ICA Tour and Lunch with Cathy Maes
Posted by Steve Frazier
on Nov 01, 2011
Our Program on November 1st was a visit to the headquarters of ICA. The ICA is our local food shelf, and is a non-profit which was started by 33 local church congregations. All 33 are represented at the monthly report given to them by Kathy Maes, the director.
Kathy gave us an update on their operations, highlighting the fact that client base is up 80% since 2008, and that they have been able to reduce waiting time for groceries to fewer than 24 hours. The new Excelsior office has allowed faster distribution of food to their clients, although the wait at the home location is still over a week. Food is distributed to clients on a schedule; the families are given a specific time to arrive at the center for their food, so there is no wait for them.
During the tour of the facility that she lead, she told of the processes used to get food, from accepting food donations and cash, buying food from their uplink (Second Harvest), and collecting perishables from the major supermarkets in the area, sorting and checking done by volunteers who shelf the food so that bags of groceries can be prepared for the individual clients. As we walked through the processing area, most of us found two or three friends who are ICA volunteers.
The ICA board is looking for ways to improve delivery to their clients, including the purchase of a truck to deliver groceries to clients in senior high rises and to disabled clients.
Next Week: Jim Bagwell will talk about the Shriners in Minnesota. Opening Marshal will be Karen Frazier.
(Story by Tad shaw and Photo by Steve Frazier)Kathy gave us an update on their operations, highlighting the fact that client base is up 80% since 2008, and that they have been able to reduce waiting time for groceries to fewer than 24 hours. The new Excelsior office has allowed faster distribution of food to their clients, although the wait at the home location is still over a week. Food is distributed to clients on a schedule; the families are given a specific time to arrive at the center for their food, so there is no wait for them.
During the tour of the facility that she lead, she told of the processes used to get food, from accepting food donations and cash, buying food from their uplink (Second Harvest), and collecting perishables from the major supermarkets in the area, sorting and checking done by volunteers who shelf the food so that bags of groceries can be prepared for the individual clients. As we walked through the processing area, most of us found two or three friends who are ICA volunteers.
The ICA board is looking for ways to improve delivery to their clients, including the purchase of a truck to deliver groceries to clients in senior high rises and to disabled clients.
Next Week: Jim Bagwell will talk about the Shriners in Minnesota. Opening Marshal will be Karen Frazier.