WAFER Board President, Taylor Haley, to compete in Ironman ... · Taylor is an athlete in training...
Transcript of WAFER Board President, Taylor Haley, to compete in Ironman ... · Taylor is an athlete in training...
WAFER Board President, Taylor Haley, to compete in Ironman
to raise funds for Nutrition Education and Tools Project
Good nutrition is important for all of us. We’ve heard about
the studies that indicate children perform better in school
when they eat healthy. As adults we have more energy and
are productive when we eat well and exercise.
Athletes in training know the importance of eating well.
Taylor is an athlete in training for yet another Ironman
competition May 16th in Houston, Texas. These events push
athletes to their limit. Ironman starts with a 2.4-mile swim
followed by a 112-mile bike ride
and a 26.2-mile run, all of which
must be completed in 17 hours.
Taylor is calling attention to WAFER, specifically the
Nutrition Education and Tools program, and you’re invited to
help. Taylor is seeking to raise $80,000 through lead donors
and a matching funds campaign between now and May 16th.
Matching gift donors will be announced through WAFER’s
Facebook page, webpage, and through an e-newsletter. Your
gift could be more than tripled as lead donors join this unique
fundraising campaign.
A special page (IRONMAN) has
been set up on our website
waferlacrosse.org for you to learn about Taylor, his training
program for the Ironman competition, and a link to learn more
about NET project. You can check back often to get updates
on his progress in training. Your financial gift will help us
provide more outreach to at risk populations who need
nutrition education and tools to prepare food.
Please consider giving a gift today!!!!
Our M iss ion: “Responding to God’s love , WAFER provides food and works to e l im inate hunger”
Board of Directors Taylor Haley, President
Mike Voss, Vice-President
Lee Bluske, Treasurer
Don Smith, Secretary
Brad Clarkin
Brad Dinsmoor
Sally Friend
Dennis Herricks
Jerry Saterbak
Judy Siefert
Dorothy Stroschein
Administrative Staff Erin Waldhart
Executive Director
Susan Clements
Operations Manager
From the Director
“Souper” Bowl
Gifts In-Kind
2014 in review
Donors
Why to follow us on
Facebook.
Volunteer Spotlight
Recent events
In this Issue:
2 3 5 4
Spring 2015
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From the Director
Springtime is upon us and I can’t help but think
about how sweet the newness of spring is after a
long, cold winter. The word “newness” also
brings my focus to the newness that change
brings, the newness of growth, and also to what
is not new; the ever-present food needs in our
local communities. Food insecurity is not
“new”, though the face of hunger has changed
over the years.
The “War on Hunger" began in 1964 during the
Johnson Administration. Much of the data that
is available indicates a significant impact within
the first year, but has largely remained
unchanged in the last 45 years. Feeding
America reports similar findings though
indicating that the “face of hunger” has change
to one that is a “hard working and is full of
hope”. Those “faces” are the working class,
students, military, seniors, and others who are
forced to deal with underemployment, stagnant
wages, and the rising cost of living. Those who
are food insecure may be your neighbors, rela-
tives, friends and people you pass on the street.
You may not know they are struggling, but the
fact that 46.5 million people were living in pov-
erty last year means there is a pretty good chance
you know someone dealing with food insecurity.
Each day WAFER’s staff is humbled to be able
to serve families and individuals in such a
meaningful way. WAFER strives to provide
hope and comfort for the people that rely on us
for food. We work to make sure nobody goes
without food at mealtime. Each day our hearts
break just a little bit more when we realize that
there are other challenges we can't address to
help lift our clients out of their current situation
and make life better. These things are nothing
“new”.
In service,
Erin Waldhart,
Executive Director
To receive WAFER e-mail updates simply contact us with
your email address or sign up electronically on our website
(bottom right corner): www.waferlacrosse.org
You can make electronic donations on our website through
PayPal or through these websites (processing fees vary):
www1.networkforgood.org
www.justgive.org
For the last 14 or 15 years longtime volunteer, Lou Wuensch,
has coordinated a “Souper Bowl Challenge” at his church.
English Lutheran members bring soup in to cast their vote for
who they think the winner of the Super Bowl will be. This
year, Lou once again delivered all the soup. When he got to
WAFER he said, “I have a lot of chicken noodle soup today!”
I think it is pretty clear who Lou thought the winner would be.
Thanks Lou!
Rotary Lights Celebrates 20 Years This past year was the 20th year Rotary Lights were displayed
in Riverside Park. This event has grown over the years from
250,000 to 3.5+ million lights and 13,010 to ~230,000 food
items collected. Food items are distributed between area food
pantries to help feed the 1000’s of hungry people in our local
communities. Thank you to the organizers, volunteers, and
donors who helped make this event a success. This year
WAFER received 24,157 pounds of food!
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Thank you for your Gifts In Kind:
Ann Brice
-for maintaining and updating the database
Olympic Builders General Contractors, Inc
-for donating labor and supplies to repair the
building after the flood in June 2014
Events and Milestones of 2014
1. April - Western Technical College students produced first visit/informational video and is available on the
WAFER website.
2. May - Nutrition Education and Tools (NET) Project announced (see website for full proposal). A Venture Grant
from the United Way provided funds to offer 6 sessions on topics such as gardening/produce to kitchen basics.
3. Early June - Pallet racking added in upper warehouse allows vertical storage & easier access to food product.
4. End of June - Heavy rain and severe storms which resulted in several inches of water in our building. Some
food in storage had to be discarded. Walls and flooring were ruined. Service was limited for a short time and over
$12,808 was spent to repair the damage.
5. November and December - The first programs for NET were held in the WAFER building. These programs
were well attended and received overwhelmingly positive responses from participants.
WAFER 2014 Statistics
Food packages distributed, 19,548
Number of people fed for 4-5 days, 49,461
New families served, 741
Pounds of food distributed, 1,592,704
Pounds of food given to support local anti-hunger agencies/programs, 54,960
Hours of service given by volunteers, 10,063
2015 Projections
Providing food in a compassionate way to our clients will continue to be our main focus in the months to come.
Teaching people who are food insecure how to prepare nutritious food to improve their quality of life is just as
important. Our NET project will do just that.
The Senior Share Program has been in operation for about 5 years. This spring we will be conducting a program
evaluation to determine how well we are meeting needs and the satisfaction of participants.
The Franke Foundation hosted the 4th annual
Care & Share Expo at the Main Library. The
foundation offered a matching funds
incentive, up to $500, for all non-profits
during this event. Thank you to those who
gave during this event. Your gifts provided
us with the $500 match!
Aquinas Middle School students held their annual “Stuff the Bus”
school wide food drive for WAFER. The students collected
3200 pounds of food.
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Thank you to the following organizations for
donating food in November and December.
A-1 Fire Protection
Ace Hardware
Advance Spinal Care
Agropur Ingredients
Aldi
Aquinas High School
Aquinas Middle School Aramark
Authenticom
Best Buy
Catholic Order of Foresters
Chamber of Commerce Leadership Group
Chapter O
City of La Crosse
Community Care & Share Pantry
Congregation Sons of Abraham
Craig's Meats
Crescent Printing Co. Dairyland Power
English Lutheran Church First Baptist Church
First Congregational Church First Presbyterian Church
Gerrard-Hoeschler Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Goodwill Industries Gordy's Market Gundersen Health System -Onalaska
Hardware Hank Harmony Valley Farms
Health Tradition Health Plan Hillside Animal Hospital
Hillview Health Care Holy Trinity Catholic Church
HSR Associates Inc. Kohl's Department Store La Crosse Area Realtors Association
La Crosse Chamber Chorale La Crosse County Human Services
La Crosse Public Library
Marine Credit Union
Mayo Health System
Mindoro Elementary School
North Presbyterian Church
Operating Engineers Local 139
Organic Valley
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
PEO Sisterhood Chapter CR
People's Food Cooperative, Inc.
Potato King
Quillin's IGA Island
River Trails Cycle
Rivers Family Therapy
Rotary Lights
SEH Inc.
S&S Cycle St Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church
St. John's UCC Church
St. Joseph Cathedral
Summit Elementary School
Trane Family Foundation
Trust Point Inc.
UW-La Crosse
UW-La Crosse Volunteering Within
Valley View Mall
Valley View Rotary
Viterbo University
Warehouse Alliance, Inc.
Wesley United Methodist Church
Women's Fund of Greater La Crosse
Western Technical College
Thank you to our faithful
weekly donors!
Aldi
Great Harvest Bread Co.
Linda’s Bakery
Kwik Trip
Panera Bread
Quillin’s IGA
Sam’s Club
Starbuck’s
Target
Walmart
Westby Creamery
When you visit these
businesses please thank them for
supporting WAFER!
Why should you follow WAFER on
Facebook?
Sometimes we need extra volunteers at the
last minute and maybe you would be
available if you see our plea.
We share stories about volunteers and staff
to put a name and face on WAFER.
Learn about upcoming events promoting
WAFER and opportunities to get involved.
The statistics are staggering. We share
numbers and information related to hunger
in our area and around the country to
educate our followers.
WAFER makes a difference. Hundreds of
people walk thru our doors every month
and there is a story behind of each of those
faces. We want you to hear those stories
and how we helped.
2014 Annual Report
This report highlights our successes,
challenges, growth and the impact we
have on the community we serve.
The full report is available at
waferlacrosse.org. Click on the
"resources" tab.
Search for
“WAFER Food
Pantry”
Volunteer Spotlight
In each newsletter, five volunteers are honored based on the highest number of hours given. Volunteers may
work once or week or just once a month but their impact reaches far beyond the walls of WAFER. “Thank you” is not quite enough , but our “thank you” is heartfelt. The following volunteers are honored for
their service hours throughout 2014:
Jackie Holmes (340 hours)
Sue King (206 hours)
Angie Garavalia (179 hours)
Don NeCollins (178 hours)
Kathy Thom (167 hours)
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Businesses, organizations, individuals, and civic groups continually bless WAFER and those served by
organizing food drives, fundraising events and volunteering . Here is a sampling of some recent events.
I&S Group and 201 Main St Businesses
created a Christmas display with food
instead of buying decorations or a tree.
After Christmas the food, weighing 835
pounds, was donated to WAFER. Last
year I&S Group built a Christmas tree
weighing 540 pounds. This an example
of how a creative idea like a "food
fireplace" can raise awareness and
increase donations.
Little Ellie has a
great big heart!
This newly turned
5-year old collected
food and money for
WAFER instead of
asking for birthday
presents. Wow!
What an example!
The Bangor-Burns Fire Department Family Auxiliary
provided a large selection of children’s hats and gloves/
mittens on more than one occasion this winter. After a
plea for winter gear was put out to the public, this Aux-
iliary group purchased a large assortment of children’s
winter glove and hat sets. After we ran out, they did it
again! Many families and individuals we serve don't
own a winter hat or gloves. Some don't own a decent
winter coat.
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
LA CROSSE, WI
PERMIT NO. 103
403 Causeway Blvd
La Crosse, WI 54603
608-782-6003
waferlacrosse.org
WAFER is a United Way agency