopping with our Spanish-speaking neighbors. Ludmilla speaks several Eastern European languages and helps our neighbors from these countries. This week we welcomed ten new neighbors and 122 households representing 430 individuals.
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March 15, 2023
What a "cool" week to be building a hoop house in the Lord's Acre of Fletcher. Moderate temps, a bit breezy, low humidity, and a group of energetic men equipped with tools in hand launched into this mammoth project. It's a bit like building a tunnel-dimensions must be exact. Levels, twine, and tools for inserting cyliners exactly 36 inches into the ground were placed strategically. The next day a frame was added and an "aha moment" could be heard echoing among the men. Our "neighbors" at the pantry will be receiving fresh produce grown in the garden and hoop house in the next few weeks. We will be able to offer significantly more produce thanks to this grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County.
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March 8, 2023
You can be assured that there's never a dull moment at Cavalry Episcopal Church Food Pantry and The Lord's Acre of Fletcher, our Garden. Deliveries of food items are dropped off Monday in the foyer of the Pantry which by the way is open daily Monday through Friday from 9:00-4:00. Tuesday, a delivery of over 6,000 pounds of food was transported from MANNA to the Pantry, where our volunteers were ready, willing, and waiting to place it on the shelves. Wednesday morning, construction of our Hoophouse, awarded to us by a grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County, began early in the morning. Drive by the garden, and view the structure from your car as it evolves. Friday, volunteers stocked the shelves, with locally purchased items. Saturday is distribution day from 8:00-11:00.
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