Another Successful Year!

"Build it and they will come", and that's what happened again for the 10th year at Holden Beach, and for the first year at Topsail Beach ("Friends Feeding Friends") and Emerald Isle ("A Second Helping"), all 3 in North Carolina.

Good news for this summer!

"A Second Helping" will begin its 10th year of collecting food and distributing it to the needy families of Brunswick County on June 21 at our usual place at Holden Beach, NC. We're thankful we can continue this ministry, and better yet  to share some very good news with you......Two groups at two locations along the North Carolina coast will begin similar programs at about the same time using the same name, "A Second Helping". So if you are vacationing in the Emerald Isle area (2 drop-off sites) or Topsail/Surf City areas, you'll be able to participate in this ministry thru your contributions of food and money. And we thank you very much in advance for doing so.....

100,000 LBS. A MILESTONE!

This past Saturday, July 13, we passed a milestone in that our food collections at Holden Beach NC now total over 100,000 lbs. since we began this ministry 8 years ago. This is a huge tribute to the thousands of vacationers and locals who have chosen to contribute food (and money) to the needy of Brunswick County, rather than have it end up in a landfill. Many thanks to each of you for your compassion and generosity. 

OFF AND RUNNING in 2013......

With a good feeling from the approximately 3,000 lbs. of food collected since June 15, we've just completed the first 3 weeks of this summer's ministry, our 9th year, At this rate, in mid-July we'll pass 100,000 lbs. since our ministry began in July of 2005.

I wish everyone could have the same experience that we have each Saturday.....compassionate contributors who are pleased to have a place to leave food which would otherwise be wasted, and grateful receipients who might otherwise go hungry. It's such a simple ministry of providing that link between these two factions. Hope you'll stay tuned for future reports.....

Another Good Year!

With a smile, we've just finished our summer collections, our 8th year at Holden Beach, NC. Although we were a bit short of last years total, we were able to meet 100% of the needs of all persons, and then some, who asked for our help, and that is what we're about.

Our total for the summer is 19,297 lbs. which brings us close to 100,000 lbs. since the ministry began in July of 2005. The current economy definitely affected our volume as more of our vacationers ate in and took home more than normal. That's good news as we sense their food was not wasted, although we empathize for our local restaurants whose business was affected.

As a reminder, please consider "A Second Helping" as a model for establishing a similar ministry for other vacation venues. It's a way to "give back", a simple way to chip away at hunger in your community. We're always available to help, and to answer your questions at Leftoverfood@aol.com.

More good news!!

In keeping with our ongoing efforts to get other vacation locales to start similar food collection programs/ministries such as "A Second Helping, we got some great news this week. A friend who read a newspaper article about us a couple of years ago sent a copy to her daughter at Edisto Beach in South Carolina. The daughter jumped on the idea, so to speak, and as a result Edisto Realty has its own program of collecting food from departing vacationers on the island. We hope other locations will be similarly inspired by what Edisto Realty is doing and become pro-active in doing their own thing. As always, we want to hear from anyone who gets involved, or who has questions.

A Great Idea

One of the many joys we experience each Saturday morning during our food collection is meeting and talking to persons from all over the U.S. who come to Holden Beach NC for vacations. This past Saturday, our first day of the 8th year, we met a couple from Athens GA. They had some nice things to say about "A Second Helping" which we always like to hear. And they had a great idea as we talked! Before the UGA football games, lots of people "tailgate", which means the possibility of left over foods which could be collected for the needy. This great idea could be expanded to any tailgating venue, NASCAR, NFL football, college football, you name it!! What a wonderful project this could be for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Civic clubs or individuals like us who do our thing on Saturday morning during the summer months. Let us know what you think, or if we can help you get started, by writing us at LeftoverFood@aol.com.