Birthday Bash Roundup: A Year of Changes

Between our blog's launch and our birthday, Bread for the City saw a number of major institutional changes which were covered on our blog. The biggest, of course, was our recent decision to temporarily move off of Fridays, have staff take a 10% pay cut, and managers take a 12% pay cut. Those changes went through this past April 1st.

But let's not forget the other monumental steps we've taken. Last year, Bread for the City started partnering with Claggett Farm to provide nutritious, fresh produce to the many people who come through our two food pantries. That partnership was so successful that it grew into a massive nutrition commitment on the part of our food staff. Starting September 1st, we vowed that we would provide fresh produce in every bag that went out our door. Working with a number of sources, we continue that commitment. Even more exciting, we're currently ramping up to start sending volunteers out to local farms to bring back whole tons of fresh produce. Also in the mix, a group of donors combined their efforts in March to buy us eggs every month that we distribute through both our pantries.

Maybe you've also heard of our upcoming expansion! Due to a generous grant from the DCPCA and the DC Government, Bread for the City is going to be doubling the size of our medical clinic!! Our groundbreaking was on March 25th, and we had a pretty great turnout.

Our Holiday Helpings program, through which we distributed a complete Thanksgiving meal to 12,214 families in need (our goal was 10,000, so we beat it by 20%!), was our most successful to date.

We also spoke with a number of our patrons, asking their opinions on certain issues, archiving their recollections of days past, and providing an insight into why we care so much about healthcare, teaching good nutrition, and a comprehensive approach to poverty issues.

Partner organizations helped us raise over $20,000 through the Help the Homeless Walk this past year--you can see some of those partners walking with us in our slideshow.