Time is flying!  Right now I feel as if my project is getting larger instead of smaller as time goes on!  Kathy and I have been working so hard in the past two weeks to actually start implementing the changes we have been researching and organizing.  Here is an update on my projects!

Sustainability

Mike from Litech Lighting is coming in today to do an energy audit of the whole church.  We had originally just done an audit of the Food Pantry’s wing, but AEP did not accept the application because we were on the church’s account and not our own (a minor technicality, to say the least).  While I first viewed this as a HUGE setback (the energy savings from the audit would have funded many of my suggested environmental changes), it is now better than I had originally hoped.  I realized that our application being denied opened the doors for the entire church to save energy, instead of just our little corner.  This will be a huge step forward in terms of saving money for the church but also becoming more sustainable and responsible as a whole.

We have also put out our first two sets of recycling bins!  While Kathy and I are still deciding on which company to go with for our recycling, we decided it would be best to go ahead and start collecting!  The bins have been well-received so far, but it will take some training to educate people on what types of materials are recyclable and which aren’t.  It is quite simply amazing and somewhat frightening as to how little the general public knows about recycling.  This should be something every person is educated on, as it saves so much money and resources for our community.  In addition to our recycling bins, Kathy and I also bought a free-standing water cooler for the Food Pantry volunteers.  The Food Pantry spends approximately $240.00 per year on plastic water bottles!  Not only will our water cooler cut that cost, it will also reduce the waste our Pantry generates.

A very exciting turn in my plan is food waste recycling.  We are starting a trial period with Eartha Limited to collect food waste, which in turn is recycled into compost and biofuels.  We have estimated the cost of garbage collection will but cut by AT LEAST a third (and possibly much more) by our food waste and recyclable material collection.  We have calculated that the savings we accrue from less garbage collection will pay for our new recycling costs, and still generate savings for the church after cost.  How amazing is this???  Not only are we becoming more responsible stewards of our environment, but we are saving money doing it.  It can’t get much better than that!

Here is a link to a video that features both our Food Pantry and Eartha Limited!

Volunteering

Kathy and I are revitalizing the volunteer training manuals to incorporate what was asked for in our volunteer surveys, and also to train volunteers in the environmental changes taking place.  Many of our volunteers requested additional training through their surveys so they can better serve the needs of our community.  We have three training sessions planned, starting this Saturday!  Kathy and I will give presentations to the volunteers on topics including environmental changes, our new scheduling system (hopefully VolunteerHub), new “uniforms” (nametags and aprons), and how to best help our clients in general.  These training sessions will be the first time I really get to interact with the volunteers, which will be very rewarding.

Transportation

Last but not least, the problem that has eluded me so far this summer.  Our client surveys have shown that only 36% of families that come through our pantry own a car.  In comparison to the average 89% of American families that own a car, the disparity in these percentages is enormous.  Further, 50% of our clients sometimes or always have a hard time finding transportation to our pantry.  These statistics show our Food Pantry has a problem, and a large one at that.  How do we solve this issue for such a large percentage of the population?  I still don’t have an answer, but we’re getting there.  We decided to host a meeting of Food Pantry managers to discuss this issue.  My hope with this meeting is the “two heads are better than one” philosophy (or 5 or 10 heads!).  I am certain the transportation issue is not one single to our pantry, but is a problem for every pantry.  If we can come together to find common solutions, maybe we can work together to implement them and then better serve our community as a whole.  I am hopeful this meeting will bring the area food pantries closer together and will strengthen our relationships with each other.

Sorry for the long post!  I have a feeling next week’s will be even longer!!!  🙂