Beyond Bread: A Look at Last Week

First, a warm thanks from Bread for the City to Georgetown University’s Chinese Student Alliance and the Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service. The two groups teamed up to do a food drive to benefit Bread for the City, and became the first group in BFC history to deliver their meals in an ambulance--talk about life saving!

~Our blog was busy last week, and luckily so were our supporters. It was announced that Bread for the City would be getting an extra $1.35 million from the DCPCA to be put toward the expansion of our Northwest Center. DCMud and Washington Grantmakers Daily helped us get the word out that the expansion will double the size of our current location, triple the size of our Medical Clinic, and provide a much better continuum of care for the low-income residents we serve.

~We also posted about a strange hiccup in the tax code that, Sharon thinks, is part of what prevents local farmers from connecting with area food pantries. Donations of fresh produce are always a huge help to direct-service providers, but as Grist points out, the cost of labor and fuel it would take to make the donation isn’t deductable, which prohibits many local farmers from working with pantries and soup kitchens. Believe me, this is a topic we’re going to revisit as we start working with local farms to set up gleanings.

~Bread for the City’s clothing room is going to be getting some help! Coup de Foudre Lingerie is going to be holding a bra drive for their customers.

~Thanks to DCist for linking to my write-up of Greg and I going to look at Matthew Thompson’s art exhibit at MLK Library. The trip turned out to be something of a debacle, and we’re still trying to live down Sommer calling us the boys from Bread for the City.

Also in the news: The Earth Times covered Bread for the City’s own Dr. Randi winning the American Medical Association’s Pride in the Profession Award! The Washington Post had three interesting things: the latest unemployment numbers (598,000 jobs lost in January alone), a report stating that more schools are reporting children who are homeless. and a story on how the long lines are causing big delays getting unemployment benefits to the people who need it. In better news, President Obama signed an expansion of SCHIP into law last week.