Food For Thought
Food for Thought is a Non-Profit 501c3 organization. Our purpose is to be a gateway between poverty and prosperity. Our Mission is to serve those in various needs despite their position in order to develop relationships that aid in reconciliation.
Description:
Food For Thought provides more than just food - we work hard to provide opportunities for people to interact and develop relationships that aid in redemption and reconciliation. We operate through 3 primary programs: our stationary food pantry, mobile food pantry, and picnics with the unhoused, which you can read more about by exploring our site. Six days a week, Food For Thought is working hard to offer to everyone we meet a free lunch and much more... including a friend to talk to.
Our projects:
Friday nights
Fridays are a time when men, women, and children can come together to prepare lunches, hygiene items, breakfast, and various other things for our picnics with the unhoused on Saturdays. Younger children often decorate lunch bags and all volunteers are encouraged to take part in dreaming about what things Food for Thought can continue to do to bless the unhoused in the downtown.
We meet every Friday night at New Harvest Christian Church, 3540 Seaman Road in Oregon. We begin making lunches at 6:00PM and finish up around 7:30.
Saturday mornings
Saturdays are a time of merging prosperity with poverty. Food for Thought’s heart is that every volunteer grab a lunch and eat with the unhoused and build relationships and friendships with people who are often mistreated in our society today. We encourage volunteers to show up around 10:00AM and hang out for as long as you would like.
We meet at the corner of Michigan and Adams streets, just outside of the library. Trust us – you can’t miss us. Just look for the huge crowd of people!
Food Pantry:
3540 Seaman Road, Oregon, OH – Open Monday-Thursday, 10am-2pm
Located inside New Harvest Christian Church, the Food Pantry’s mission is to increase access to food for hungry people. We serve nutritious non-perishable food, occasional fresh produce, and personal care items to families throughout Lucas County, particularly those in the Oregon/East Toledo area.
The Food Pantry is a “Choice Pantry” meaning that individuals can choose what they receive. This creates a grocery store atmosphere, which is much more pleasant to shop in, and more responsive to individual families’ needs. Food is acquired through donations and by purchase at local food banks.
The Food Pantry also participates in Toledo Area Ministry’s “Feed Your Neighbor” program.
Mobile Pantry:
5 different sites each month, see schedule below
Our 17-foot trailer is our Mobile Pantry, carrying nonperishable food to those who don’t have ready access to a pantry in their neighborhood. The Mobile Pantry participates in the CARE (Community Asset & Resource Engagement) Team, a unique partnership between Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak, United Way, Food for Thought, 1 Matters, the Toledo Neighborhood Block Watch Program, Neighborhood Health Association, AIDS Resource Center of Ohio, Lucas County Department of Job and Family Services, ABLE and The Source. Each month, the CARE Team travels to a different neighborhood to provide resources.
In addition to these CARE Team events, Food For Thought’s mobile pantry visits 4 locations monthly:
1st Thursday of the month – Monclova Community Center, 8115 Monclova Road, Monclova 10am-noon
3rd Monday of the month – Lake Township Fire Department, 4505 Walbridge Road, Walbridge, 5pm to 7pm
4th Thursday of the month – NuVizion Church, 2014 Cherry Street, Toledo, 10am-noon
Last Tuesday of the month – CedarCreek Church, corner of Sylvania and Douglas, 3pm to 5pm
History:
Food for Thought (FFT) began in May of 2007 when a group of people came together with a
common passion to feed the hungry. This group started with feeding 8 families a month
through a stationary pantry in Oregon and 50 lunches, consisting of peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, chips, fruit, a juice box, and a cookie, that we took to downtown Toledo on
Saturday mornings.
A year later, FFT was serving 200 families a month though our pantry and passing out 300
lunches in less than 30 minutes downtown. Downtown lunch distribution grew into more than
a meal, as several churches and other organizations joined the group to provide items in
addition to the sack lunches, such as soup, coffee, hygiene products, and clothing. On special
occasions, special groups or individuals will bring additional items for fun, such as balloons,
flowers, or ice cream.
Throughout 2008 other organizations started partnering with FFT in different ways – United
Way of Greater Toledo, Mildred Bayer’s Mobile Medical Clinic, 1matters.org, Hannah’s Socks,
Toledo Area Ministries – amongst others.
Our food pantry also started to grow – quickly. Word was out that we allowed people to shop
through our pantry (making choices for family is an important thing for all of us), not just
receive a box with miscellaneous products. We began receiving phone calls from individuals
who had heard about our pantry but had no way of getting to us. We did our best to direct
them to their nearest pantry but it became quickly apparent that there were many who did not
have much (or any) access to a food pantry.
This was the beginning stages of our Mobile Food Pantry. A donor stepped forward to purchase
the 7’x16’ enclosed trailer that today is our Mobile Food Pantry, which now serves several
locations – West Toledo, Lake Township, Monclova Township, South Toledo, North Toledo to
name a few.
Food for Thought now consistently serves 1,000 families per month through the two pantries,
in addition to 300 people each Saturday at the “Downtown Picnics.” In addition, Food for
Thought is consistently stepping up to provide other needs as possible, including hygiene
products, clothing, and cold weather items during the winter.
Contact people:
Address:
Web Site: http://www.freelunchtoledo.com
| Last updated on October 16, 2009 |
