Good Cheer is fortunate to have access to and partnerships with several local markets and farmers. The Bayview Market is a few minutes’ walk away, making access easy for the gleaners when they make the weekly trip to the market..
Good Cheer uses a variety of methods to keep the organization visible to the community. Social media is a quick, simple way to tell stories and generate interest in volunteering or donating..
Whidbey Island has a large community of homeowners engaged in growing their own produce, as well as numerous fruit trees located around the South end. The food bank sees a steady flow of produce donations from the community during the growing season, and the fruit tree gleaning program was created to help prevent excess fruit from going to waste..
Good Cheer relies on over 3,000 hours of volunteer service each month, performed by around 200 volunteers. Whidbey Island is a tight-knit community; news travels mostly through word of mouth, and relationships are key to engaging and retaining volunteers..
Food for Others officially began feeding the hungry from its Merrifield site in 1995. Today food supply, storage and distribution activities are made possible by a network of active volunteers, supporting churches and organizations, grocery stores, farms, gardens, farmers markets, and retail food contributors..
Overview: In light of the need for quality and healthy meals for food-insecure people, community meals are an excellent way to bring folks together while making sure everyone has access to good food without barriers..
Overview: In order to take advantage of the successful gleaning program and bypass the storage limitations of food relief agencies, volunteer-based workshops can process excess gleaned produce into shelf-stable items for distribution and teach food preservation and waste prevention..
Marketing and Visibility During the first year of the Community Food Projects, the VISTA’s work has primarily been building relationships – and therefore visibility and recognition – within the local community, specifically among other emergency food relief and food security groups whose partnership will be…
The Community Food Projects developed by the first-year VISTA have not so far included volunteers because they are primarily still in the development phase. Volunteers have also been readily available when needed through the structure of each project. The first community meal pilot under the program provided a weekly lunch while a local meal-providing agency (Salvation Army) was taking an administrative break over the summer months..