St Francis Soup Kitchen feeds over 600 people on average per week. Our servings include full plate dinners and soup and sandwiches which we alternate. For many years back into the 1990's the Soup Kitchen has benefitted from its association with Waste Not Want Not.Each week we receive dozens of loaves of bread, baked goods, occasionally drinks, frozen soups and fried chicken. We use all that we receive. The fact is that the Soup kitchen could not serve the community's neediest and destitute with out Waste Not Want Not's support and contribution. We are dependent on them and they are completely dependable. As a Plus, the people we deal with are very nice, professional and responsible; the best!
Waste Not Want Not, just like your Grandmother used to say! WNWN provides a wonderful service by picking up local businesses food/drinks that are considered not sellable. The fact if the matter is, we as a society are spoiled rotten and ungrateful. What we toss out as "waste" would be considered a feast by a whole lot if lesser privileged people. We don't buy fruit/vegetables if they are not up to our visual standards. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the food itself, we are just THAT ridiculous. WNWN takes that food and gives it to the needy. They depend wholly on volunteers and donors. I am so proud to be affiliated with this much needed service. WNWN should branch out to all corners of the earth!
I volunteered through my church, and I was always impressed at how dedicated they are to saving useable food and feeding our area's hungry. Great leadership and great community outreach!!
I began working for Waste Not Want Not several yeas ago, after quitting a paid job I was dissatisfied with. Looking for a volunteer job a friend suggested I try WNWN. My first day on the job, picking up food from one of our local grocery stores to working sorting and distributing much needed food I knew this was the job for me. I soon was put in charge of Wed. & Friday distribution for approximately six to ten groups/day. We have approximately 65 groups which we serve on a weekly basis. The people I work with along with people we serve are the best. We are not just volunteers we are family. Recently my mother came to visit and I needed a wheelchair and walker and everyone I asked came through for me. Thank You!!!. Our organization has become the pilot program for others in the counties of food recovery. Like it was said today in 90 degree weather you couldn't pay me to do this job but I can't think of anywhere else I would rather be because without us many people would go hungry.
At James Weldon Johnson Academic and Career Training Center, our students are 1-3 years overage for grade level. Additionally, our community does not have a great number of food outlets, such as comprehensive grocery stores, and many of our students qualify for free and/or reduced lunch status. As a result, there is a tremendous need among our students for good, consistent nutritional snacks and food products. Waste Not Want Not has been a highly caring, supportive, and helpful partner for our school since January of 2012. Since that time, Waste Not Want Not has provided snacks and foods for our after-school program and, during the summer of 2013, provided tremendous snacks and food products for our Summer Camp. Waste Not Want Not has made a tremendous difference in the lives of our students through their support. I remember during our Summer Camp, students would invariably ask at the beginning of the day: "What's for snack this afternoon?" They would often ask this before they would ask about field trips, or what the activities for that day were. This is an indication of just how much the nutritional support, provided to them by Waste Not Want Not, meant to them. I only know this; Waste Not Want Not, through their efficiency of non-profit operations, combined with a loving and caring outlook and decication towards those in our world who are in need, has made an indelible difference in the lives of the children that we serve, and they are an indispensable part of our efforts to make a difference in the lives of our students.
The team at Waste Not Want Not are just fabulous! They help our ministry by supplying much needed food for the meals we prepare for the senior citizens we serve. We take seniors on day-long mission trips and serve a hot meal for the entire team. 18 - 48 seniors are fed a great meal from the recaptured food that WNWN gives us.
WNWN saves Seniors on a Mission thousands of dollars each year. Thank you!!!
The efficiency and generosity of this group are phenomenal! Like a well-oiled machine, on each day they gather food throughout the area and redistribute it to nonprofits assisting impoverished people. Throughout the year they have given us truckloads of food-juice, applesauce, snacks, pastries-allowing us to nearly double the amount of weekend food we provide for children. And to think that without this group, all that food would go to waste...!
Waste Not Want Not is a Volunteer-Based Group that exists to prevent the discarding of items that can be used to fight hunger and poverty in N. E. Florida. We receive and distribute 362 days a year.Contributions are pick up by volunteers (in their own vehicles) from supermarkets and restaurants and warehouses for large grocery chains. WNWN has picked up and distributed over 1.5 million pounds of food this past year and will grow by over 15 % this year.
I am a lucky person to be working for this fine organization and I salute our dedicated volunteers!!
Waste Not Want Not is one of the best run non-profits in our area. On behalf of MPWC Charities, I commend this organization for what they do for the community. MPWC has made monetary donations to this charity for several years and have researched them thoroughly. They are an efficient, effective non-profit. Because we have similar missions, we feel we are able work together to achieve the greatest good.
I started as a volunteer, just based on the wonderful name of this non-profit. It so inspired me, and the other folks I worked along side, everyone so dedicated to helping others, it was impossible not to get enthusiastic! When I was asked to join the board, I was flattered. I am so fortunate to have spent a few years with this group, planning ways to increase both our donors and our recipients, motivating our volunteer-only staff, and planning for growth of the organization. Saving and redistributing over a million pounds of food each year made me even prouder of our concentrated efforts. Being part of the expansion into larger space was an example of the good work they do. We distributed food as usual on Friday and Monday morning we were completely moved into new space and filling the recipients cars and trucks with healthy food. The only reason I no longer work with the wonderful folks is that I moved 1500 miles away!
I volunteer with Kairos Prison Ministry, Inc. We conduct 3 day Christain based retreats in 5 state prisons in the NE Florida area. Waste Not Want Not (WNWN) helps us with cookies that we distribute to the inmates during the weekend as snacks and dessert for meals that we eat together. The volunteers at WNWN are really great, easy to work with and always helpful. Many organizations are much larger than the Kairos ministry but WNWN always finds time to help us in our need. I thank God for the retail stores in our area that are willing to allow WNWN to redistribute this food to so many needy organizations. I also thank God for the many volunteers that make WNWN work so well.
I have had the honor of volunteering at Waste Not Want Not for the last 4 years. I was in search of a local charity where I could make a difference. I found that at Waste Not!
The dedication and generosity of spirit of the volunteers is contagious! To be a part of an organization focused on rescuing food so that others might benefit is humbling and gratifying.
Food is not wasted and people, who would otherwise go without, are fed!
It is a win - win situation.
Waste Note Want Not's supprt has allowed our church to begin our Missions Kitchen outreach. We are serving hot dinners to those in our community once a month and the numbers of attendees continue to increase. The first night, four people attended. Over the past five months, that number has increased to 40. We feel very blessed to have the opportunity to serve these meals to those who really need them and without Waste Not Want's provision of food, we would not have ben able to continue this mission.
