Girl Scouts Troop #60157 with Troop leader Jamie Gleason hosted a chili drive in early February, raising enough ingredients to cover the entire meal for Monday, February 17th. We served hot chili with toasted cheese and garlic ciabatta rolls with apples, bananas, and baked goods. We had 35 guests for this meal. Thank you, Girl Scouts!
The Patisserie Bakery in Skaneateles reached out to us with an offer to begin donating overstock baked goods for our Monday Meals. Our huge blueberry scones, molasses cookies, jumbo muffins, and more are now compliments of The Patisserie. Thank you, Patisserie!
Our Patreon account is now ACTIVE! Supporters may now quickly + easily pledge a subscription donation each month at one of three levels;
SOUP Level ($5.55)
PASTA Level ($11)
BIG BURGER Level ($25.00)
Your donation allows us to better budget and meal-plan for our guests. To join as a Patreon supporter, please visit: www.patreon.com/auburnhtf.
We attended the 2020 Wellness Fair hosted by Gift Entertainment at the Equal Rights Heritage Center. Kimberly Patch gave a presentation about our community’s need for a Mon-Fri soup kitchen and explained our mission, our progress, and the steps we will be taking towards reaching our goals and becoming financially sustainable. We collected $50 in donations from our wonderful community members at the Wellness Fair! Thank you!
Our Certificate of Incorporation was accepted by the Department of New York State, making our 501(c)3 status official! We also have our EIN, and Federal Tax Exemption has been applied for, with documentation expected to arrive by mid-March. We are also now registered as a charitable non-profit with the New York State Attorney General, meaning we may begin large-scale fundraising campaigns as early as late March.
Our Board of Directors and volunteers continue to serve hot, healthy to-go meals every Monday from 11-12:30 located at Calvary Food Pantry, 90 Franklin Street, Auburn. Thank you to Calvary for generously providing the space where we can prepare and distribute this meal. Monday meals have been attended by between 40-54 community members each week this month. We’ve seen an increase in attendance since January.
Our directors continue to research commercial locations within Auburn with the goal of purchasing and establishing a permanent location for our Monday-Friday soup kitchen. Our requirements are that the facility;
- should be located within a high-need region of the city
- be accessible via public transportation
- is large enough to comfortably accommodate seating for 75-100 individuals
- a commercial kitchen is preferred but not required
- additional space for a food pantry, classroom, or other forms of program expansion are preferred.
We’re currently in communication with real estate agencies and the City of Auburn, but we appreciate suggestions from the public. If you have a tip on a potential location, please email us at: AuburnHungerTaskForce@gmail.com.
How You Can Help:
- Save your plastic or reusable shopping bags. If you have bags to donate, please email us at: AuburnHungerTaskForce@gmail.com.
- Now accepting donations of packs of water bottles. We distribute 1 bottle of water with each meal. Your donation of a pack of water helps us stretch our food budget further.
- Do you know of a commercial building within Auburn that would be a great location for a Monday-Friday soup kitchen? Send your suggestions to AuburnHungerTaskForce@gmail.com.
- Make a quick donation. Cash donations help us purchase food for the meals we serve. We accept Paypal. Donations may be sent to: AuburnHungerTaskForce@gmail.com. Checks may be made payable to “Auburn Hunger Task Force” and can by mailed to:
Auburn Hunger Task Force
9 Baker Ave.
Auburn, NY 13021
Thank you for your interest in improving access to to food for our friends and neighbors within the city of Auburn.
