The Holiday Season at Martha's Table

The Holiday Season is a very special time of year at Martha's Table. The community is focused on helping those in need over the holidays. Even in these rough economic times, we have had an overwhelming amount of support with people contacting us to volunteer and donate in unique ways.
Local neighbors and businesses have helped in many different ways this year and holiday season. 1000's of volunteers have volunteered their time. Staff from PricewaterhouseCoopers volunteer at Martha's Table every Thursday and really helped out during our Winter Holiday Community Dinner and Pantry Thursday's this year. Many individuals have energized their offices to coordinate food drives for Martha's Table's emergency food services. Schools and churches have been collecting hats, gloves, scarves and coats for our clothing distribution center, Martha's Outfitters. Many families are volunteering in their homes by making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches or meat & cheese sandwiches and bringing them into Martha's Table.

Our Children's programs are also celebrating this holiday season. Just last night they performed a play, Christmas Around the World, for their Christmas Pageant.

Recently, Office of Human Resources Management, Benefits, Medical and Worklife Division came to Martha's Table with gifts for all the children in our Daycare program. Pictured above, the children are having an early Christmas thanks to all the generous staff.

The Washington Post put out an article today, highlighting corporations that stepped up to help the neediest in a rough 2009. Note the photo: a longtime volunteer, Linda, sorts linens in Martha's Outfitters.
The Washington Post

We thank everyone who has participated in helping the community this year. Even though so many have generously donated we still need help. We are always in need of non-perishable food items. There is a list posted on our website in the wishlist section. wwwmarthastable.org

We are also in need of volunteer drivers for McKenna's Wagon. Every evening, McKenna's Wagon rolls out to 3 different locations around DC. We could not do this without the help of our dedicated volunteer drivers. Drivers must make a 6 month commitment and have a valid drivers license. The vans leave at 5pm and return around 6:30.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer driver, please contact:
Kimberly Lyons
Development and Volunteer Manager
Martha's Table
202.328.6608 x 232
klyons@marthastable.org

Healthy Schools Campaign

Today Martha's Table was full with a fury of activity. Students from a high school in Chicago won a cooking competition, to create the healthiest and most liked dish for over 40,000 student lunches around the country. These lunch will be served in cities like DC, New York and Chicago. The students created and prepared the meal, with the help from White House Chef, Sam Kass. The "Healthy Schools Campaign" was presented to the press, government and school officials in DC today at Martha's Table. Martha's Table was gracious enough to turn the Elementary program classrooms in to a press and dining room. Martha's Table's cooks, who cook meals for vulnerable populations 365 days a year, also helped prepared the meal today for all of the attendees. Thank you to Martha's Table lending their space and staff to help educate schools and children about the importance of healthy food. This is a video of Sam Kass and some our cooks, Ms. Twanda and Ms. Louise discussing the work that they do and the importance of helping those less fortunate with basic necessities, such as food. (p.s. - it is really quiet, sorry)

Vote for DC and Martha's Table

To coincide with Mother's Day, Colgate-Palmolive launched a campaign, 'Share Mom's Love', that features an online contest to support summer feeding programs (http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/CommunityPrograms/share-moms-love.cvsp) in select cities in the U.S. Colgate-Palmolive and Share Our Strength identified one site in ten different cities that have the chance to receive funding to support their work - Martha's Table is the selected site in Washington, DC!

The three cities with the most votes will receive generous funding from Colgate-Palmolive. I know you are aware of all the work we do at Martha's Table, but there are summer feeding programs around that country that also help to ensure that at-risk children who receive lunch through federal, school-based feeding programs during the school year continue to receive free, nutritious meals when school is out.

We are asking that you go online to VOTE by May 10th to ensure that we are one of the top three cities chosen - and thus recipients of much needed additional funding for our work! You will also have a chance to win a trip for two plus dinner with Colgate-Palmolive personalities. You can vote more than once.

We are delighted to be a part of a partnership between Share Our Strength® and Colgate-Palmolive, that is working to increase funding for summer feeding sites around the country.

This Mother's Day, help end childhood hunger.

National Volunteer Week - Thank You Volunteers!

Our volunteer program is the backbone of Martha's Table. In the early years, almost 30 years ago, Martha's Table was run entirely by volunteers. Now, they are still a very large part of what we do here at Martha's Table everyday, and are essential to allowing our programs to run smoothly.

Our Food program provides 1200 meals daily on McKenna's Wagon. This is possible through dedicated schools, churches, businesses and community members that come to Martha's Table every morning at 10am. The volunteers help prepare peanut butter and jelly and meat and cheese sandwiches, and they chop vegetables for the soup, all to go out on McKenna's Wagon. In the evening, a new set of volunteers gear up to go out on McKenna's Wagon's vans, and serve over 1200 meals, 65 gallons of soup and hot tea. In 2008, volunteers helped prepare and serve over 500,000 sandwiches for McKenna's Wagon!

Martha's Outfitters, our community thrift store and clothing distribution center relies heavily on committed volunteers. They help take in donations and sort clothing for the store. Every Wednesday and Friday, volunteers help referrals from partner shelters and organizations find things that they need for free. They often go the extra mile - recently a volunteer created a data system to check in referrals more efficiently and track relationships with partner organizations more effectively.

Our Child Development Center is a great place for volunteers to come and spend quality time with our kids ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years old. Volunteers often enjoy reading to the kids, helping them with arts & crafts, going on field trips, helping the teachers feed them lunch, etc.

Volunteering for Martha's Table is not just about service and helping those in need, it is also about education. Martha's Table takes pride in educating our volunteers about poverty, hunger, homelessness and education. These are issues that Martha's Table faces everyday. Our volunteers understand what Martha's Table does and the difference their service makes. Martha's Table volunteers become our greatest advocates and help us build a stronger community. Over 10,000 volunteers served their community through Martha's Table in 2008!

Thank you, volunteers, for helping us make Washington, DC a better place for at-risk children, youth and families.

Martha's Table Hearts Community Dinners

Martha's Table held our 29^th Annual Easter Community Dinner this past Sunday and was met with gorgeous weather, eager diners and hard-working volunteers. On Saturday afternoon, we converted our regular food preparation work space and our Daycare playground into festive dining rooms where folks could enjoy their homemade dinner.

All of the food was homemade; on the menu was:
o baked chicken,
o ham,
o macaroni and cheese,
o sweet potatoes,
o mashed potatoes,
o green beans and salad,
o and an assortment of cakes and pies (whew!).

Everyone enjoyed their dinner and ate their fill; there were many requests for second and thirds!

A BIG “Thank You!” to all of our amazing donors and volunteers who enthusiastically answered our calls for support and help.

We hope to see you at the next Community Dinner!