GoodGiving Guide Challenge

November 3 – December 12

Over 150 local nonprofits participate in this end of year giving challenge. There are incentives for those who donate and challenges for the nonprofits to raise more funds.

This is our 3rd year to participate with a goal of raising $25,000 to continue and expand gleaning in KY to help end hunger.

Please help us thank our matching sponsor, Integrity IT, by learning more about their business and service. Ranking Best Place to Work 2014/2013, and receiving the 2014 Small Business Award for Innovation, you quickly realize how they maintain a 97% retention of satisfied customers.

We appreciate your support! Donate today to help end waste and end hunger!

Why We Need Your Support

When we started gleaning, it came so easily – leftover produce was just waiting for someone to claim it. It took off like crazy. With no employees, then with one part time position, we had the volunteer support to build the business and glean like crazy!

More and more people are relying on our gleaned produce in their own nonprofit missions and in their homes. As people around Kentucky learn about gleanKY, they want us to create a gleaning network in their hometowns. It has been a challenge to meet the demands this year with such lean resources, but we have a lot to celebrate.

You have invested in gleaning!

This year we have served 56 distribution sites and programs in Fayette County and, thanks to volunteers, added 19 more in Scott and Franklin Counties. I can not wrap my head around the volume of work being done through gleanKY. Well over 450,000 pounds of fresh produce that would have rotted in landfills or decomposed in compost piles is now serving our 1 in 6 residents (1 in 4 kids) struggling to have enough food, much less have high quality nutritious produce.

We’ve made great strides in the financial support of our mission as foundations and agencies see the great work being done through gleaning. With a grant from AmeriCorps, we placed a VISTA member, Rachel Hollars, into a fundraising role. She applied for 10 grants, large and small, and we’ve received 5 (mostly the larger ones!).

United Way – awarded $52,500 regional grant over 3 years
LFUCG – awarded $5,500 from the Dept of Social Service and $500 Neighborhood Grant for initiating a distribution point in Cardinal Valley, now serving 70 families.
Richard Reynold’s Foundation – awarded $3,500
KY Colonel’s – a matching grant up to $15,000 to purchase a cargo van

These grants pay one year of one part time position and one VISTA member. We have done so much with so little, but we’ve reached a potential breaking point. We need to grow our donor base to fund positions to not only expand gleaning and coordinate distribution of thousands of pounds of fresh produce in Fayette county and across Kentucky, but to sustain the great mission we’ve all built. In 2015, we will celebrate our 5th birthday, expand and solidify our gleaning in Franklin and Scott Counties, and respond to requests from many other counties and programs to start gleanKY Chapters or become affiliates. Gleaning works and can work for all.

A Call to Action

Make a donation to gleanKY|Faith Feeds during the GoodGiving Guide Challenge – $10 to $10,000 (any amount is graciously welcomed)
For those who gave last year, could you increase your gift by 25% this year?
Ask 5 of your friends, family, faith family, and Facebook followers to donate also. All they can do is say no, but if they say yes…