East Austin Family Pantry

UPDATE!

2006-01-10T08:44:00.000-06:00

we're busy.
the pantry is now open tuesdays and wednesdays from 10a- 2p and in need of more hands-on help than in the past. if you are interested in helping us, click here.

yes, we still need a mop and a flat screen tv to watch cspan in the morning. a french press would be great, too. 32oz.

halloween

2005-11-08T18:14:00.001-06:00

so, it was halloween. we had a contest at the arc to see who was the best. it was me. i was a coach. take that, coworkers. it was stiff competition between linda mccartney, a beat poet, and a coach, but i came up on top.

here is a picture of emily, a case manager, on a past halloween when she decided to dress up for the holiday. she is the shorter one.

we work hard

2005-11-08T18:14:00.000-06:00

look at these case managers plugging away for the greater good.

sara(H)?

2005-11-08T18:13:00.000-06:00

jamie

2005-11-08T18:12:00.000-06:00

Dellicious

2005-10-04T14:44:00.000-05:00

i knew last thursday that the volunteers that helped us did some incredible work, but i wasn't able to put it into perspective until this afternoon. there was what i'll describe as a concentration of appointments that came to the pantry within 15min of one another. with approximately 10 people in a 724 sq foot building, space was tight. so were supplies. what do i do?

pick up my handy map of the storage unit that last week's Dell volunteers drafted and graciously stroll over to the green bean section. within moments, i reemerge with a harvest of canned vegetables much to the appreciation of all served at the pantry. not only that, but during my brief expedition to the storage unit, pantry appointees were able to deftly pick through childrens clothing organized by size, sex, and color.

the Dell employees took the task of pantry volunteerism to a new level. they gutted our rooms and started from the floor up to create a clean, safe, and well- stocked pantry for whoever needs assistance. thanks for making it easier for us to operate & serve!

NEED LIST

2005-09-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

TOOTHPASTE
SOCKS, ADULT AND CHILDREN
UNDERWEAR, ADULT AND CHILDREN
SHAMPOO
LAUNDRY DETERGENT
MOP

answers to your questions, re: katrina

2005-09-02T08:54:00.000-05:00

1) if you are making a donation to The Arc of the Capital Area, please write in the memo "Katrina Assistance" or "East Austin Family Pantry."

2) these funds will be spent locally on our clients. our many of our clients receive services through The Arc, Austin Travis County MHMR, Any Baby Can, and Ebenzer Baptist Church. our clients also include househoulds of our community where:
an individual or family member has no outside financial support
an individual or family member is temporarily out of work
an individual's or family member's primary source of income is SSI
an individual or family member qualifies for an E.C.I. program
an individual or family member is at or below poverty level

hurricane katrina victims will be served through this criteria.

with the bulk of dontations to the capital area food bank heading out of town, our clients are facing a major reduction in services. the hurricane victims who fled to austin have many outlets for support, including the pantry. with support heading out of town, our capacity to serve our regular client base plus hurricane victims is rapidly being challenged.

3) please take all donations to The Arc of the Capital Area offices at 2818 San Gabriel.

we need help

2005-09-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

now the blog turns up the sincerity a few notches.

we need help.

we are running low on food.

the capital area food bank is running low on supplies and directing the bulk of their stock to hurricane victims. that leaves us in a tight spot, especially for food items. we are seeing an increase in traffic through 1005 e. th from folks that had to relocate from our neighboring states just east of texas. it is here, people that have had their lives swept away are asking for our help.

for monitary contributions to help relieve us in this constricting time, donate here.

NEED LIST:

HOUSEHOLD CLEANING PRODUCTS
CANNED FRUIT
CANNED VEGETABLES
ANY CANNED FOOD ITEM
CAN OPENERS

WHATEVER YOU THINK COULD HELP

breakfast with the waltons

2005-08-26T09:17:00.000-05:00

NEWS FLASH, DETAILS TO FOLLOW:
WAL-MART DONATES SCHOOL SUPPLIES TO THE PANTRY.

2005-08-19T15:51:00.000-05:00

donation of the month

2005-08-19T15:50:00.001-05:00

see through panel on back of package and address to find out more information

2005-08-19T15:50:00.000-05:00

the method behind the madness

FLABBERGASTED!

2005-08-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

THANKS LCRA!

in one week, the incredibly generous employees of The Lower Colorado River Authority, filled our storage unit. absolutely amazing. for those of you heading off to school, we now have spiderman backpacks and bratz playing cards for study hall. it really is fantastic what has just happened. one month our shelves were bare after 754 people were served, our lcra friends went well beyond restocking them.

2005-08-04T16:38:00.000-05:00

1/3 of the LCRA donations!

2005-08-04T16:37:00.001-05:00

major movers

2005-08-04T16:37:00.000-05:00

This Arc of the Capital Area Board Member, Frank, truly believes in the hands- on approach to community service.

2005-08-04T16:33:00.000-05:00

no joke

NEED LIST

2005-07-29T09:19:00.000-05:00

SCHOOL SUPPLIES
SUMMER CLOTHES
SIZE 4 DIAPERS

hold your breath

2005-07-26T15:53:00.000-05:00

there is a photo essay in your near future. we've had some INCREDIBLE volunteer help in the past ten days. they've helped us serve record numbers of people through the pantry, lifted tons of items from the capital area food bank, stocked our shelves with new clothing items, trimmed our hedges, weed whacked our weeds, pulled our weeds, cut back trees and other molten overgrowth, and selected new book of the week every single week. thanks goes the whole way around, we are truly awed by your passion to help at the pantry.

bird update, the family has flown from the nest! they return on a daily, basis, though. all five of them.

if you've read this far, you really care about the panty and wonder what we could use now that school is around the corner. well, here you go:
NOTEBOOKS
FOLDERS
SCHOOL UNIFORMS
SOCKS
UNDERWEAR
SIZE 4 DIAPERS

and
MOP

NEED LIST

2005-07-18T12:53:00.000-05:00

SUMMER CLOTHES: ADULT, CHILDREN, INFANT
TOOTH PASTE
SHAMPOO
TOILET PAPER
MOP
CANNED VEGETABLES

NEED LIST

2005-06-28T15:19:00.000-05:00

CANNED VEGETABLES
TOILET PAPER
ADOLESCENT CLOTHING
TOOTH BRUSHES
SHAMPOO
MONEY

2005-06-27T15:43:00.000-05:00

fresh

great grains

2005-06-27T15:28:00.000-05:00

recently, the capital area food bank has been stocked with new items that are making nutritious choices easier for their us, one of their partner agencies. austin's own whole foods market has recently stepped up their support of the food bank and made it possible for our clients to make delicious as well as nutrious food choices. organic peanut butter? we have that, it is right next to the flax seed bread and across from 365 tomato sauce.

the pantry isn't just for humans

2005-06-23T19:11:00.001-05:00

for the birds.

about six weeks ago, two birds began making a nest in the nook of our covered porch. yesterday, the most brave of the offspring took flight. the two remaining sibilings looked bewildered, then looked to me while they sung, "don't make me go next."

2005-06-23T19:11:00.000-05:00

peas in a pod

2005-06-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

first stop: pantry. second stop: capital.

2005-06-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

highway the danger zone. tom cruise would be satisfied with our latest donation.

NEED LIST!

2005-06-13T15:43:00.000-05:00

Size 4 diapers
Tomato sauce
Paper towels
Kids clothes
Shoes

come along little doagies

2005-06-03T07:11:00.001-05:00

yes! more boots! get this, they are major label: justins.

2005-06-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

tumblin' with the tumblin' tumble weed

2005-06-03T07:10:00.000-05:00

hey, you with the size 8D feet, over here

2005-06-03T07:09:00.000-05:00

shiny

with the help of friends

2005-06-02T08:12:00.001-05:00

check out what wednesday's volunteers did! categorized donations, easy to catalog, easy to get on the shelves. thanks, y'all.

2005-06-02T08:12:00.000-05:00

storage shed after vols

2005-06-02T08:11:00.000-05:00

storage shed before volunteers

full moon

2005-05-23T20:42:00.001-05:00

my uber competitent supervisor, kathrine, helped me load 1796.58lbs of food and hygiene products into our collaborator's van. any baby can has been a huge supporter of the east austin family pantry from its incubation to implementation. if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be able to haul one week's worth of supplies to our facility. i encourage everyone who reads this blog to tell kathrine grant how great she looks as she is set to throw almost a ton of detergent into the back of the abc van. look at that smile! a big thanks also goes out to wal-mart as they made a huge donation to the pantry in honor of opening store 5317 on may 18. this isn't the first time they've stepped up to help the arc this year, and they are continuing supporters of the pantry. stay tuned and hopefully the pantry can report more justin boots donations in the near future.

2005-05-23T20:42:00.000-05:00

scion is a 1/8th scale hummer

2005-05-23T20:41:00.000-05:00

scion is stoked to do good work

2005-05-23T20:39:00.000-05:00

kathrine really doesn't want to drop her keys

2005-05-23T20:38:00.000-05:00

digame queso

manic monday

2005-05-11T08:49:00.000-05:00

RED ALERT:
WE NEED CHILDREN'S CLOTHING!

they've outdone themselves. it might have been 120 gallons of clothes last week, this week top drawer's donation was at least double that and it included wonderfully western boots. we could use more donations like this. speaking of donations, we love resently washed donations that are not tattered, torn, or stained. if you wouldn't wear it unless you were in your garden, it is most likely not suitable for the population we serve.

last week an all-points-bulletin was put out for socks. it came through. thanks to a glimmer of hope grant, we now have fresh and with tags socks for children, men, & women. so, we could use a hot tub over at 1005 e. 10th... new donations are our favorites.

2005-05-11T08:48:00.001-05:00

howdy partner

2005-05-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

how sweet are these 7.5 women's boots:?!?

2005-05-11T08:47:00.001-05:00

about 30 inches deep

2005-05-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

box o socks

Day of Caring

2005-05-06T10:19:00.000-05:00

Dear Agencies,
Thank you for participating in Day of Caring! On Friday, April 15 more than 350 corporate and community volunteers pitched in to improve the community. By the end of the day volunteers had
...stocked a food pantry ...built 3 houses ...relabeled 33,000 books at the public library ...sorted and labeled clothes for 1300 children in need ...planted flowers at low-income housing ...spray painted street addresses on curbs ...cleaned a park
We could not have done it without the help of the agency coordinators. Day of Caring pictures will posted to the Volunteer Center webpage soon at: http://www.unitedwaycapitalarea.org/daysofcaring/index.cfm.

I couldn't leave the office on 4-15. Though I really wanted to lift and carry havy boxes. :(
Can't wait for next Day of Caring in September, the weather will be better for laborious work.

feliz cinco de mayo

2005-05-05T16:05:00.001-05:00

NEED LIST:
Size 6 diapers
Rice
Flour
Paper towels

i made up to our complimentary shurgard storage and funnelled 27 feed the children hygiene boxes in my car today. it took a bit of imagination to get it all to fit, and a bit of muscle, but the end result is the shelf that you now see in the photo. thanks, shurgard, for helping us keep the material we need safely stored.

2005-05-05T16:05:00.000-05:00

stocked shelf

2005-05-04T21:48:00.000-05:00

this is what you see when you leave the pantry

2005-05-04T21:47:00.000-05:00

Side view of the pantry

2005-05-04T21:46:00.000-05:00

front view of the freshly painted pantry

a pantry miracle

2005-05-04T21:45:00.000-05:00

NEEDED ITEMS AT THE PANTRY:
Size 6 diapers
Can openers
Underwear
Socks
Pasta
Canned Veggies

so, i was driving from the arc office on san gabriel en route to the pantry when kut's john aielli said something along the lines of, "...first austin city limits taping of the new season, RILO KILEY, limited number of tickets available, get them at the klru front desk, the taping is this thursday." what do i do? find the first parking spot i could, which was at the burger king on guateloupe, lock my car, and sprint down to 26th street where the klru office is located. i arrived a sweaty mess. i did a full on skid/slide stop at the front desk and panted, "austin city lim..." to which the receptionist pointed to the door i just bombed through, indicating that her manager was standing on the other side of that door. i ran right past her. the effort was rewarded, though. the polite woman who handed out the tickets seemed confused by my rush and gave me a few extra passes. later on, i daydreamed that she told me that she gave them to me b'c of my good looks and charm. which, as we all know, is true.

we have organic popcorn!

2005-05-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

that's right. thanks to the shepherd of the hills christian church, we also have nine other bags of groceries. http://www.shccaustin.org/. shcc is a continuing supporter of the pantry, and they have excellent taste in mid-range sodium snacks. don't forget to add your non-gmo butter and sea salt when it is time to get comfortable on the couch with all- natural central market popcorn. ALSO, THEY KICKED IN NEW, WITH TAGS, SHIRTS & BLOUSES! get'm while they're hot. sorry, no camera today. i just finished totalling last months numbers. well over 600 people were served, and we still have capacity to accept as well as dole out assistance. ciao- dw

2005-05-02T16:02:00.000-05:00

120 gallons of clothing

thanks to molly, molly, and the regular volunteers over at the top drawer thrift store, we now have custody of two 60 gallon trash bags full of thrift. shoes, shirts, sheets. read more about the super stars over at td here: http://www.volunteersolutions.org/austin/org/opp/3603146.html

2005-05-02T08:28:00.000-05:00

pantry

hey ya- welcome to the online hub of the east austin family pantry. check back often for need lists, volunteer opportunities, and random ramblings. let me know what you think and what you want to read- dw