September is Hunger Action Month!

September is Hunger Action Month, when Feeding America and member food banks, including North Kitsap Fishline, ask everyone in America to take action to fight hunger in their community all month long. This time of year -- right before the holidays, is when food banks experience their lowest inventory. 

During Hunger Action Month, we are focusing on two important programs: Healthy Table and Food for Thought.

Healthy Table aims to provide items such as dairy and fresh fruits and vegetables to our clients through our market. These items are provided through grocery rescue, which can sometimes be scarce, depending on their inventory. Fishline struggles to keep perishable items on our shelves. These items include:

- Fresh milk
- Yogurt
- Fruit and vegetables
- Eggs

These items are critical to encouraging a balanced a diet and a Healthy Table for our clients.

Our receiving hours for donations of these perishable items are: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, 8:30am to 2pm and Wed from 8:30am to 6pm. Please note: these are donation receiving hours only, food bank operation hours are different. Please do not leave donations at the door after hours. Arrangements can be made to deliver donations of perishable items after hours by emailing nkfishline@gmail.com.

As school begins, we start to focus on one of our most expensive programs: Food for Thought. Purchased items are packed in anonymous meal packs that are delivered to the school counselors every Friday afternoon.  They are in turn discretely distributed to the children at school before they leave for the weekend.  Children are eligible if they exhibit signs of chronic hunger or are part of the free meal program in their school.

When donating items for our Food for Thought program, you can use this handy shopping list:

Granola bars
Fruit snacks
Pop tarts
Individual oatmeal packets
Peanut butter crackers
Apple sauce cups
Fruit cups
Pudding cups
Individual cereal boxes
Cup of noodles
Chicken soup or chili
Individual packages of raisins or craisins
Other healthy snack items

Hunger Action Month is your opportunity to join Fishline and make a real and lasting impact on our effort to support our neighbors in need. Whether it’s by advocating and raising awareness, making donations, or volunteering, you can find the way that’s right for you to make a difference during Hunger Action Month.

Visit our website, our Facebook page and our calendar to see what you can do in September to participate in Hunger Action Month! We're adding new events all throughout September.

Fishline's Community Cookbook: 50 Years of Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Fishline is now accepting recipes for consideration in our upcoming cookbook: 50 Years of Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Fishline’s Community Cookbook. 

We hope to collect 300+ recipes from our amazing staff, tireless volunteers, loyal community partners and generous supporters.  So please send your family favorite, best-ever, easiest to make, most delicious recipe by May 24, 2016. And, reach out to your friends, family and neighbors and ask that they submit a recipe, too. 

You can submit a recipe one of three ways: 

1. by email to recipe@FishlineCookbook.org;
2. by dropping off a printed copy at one of our three locations noted below; or
3. by completing a form available at one of our three locations. 

Please include the following information with your submission:

• Full name
• Phone
• Email
• Fishline Connection (volunteer, client, community, supporter, other)
• May we use your name in our cookbook? (yes or no)
• Recipe title
• How many it serves
• Ingredients and directions
• Brief description of why this recipe is special to you (e.g., grandmother made it, child’s favorite, easy to make, etc.)
• Any special notes on preparation (e.g., freezes well, can be prepared in advance, etc.)

Hailey's Harvest Shares a Big Gift with Fishline's Birthday Fairy Program!

This week Fishline received a gift of $1200 from Hailey Fort of Hailey's Harvest. This award was given to her from the Newton Kindness Organization, formed in honor of Charlotte Bacon who lost her life in the Sandy Hook Tragedy. The award ceremony takes place around Charlotte's birthday and celebrates Charlotte’s life and recognizes the very best of the countless stories of Acts of Kindness by children received from around the globe. Typically, there are approximately 8 finalists and 15 – 25 medalists honored at the event. Hailey was one of the kids who received an award and when asked about her favorite charity, she chose Fishline! This gift will go to our Birthday Fairy program (Hailey's Favorite), Food for Thought, and to help with our homeless. Thank you Hailey for all the wonderful things you are doing for Fishline and the inspiration to our community! ‪#‎nkfishline‬ ‪#‎haileysharvest‬