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!
Well, they did it again! Rescued nearly 2 million pounds of food and saved charities close to $4 million that they would have spent on food. In fact Waste Not Want Not has been doing this for the past 25 years! What I love about volunteering with Waste Not there are so many opportunities and ways to help. Waste Not has 2 paid employees, an Executive Director and Volunteer Coordinator. Two employees cannot begin to get everything done needed to run a business. This is why their volunteer base is so important, there are so many opportunities to help from admin, marketing, putting stickers on food. When I give money to Waste Not I know the funds are being used wisely. For every $1 spent Waste Not provided $27 worth of food to hungry people in 10 counties of north Florida. By being involved with Waste Not I know that I have made a difference in the lives of those who need help.
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Thanks To the volunteers who pick up a perfectly good food from merchants to distribute to the needy. ❤️ thanks to Publix, Panera bread, and other merchants for their donations to your organization. I, for one, enjoy the bread that is delivered to the local senior center, as do many other elderly participants
waste not always supports the local groups along with programs just not in Orange Park but out reachs to outer city groups thats a big Hats Off because thier cause of food rescue is feeding thousands of people each week great job and I am proud to know that this group is part of our community Denise Bramlitt Putman County's bleeding in the back pack program
Volunteering and donating to charity are both important parts of my life as a community member and I want every hour and dollar donated to count. With Waste Not Want Not, the return on my investment is incredible. I'm forever impressed by how much food we keep from the landfills and get into the mouths of people who would otherwise be hungry (needlessly). Beyond the great accomplishments WNWN achieves in rescuing food, I'm also impressed by how easy it is for kids to get involved; they contribute labor, but also learn valuable lessons about people outside their daily lives and the benefits of volunteering.
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The amount of food and other supplies that would otherwise go to the landfill without this organization is staggering (millions of pounds a year), especially given how many people in the community are in need of assistance. Every day of the week, rain or shine, WNWN volunteers collect from various distributors, grocery chains and restaurants. The pickups are returned to the main facility, sorted by type, etc and then re-distributed to that day's recipient organizations (from throughout North Florida). I am proud to be a volunteer for WNWN and I have never volunteered for a more economically efficient charity.
The looks of gratitude and heartfelt "thank yous" uttered by the recipients to the volunteers at Waste Not Want Not are why I have been with it for several decades. By rescuing and redistributing so many tons of food and other products to so many organizations, we volunteers are truly able to "do unto others...", and it makes me and all the people I work with happy to be part of such a team.
It's so well organized that the time spent there gives truly efficient results. We accomplish our assigned tasks and leave there knowing we have the gratitude of hundreds of people who we have helped that day.
wastenot 10/31/2014
Mary, I believe you are our second longest-term volunteer. Maybe you can help write a brief history of Waste Not Want Not for our 25th Anniversary coming up in 2015... Thank you for volunteering, jumping in wherever and whenever needed, and always smiling.
The results of the redistribution efforts by Waste Not Want Not are absolutely amazing. Two million pounds of good food that would have ended up in our over-used disposal facilities have been provided to non-profit agencies that feed the poor and needy. Most of Waste Not Want Not's effort is sustained by volunteers as directed by Sandra, an outstanding Executive Director.
WNWN is one of the most remarkable volunteer non-profits ever! The amount of food they gather from over 100 sites and redistribute to over 100 food serving non-profits all in the same day has to be witnessed to be believed! The 1,000,000+ tons of food saved/given out per year is only made possible by the selfless dedication of a small staff of 2 and a volunteer "army" of over 100! What a group!
I volunteer for several nonprofit organizations and Waste Not Want Not always get priority on my time and monthly financial donations. I have been volunteering in many areas of Waste Not Want Not for over ten years. In that time I have met many great people that have the same passion, "to help those in need." Russ Kamradt
