Michelle L. Riley’s Post

Check out this great blog post from our friends at North Texas Food Bank!

My heart will always be with producing #nonprofit videos.

** Empowering Black-Owned Restaurants: Join the Black Restaurant Fund Initiative ** Access to capital is crucial for the growth and success of small businesses, especially for Black-owned establishments facing historic barriers to financing. That's why we're proud to support the Black Restaurant Fund, an initiative aimed at addressing the capital gaps that have hindered the growth of Black-owned restaurants and food service businesses. If you're a Black restaurant owner looking to take your business to the next level, we encourage you to learn more about the Black Restaurant Fund and apply for funding. Together, we can make a meaningful impact and support the growth of Black-owned businesses across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Learn more and apply today: https://lnkd.in/gxXnews6 #BlackRestaurantFund #CapitalInvestment #WealthCreation #EmpoweringCommunities #EconomicImpact #CommunityEmpowerment #SupportBlackBusiness #MakingADifference #CapitalAccess

"Thank you for believing in Food Bank of Iowa, our 700-partner network, and the Iowans we serve together. I am grateful for your steadfast support." -- Michelle Book

Summer is here – which means sunshine, longer days to enjoy the outdoors, and time to catch up with family and friends. It can also be a time of incredible stress and uncertainty if you are struggling with food insecurity. In our June blog for the St. Louis Area Foodbank , I discuss added challenges faced by many families in our area during the summer months and how you can make a difference. Read the full blog at: https://lnkd.in/gVes8zSs. #MakeADifference #FoodInsecurity

Summer is here – which means sunshine, longer days to enjoy the outdoors, and time to catch up with family and friends. It can also be a time of incredible stress and uncertainty if you are struggling with food insecurity. In our June blog, St. Louis Area Foodbank President & CEO, Meredith Knopp, discusses added challenges faced by many families in our area during the summer months and how you can make a difference. Read the full blog at: https://lnkd.in/gVes8zSs. #MakeADifference #FoodInsecurity

Our team has some STRONG opinions when it comes to Thanksgiving food! What are your favorite and least favorite? No matter what your favorite Thanksgiving food is, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday with loved ones! Happy Thanksgiving from Spring Garden Lending! #thanksgiving #realestatelending #realestatedevelopers #realestateinvestors #realestatefinancing #capitaladvisors #lendingsolutions #privatelending

When the lunch bell rings, it's more than just a break for some kids, it's a chance for a nutritious meal they might not get at home No Kid Hungry works to ensure all kids get three meals a day, every day, no matter where they live. With the help of Albertsons Companies #NourishingNeighbors community and #OOrganics, we are celebrating the incredible progress that has been made toward getting nutritious meals to kids before and after the bell. Just last year alone, No Kid Hungry’s local partners helped serve more than 504 million healthy meals to kids and families. Since March 2020, No Kid Hungry grantees have reported serving more than 3 million meals. This is possible due to the incredible support of partners like Albertsons, Safeway, ACME, and Shaw’s. It takes more than food to end hunger. That’s why we are proud to be a Nourishing Neighbor and have partners like O Organics and Albertsons Companies who know the importance of raising awareness for childhood hunger and championing this important work together.

"Remember -- your love for bacon can make a big difference!" Funny, but true. There is a serious side to this too. The Walworth County Food and Diaper Bank is a great organization, and symbolic of many which are responding to food insecurity in our communities. In our particular case our Bank serves, at some point during the year, about 5 percent of our county's population - distributing $5M of food across 16,000+ guest encounters. All of this is made possible by roughly 120 volunteers whose work seems never ending. Those we serve are primarily referred to as ALICE (asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed). In other words, neighbors in situations where one car repair, medical bill, or unexpected expense can force a difficult decision about food. A full 40 percent of those we serve in a year come only once. 70 percent receive food from us four times or less in a year. In our county, and probably yours too, up to 35 percent of our residents fall into the ALICE classification. Those are really staggering numbers when you think about them. And food for thought as well (sorry). If all those numbers seem daunting, come and celebrate some bacon with us! 😁 #foodinsecurity #foodbank #neighborshelpingneighbors

A mission-driven non-profit Reinvestment Fund whose research I picked up in the local Atlanta news this morning. This topic has been one I have researched and thought on extensively, dig around in my Featured section and it's there to be perused. My own small rural town doesn't have a grocery store. We do have a Wal-Mart, for what it's worth, but I'm not a fan of shopping there (we drive to another town to shop at Aldi and save half on our grocery bill, and are fortunate enough to be able to do so) and it still definitely isn't the cheapest option for a county that has some devastating levels of poverty. In a bit of cold comfort, we are having a Publix, a rather pricey option, built on the very edge of our county and it's still going to be super inconvenient for mountain dwellers like ourselves (and pricey, did I mention pricey?- I dislike being gouged by food prices). Food bank boxes are administered via church handouts in these parts also, which can be its own deterrent for many reasons to people who just want to feed their family without strings attached. Georgia has strict requirements for those who receive SNAP or food stamp benefits, including registering for work, taking any job offered (whether you want it/like it or not is not on the table), no voluntary quitting and no voluntary reduction of work hours below 30 per week. Food is a human right. This makes me absolutely crazy, that over and over again we can't manage to feed everyone while others have food rotting in their fridges; some eat out expensive meals routinely and throw away portions; we peddle insane, unscientific fad diets that waste time, money, resources, create unnecessary companies and entire industries to prey off people's ignorance about healthy eating; we don't support local farmers or provide infrastructure to get their products to the public; we vote against summer meal programs for children who depend on them to eat outside of the school year; we politicize food, and our most vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by food deserts. Americans have a disordered relationship with food but there are lots of good ways to solve that problem, and one of them is research, data + acting on that data on a swift and meaningful timeline. #foodinsecurity #socialgood #dataforgood