Dear Food for Others Community,

During our staff holiday party, I became unexpectedly emotional when talking with the team about all that we had accomplished in 2020.  Feelings of gratitude, relief, pride, and hope surfaced that I hadn’t yet had time to contemplate.  Upon further reflection, I realized that all of you should be included in this celebration.  If we have learned anything this year, it is the power of community.  That YOU, our supporters, are what makes Food for Others so successful.    

Day after day, we see the toll this pandemic has taken on the people who come to our doors.  So many of them finding themselves in this position for the first time.  Throughout the course of this year we’ve lost dear volunteers that have been instrumental in carrying out our mission as well as multiple loved ones that we will never forget.  As staff, we have endured some of the most physically and mentally challenging days and have had to dig deep. 

But those were the days that smiling faces showed up at the loading dock with a warm meal or sent a kind message cheering us on.  There were children who sold their drawings to raise money, a runner who ran multiple marathons to help feed her neighbors, and generous individuals who had experienced food insecurity as children and wanted to give back. We received daily hot meals from struggling restaurants and donations from thousands of individuals and businesses. You even grew food in your gardens just for us.  In short, you showed us in ways big and small that you were there for everyone in our community. 

YOU are what kept us going.  We know you would be here helping if you could, but because you couldn’t, you put your trust in us to get it done.  We felt that responsibility and did not take it lightly.  It is what spurred us to work harder every day to provide more food access in the community.  You enabled us to expand to serve 23 community partners and launch our nine mobile sites.  You helped us rise to the challenge of feeding 380,000 people in 2020.  For this, we want to thank you.  We do not know what 2021 will bring, but we do know that TOGETHER we can accomplish anything.

All the best to you and those you care about in 2021!

Annie Turner

Executive Director