FOOD IS LOVE
The Food is Love team put together their very first charity golf tournament on October 15, 2018 and planned a few surprises on the course for the golfers and sponsors. The highlights of the day included a mobile candy and cigar cart, bites from Riel and Fluff Bake Bar delivered by our wonderful volunteers, two hole in one contests sponsored by Sentient Jets and Westside Lexus, and two auctioned vacation getaways sponsored by Exclusive Resorts and Crystal Cruises. In all, the tournament was a huge success and Food is Love was able to present the Houston Symphony with a $30,000 donation check.
GALLERYOne of the last projects of 2018 was with Turning Point Center, a homeless shelter for underprivileged individuals aged 50 and above. The center had a very simple wish – to completely decorate the space for the winter holidays! Food is Love purchased new decorations for the entire complex and gathered 12 volunteers to throw a holiday party at the shelter. With lively music playing in the background, we worked hard to adorn the common living area of 45 apartments, the front office, and the community kitchen. Donuts, boba, and candy fueled the volunteers and residents. A long day’s work resulted in a beautifully decorated shelter that the residents could enjoy this year and years to come.
GalleryOur work at Turning Point Center led to the discovery of the home across the street that provided shelter for 12 single mothers and 30 children. Food is Love wanted to do something special and created a carnival that began with some competitive musical chairs and a hula hoop race. Then the party was moved inside for indoor games (Bowling for Christmas Trees and Toss the Ornament were hits!). One-by-one, each family entered the MFE Toy Shop for a shopping spree. Some of the kids even used their selection to pick something out for their siblings who couldn’t attend that day. That was our favorite part – seeing the little ones pass on the act of kindness.
GalleryBakerRipley hosts monthly food fairs for our neighbors in need. Food is Love worked to staff the entire day of distribution on May 30, 2019. Our 17 volunteers set up and passed out fresh produce, fruit, and dry goods to more than 150 households. After the volunteers helped to register each family, we created a make-shift grocery aisle featuring carrots, watermelons, milk, squash, potatoes, and more. This food was all donated from the Houston Food Bank, one of our other amazing partners. Our youngest volunteers that day were 10 years old, and good thing they weren’t at the watermelon station.
GALLERYDid you know our Houston Food Bank partners work with Houston TX Cannery to can their own peanut butter? With our volunteers, we staffed the entire peanut butter canning line for the morning shift on Friday, August 16, 2019. Together, we filled more than a dozen pallets worth of jars in our shift. That’s more than 14,250 jars of peanut butter! And we each got to take a jar home as a tasty souvenir of our volunteer day.
GALLERYWe had a chance to participate in Shriners’ annual Halloween celebration for their patients. Food is Love decorated the administrative section of the hospital as part of their top secret decorating competition. On October 31, 2019, each department revealed their themed areas and Food is Love unveiled “MFE City, Home of the Superheroes”. The little ones then traipsed around in their costumes to visit each department and trick-or-treat. Two MFE representatives (Thor Jeb and Spidey Gerald) served as two of the three judges for the décor and costume contests. The fun didn’t just end there, decorations were left up so that patients were able to enjoy it as they came in for treatment.
GALLERYMFE committed to a three year donation to the Houston Food Bank totaling $45,000. The donation will support the work behind distributing fresh produce, meat and nonperishables as well as 104,000,000 meals annually. Keep a look out for the Houston Food Bank truck sponsored by MFE – you never know where it may pop up!
GALLERYJeb, MFE’s COO, has organized a “Don’t Make Little Kids Cry Toy Drive” since 2007. His enthusiasm to make sure that as many kids as possible had a toy Christmas morning means we’ve never skipped a year of the toy drive. Take a look at an archive of what we looked like when we were young and beautiful and the toys that were all the rage back then. You can still be a part of the album! We’ll be doing another toy drive this year so contact Food is Love to drop off your donation.
GALLERYThe beneficiaries of the 2019 toy drive were Shriners Children Hospital and the Mykawa Police Station - Southeast Community Service Division. Superheroes were again a popular theme, but we definitely saw the Frozen 2 craze in the donations. A new area of concentration for our collection was toys for toddlers and babies. This was at the request of Shriners Children Hospital since they’ve identified it as a category often overlooked. Also, remember most places accept donations year-round for treatments, birthdays, and other special occasions!
GALLERYMFE’s Food Is Love, Inc. is a not for profit 501(c)(3) entity.
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