Community
Hunger Solutions
Sharing the Bounty!
About Us
Community Hunger Solutions is dedicated to connecting local food with community members who face barriers to access. We do this through community partnerships with food producers and retailers, food pantries and community meal sites, and community supporters.
Community
Community Hunger Solutions works to engage the whole community in our mission to provide healthy food to those who lack access.
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EMPLOYMENT:
CHS works with local agencies that find employment opportunities for individuals with varying abilities. These folks learn valuable job skills and find purpose while supporting CHS. They are compensated at a living wage for their work and also receive healthy produce and dairy products in exchange for their time!
EDUCATION:
CHS works with schools to support educational efforts in classrooms. These efforts focus on food education as well as education promoting food justice.
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CHS also provides recipe cards and food information for pantry patrons and facilitates nutrition education through wellness programs.
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FARMS:
CHS supports partner farms with a tax deduction or fair compensation for excess produce. CHS provides about $200,000 in compensation to area farms each year!
VOLUNTEERS:
Volunteering with CHS is an excellent opportunity to give back to your community and earn fresh, healthy produce in return! CHS offers volunteers an unlimited amount of fresh, local food for each shift worked. Some of our volunteers find great value in this exchange, using their two or three hour shift as a way to source organic food they wouldn't otherwise have access to
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Hunger
Hunger affects our community in many unexpected ways. CHS works to combat it everywhere it shows up. In addition to stocking pantries with healthy food options, CHS helps in the following ways:
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CHILDREN:
CHS works with low income school districts and educational programs to provide food for educational uses so that kids can gain as much exposure as possible to local, healthy food.
ELDERLY:
CHS delivers food directly to low income and assisted living apartments to reach members of our community, like the elderly, who aren't as mobile as other community members. About half of the community members we reach are elderly.
ESL:
CHS provides our recipe cards in Spanish for pantry patrons whose first language is Spanish.
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INVISIBLE HUNGER:
Many community members that struggle with hunger battle quietly, too proud to ask for help from strangers. CHS works to develop deep connections in our communities to assist those who are in a position to help.
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FARM TO TABLE:
Much of the food available at food pantries is processed and near or past its expiration date. The food CHS delivers is often harvested just a few days before it appears on pantry shelves, making it just as fresh as the food found at your local grocery store! This gives recipients the dignity that every person deserves!
Solutions
Community Hunger Solutions works to connect excess healthy food from local producers with community members who lack access. We are committed to making sure this food is fresh and accessible to all who are in need.
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PARTNER FARMS:
Local organic farms have a myriad hurdles to overcome in their mission to provide fresh, local food to area families. The perishable nature of the food and unpredictability of supply and demand cause waste. Our partner farms generously donate food or deliver it for a small cost to CHS where we sort it and redistribute it to families in need.
PARTNER FOOD PROCESSORS AND RETAILERS:
Food processing and sale is another area where large amounts of waste can occur. CHS works with food processors and retailers to accept this food so it can reach families in need instead of ending up in landfills.
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FOOD PANTRIES, FOOD BANKS AND OTHER FOOD DISTRIBUTION SITES:
CHS is proud to offer food to pantries free of charge. Many of our partner pantries and food banks choose to support CHS financially and through trade because of the value the program provides their organization. CHS doesn't descriminate based on an organization's ability to compensate CHS.
FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS:
The ability to offer food free of charge is made possible by generous donors and other community support. While CHS works hard to minimize expenses, the work wouldn't be possible without generous contributions from grants and other donations.