lake county community food council

MinutessubmittedbyKendraWills,MSUExtension

1. IntroductionsandMinutes:Nancytooktheminutesforlastmonth’smeeting.SheremembersemailingthemtoKendraWills;however,Kendradoesnotrememberreceivingthem.WewillworkonhavingthemfortheNovembermeeting.ThegroupverballyreportedonwhatwasdiscussedattheSeptembermeeting.

2. Brainstormideasfor2017

a. Communityreceptionforfoodpantryexpansioni. April2017(exactdatewillbesetinFebruary)ii. PerhapsincombinationwithRogationDaywherewecouldgiveoutplantsto

attendees.iii. $1,000isourbestguessforabudget(thisincludesfood)iv. Marketing:schools,churches,flyers

b. CanningKits

i. JaneHartwithMSUEison-boardtoserveasaclassinstructor.ii. UsingthefundsfromtheDHD#10granttopurchasecanningkitsupplies(12)from

theBaldwinHardwareStore.Cannersareinbutthekitsarenotinyet.iii. Wewillneedalocationtostorethesesupplies.KendraGibsonwillcheckwiththe

LakeCountyMSUEofficetoseeiftheremightbesecurestoragethere.iv. Thesekitswillbeusedthroughalendinglibrary.Weneedtodeterminewhowill

managethislendingprocess.TheBreadofLifePantrydoesnothavethestaffcapacitytodothis.

v. YatesTownshipmightbeanotherpossibilityforstorage.FreddiesaidhewilltalkwithDennytoseeifhecouldstoretheequipment.

vi. TheCommerceDepartmentmightbeanotherpossibility.

c. Sallyreportedthattheremaybeanother$5000ingrantsnextyearandperhapsthesefundscouldbeusedtocreatedlockedstorageareasatseveralfoodpantriestocreatelendinglibrariesinseverallocations.

i. Nancynotedthatherpantrywouldlovetohavesomekits.

d. CanningClassesi. JaneHartwithMSUExtensionhasagreedtoserveasaninstructorforthecanningclassesin2017.

ii. KathyfeltthattheSt.Ann’sKitchenisnotappropriateforthecanningclassesbecausetheyareonlylicensedaswarmupkitchen.Itdoesnothaveahoodforcooking.JanHartsaysshethinksitwouldbefinebecausesheteacheshomecanningclassesandonlyahotsurfaceisneededforwaterbathcanning.

LakeCountyCommunityFoodCouncil

MeetingMinutesMonday,October10,2016

3:30p.m.–5:00p.m.St.Ann’sChurchCommunityMeetingRoomBaldwin,MI

Participants:JaneHart,SueBrown-Havens,KathyMerchant,CarlMerchant,NancyPrzedwojewski,SallyMellema,MerylSmith,AnneBianchi,KendraGibson,LeoHeska,FreddieRosado,ChrisJohnson,

PaulBetts,KendraWills

iii. Perhapswecouldrentanotherfacilityfortheclasses.Somepossibilitiesare:the

SeniorCenterkitchen(after1pm),Hollester,YatesFiredepartment,SeniorCenterinIdlewild,theStartingBlockinHart,orattheLion’sClubinLuther.Maybeweneedtosendoutanoticetodeterminewhichkitchenscouldhostahands-onhomecanningworkshop.

1. Janeisn’tinfavorofoutsidecanningclasses.(Wind,weather,etc.)iv. WearethinkingaboutpeachesorpearsinAugust,jamsandjellies,andtomatoesin

September.Itispossibletodojamwithfrozenstrawberryjamintheearlyspring.v. Wealsodiscussedfoodsafetycertification.ThereisaprogramthroughIdaho

ExtensionforfoodsafetytrainingcertificationthatJaneisresearching.vi. TODO:Writeanoticetohavepeoplecontactusiforganizationswouldliketohost

canningclasses.Thisnoticecanbeaprojectforearly2017.

e. GardeninaBoxProject?Dowewanttodothisagainin2017.Perhapswecanjustgiveoutplantsinplasticcontainersandnotbuildtheboxessincethattakessomuchtimeandresources.

3. DraftVFFbudgetfor2017and/ornewDHD#10$5,000forFY2016-17

a. $1,000receptionb. $600forGardeninabox:soil,boxsupplies,plants,plantsforpeoplewhobringtheirbox

fromlastyearc. (DHDgrant)Canningclasses:needmashersandspoons,lids,rings.Paulhasasourceforjar

donations.Leowillpricestuffoutforafollow-uprequest.Perhapswecouldpostanoticethatweareseekingcanningjarsforthelendinglibrary.Peoplewhocometotheclasseswillalsobeencouragedtobringtheirownjars.Leosuggested$500forcanningjars.

d. $1,000laptopandsoftwareforLynneforthepantryandlabelsandinkforlabelmaker.e. $500foradvertising/marketing:flyersforpantrybag,newspaperarticlesandads,

Facebookboosts,addourmeetingtotheLakeCountyStarcommunitycalendar(ChrisJohnsonwillhelpleadtheseefforts.)

f. KendraWillsnotedthatperhapstheFoodCouncilcouldapplyforMSUCenterforRegionalFoodSystemminigrantsforourlocalfoodcouncilstogrowfarmingentrepreneursinLakeCounty.Shewillbringmoreinformationonthistoafuturemeeting

i. WecouldoffersmallgrantstohelpfarmersmeetwithScoreorMSUProductCentercounselorsanddevelopabusinessplan.

4. Discussionontheprocessforthecounciltopursue501c3status

a. Somefeltthatifwedon’tdothis,thiscouncilmightdissolvebecausewewouldn’tbeabletosecurefundingforprojects.

b. KendrawillemailoutthebylawsandarticlesofincorporationthatPaulBettshasdrafted.c. WorkingonthesedocumentswillbethefocusofourNovembermeeting.Everyonewillbe

askedtoreviewthisbeforethenextmeeting.

d. KendraGibsonwillaskifVVFfundscouldbeusedtohireanattorneytoreviewthe

documentsbeforefiling.

5. ProjectUpdatesa. DHD#10CDCgrantproject-Meryl

i. Theywillbeconductingabrestfeedingatworktrainingforemployers.ii. BarskiRestaurantmenuisalmostcompleted.Nov.14at12:30p.m.isdebutof

healthymenu.(Subjecttoconfirmationbyrestaurant.)iii. Save-a-lotwillalsoparticipateinthehealthyfoodlabeling.iv. HomeDepotgrantforcommunitygardenisdueDecember31.Workingtosupport

theIdlewildgardenproject.

b. RealHungerGames-Leoi. HuntersSafetyclassscheduledforOctober22inBaldwin.ii. DHD#10iswillingtopostthisclassontheirFacebookpage.iii. Wehaven’thadahunterssafetyclassinLakeCountyformanyyears.Thiswillbe

heldattheSportsmen’sClub.Leoisahuntersafetyinstructor.Thereareonly3instructorsinLakeCounty.Hewouldliketohave20inthecounty.October22theycangetthecertificationtobecomeinstructorsaswell.

iv. KathywillgiveflyerstoMerylaboutvenisondonation.KathywillalsogetsomeflyerstoLeotodistributeattheSportsmenClubaboutvenisondonation.

v. LeowillemailKendraWillsdetailsontheeventfordistribution.

c. Foodpantryexpansion–KathyandCarli. Thedrywallishung.ii. Walkinfreezer/coolerunitisgoingtobeinstalledthisweekorearlynextweek.iii. Individuallaborhelphasbeenhardtosecure.iv. Bathroomplumbingmightbethelastthingdone.

d. Idlewildcommunitygarden.

i. Joedidnotattendthemeeting.DHD#10staffreportedthatJanika(withthechurchwherethegardenisbuildingbuilt)hasbeenincontactwiththemabouttheIdlewildcommunitygardenproject.FreddieismentoringJoebutJoeisstilltheleadonthisproject.

ii. Wehopethatthecommunitygardenwillchargerentforprivateplotsthatpeoplemustmaintain.Perhapstherewillalsobepublicseatingandactivitiessothecommunitywillembracetheproject.

iii. PaulBettshasasourcefordonatedmulchifyouwanttoconnectwithhimonthat.

6. Themeetingadjournedat5:15p.m.Nextmeeting:November14,20163:30p.m.–5:00p.m.atSt.Ann’sChurch