2024 RECAP

Happy New Year Community Food Rescue & Farm 2 Food Bank members! This was a busy year for us, and we are happy to bring you a 2024 recap! Thanks to our 124 donors, we rescued an impressive amount of food this year: 3,651,415 lbs! We were able to direct all of this food to 129 Montgomery County food assistance providers. And of course, we couldn’t have made any of this happen without our amazing volunteer food runners (over 100 of you)! We reached out to our network to hear about the impact that these programs had on them in 2024. 

Tom Farquhar from Sandy Springs Gardens shared with us his experience as a farmer who both sells and donates food to these programs. Sandy springs has been in our network since 2020 and has provided almost 10,000lb. of fresh produce to our neighbors who need it the most this year alone! Read on to hear what he shared about his farm’s participation: 

What inspired your farm to participate in the Farm 2 Food Bank program? 

“Even before the COVID pandemic, we partnered with Manna to deliver our locally grown vegetables to food assistance providers in Montgomery County. So, when the Farm 2 Food Bank program was created to address a sudden surge in food insecurity, we were eager to be included as a supplier. Manna Food Center secured funding so that farmers could receive a wholesale price for MoCo grown food. Even now, as the direct impact of the pandemic is fading, food insecurity remains a persistent problem in the County, and we want to continue working with schools, health centers, and food assistance providers to be part of the solution.” 

What impact does this program have on your business? 

“We grow vegetables for retail sale at farmers markets and for our subscribers who purchase a weekly veggie box for the whole season. But with growing demand from Manna and other programs, now more than half of our seasonal harvest at Sandy Spring Gardens goes to food assistance programs in Montgomery County. Now the primary purpose of our farm is making the very freshest, most nutritious vegetables available to our neighbors who struggle with the rising cost of good food.”

What has been one of your most memorable moments in 2024? 

“Manna arranges for volunteers to come to the farm to transport the deliveries to soup kitchens and food pantries. But I drive most of our deliveries to the distribution sites, arriving just in time to put freshly harvested products out on the line. That way we can see how the clients respond when they see bins of our vegetables stacked on the distribution tables. And when they spot our fresh produce for several weeks in a row, their enthusiasm more than justifies all the hard work of planting, growing, harvesting, and packing.” 

Susan Young, one of our amazing volunteers, has been delivering food since 2015! This year she completed 125 food runs, delivering 19,264lb of recovered food to food assistance providers in the county. We asked Susan about her experience as a food runner, and she responded with such enthusiasm! You can hear about her experience volunteering with us below: 

What motivated you to sign up as a volunteer food runner for CFR? 

“I was motivated to sign up as a Food Runner because I’d gotten a taste of working with Manna as part of a regular sorting group at the Manna warehouse, and I found myself wanting more! Being a CFR runner is so flexible, which lets me pick up runs around my somewhat erratic work and personal schedule.” 

What is one of your most memorable food runs? 

“My most memorable runs are always the ones where my car smells so good (sometimes for days afterward!), whether from Tacombi tacos, Sunflower Bakery sweets, or crates upon crates of apples.” 

What is the best part about volunteering for CFR? 

“The best part about volunteering for CFR is being a small part of slowing food waste and getting food where it’s needed most.” 

We reached out to one of our most active recipient organizations, ISKCON of Washington DC, to hear about what they were up to this year and how CFR aligns with their mission. ISKCON of Washington DC has been in our network since 2020 and received over 9,000lb this year, equivalent to about 7,600 meals! Read on to hear what Sharmila Das had to say: 

Tell us a little bit about your organization and how you help people in your community! 

“ISKCON was founded in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a charismatic spiritual leader who had a profound impact on the lives of millions. Prabhupada, also known as Srila Prabhupada, was inspired by the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a 16th-century Indian saint who propounded the bhakti yoga philosophy. Srila Prabhupada’s vision was to introduce the spiritual practices of Lord Krishna to the Western world, and he aimed to revive the ancient tradition of Vedic practices, Gaudiya Vaisnavism. 

In contrast to the complexity and anxiety of modern life, the Krishna conscious lifestyle is based on the principle of “simple living and high thinking.”  

One of ISKCON’s most renowned initiatives is the Food for Life program. This initiative aims to provide nutritious meals to those in need, promoting food security and ending hunger. With a network of volunteers and centers around the world, the Food for Life program has distributed millions of meals to date. 

The food is prepared and distributed with love and compassion, making a tangible difference in the lives of those served. 

At the heart of the Food for Life program is the act of cooking. Volunteers gather to prepare meals from scratch, using fresh ingredients and traditional recipes. The joy of cooking for others is palpable, as individuals come together to share in the act of giving. Whether it’s a hot meal on a cold winter’s night or a fresh loaf of bread for a family in need, the impact of Cooking for the Poor is undeniable.” 

What inspired your organization to participate in Community Food Rescue?  

“I really wanted to help with solving this issue of food waste and food insecurity. My goal is to reduce food waste and get more food to people who are food insecure. We want to give nutritious vegetarian food to those in need.” 

What impact does CFR have on your organization? 

“Our organization feels the benefit of being a part of and serving the local community, especially those who are not so fortunate. We wish to ensure everyone feels the benefit of our spiritual community. We wish to increase our reach and distribute to more locations.” 

What has been one of your most memorable moments in 2024? 

“We opened our brand-new temple building after being in this Potomac location for almost 50 years. We hosted thousands of people during the festivities. More than three hundred special invited guests – political, religious, and other community leaders, along with leading congregational members of ISKCON of DC – gathered for a special Temple Grand Opening Ceremony. 

Guests at the special event included leaders from the Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints communities, as well as interfaith, county, and religious freedom organizations including the Capital Area Food Bank, Interfaith Power and Light, West Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, Montgomery County Citizens Association, Association of United Hindu and Jain Temples, Becket Firm, Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan DC, Religions for Peace USA, and the Religion Communicators Council.” 

Thank you so much to all our network members who contributed to this blog. We love hearing what everyone is up to! 2024 was an exciting year for our programs and we want to highlight a couple of successes! Read on to hear about Food Waste Prevention Week and some Farm 2 Food Bank highlights: 

One of our most exciting partnerships this year was a collaboration with STEP for National Food Waste Prevention Week. STEP is a non-profit union-employer training fund that provides free technical skills and life skills classes to hospitality workers in the DMV. Prior to FWPW, the recently graduated cooks from STEP made Root-to-Stem recipes for cooking demos to reduce food waste. This project was an awesome opportunity to work closely and more creatively with STEP.  Check out all the videos HERE. 

Manna was awarded the wonderful opportunity to support various visits to BIPOC owned and operated farms growing culturally considerate crops in Montgomery County. These visits, supported by The Wallace Centers’ Food Systems Leadership Network, gathered various stakeholders and community members throughout the Spring and Summer to learn about locally grown crops. Attendees were able to connect and discuss ways of bringing this fresh produce to our most vulnerable communities. We hope to continue convening and connecting the farming community in 2025! 

Once again, thank you to our amazing CFR network! We couldn’t get food to those who need it the most without your help! We appreciate all you do to support our mission. Until next year! 

-Food Resources Team