Our Daily Bread, Austin’s Circle Urban Food Pantry, is the recipient of West Suburban Medical Center’s Healthy Over Hungry online food drive.
For the next week – from Friday, June 2 until Friday, June 9 – all monetary donations made at the website will be matched by Tenet Health, West Suburban Medical Center’s parent company.
Circle Urban Food’s Daily Bread Food Pantry operates under a new model of food service. Gone are the days of handing out pre-filled bags that may or may not contain what the client wants/needs.
The new Daily Bread Food Pantry has a built-in “empowerment” component that will require patrons to think about their individual nutritional needs and make choices to better address those needs through the selection of available food items. A list of food available is posted or given to clients, with any quantity restrictions based on food in stock or family size.
Clients choose the food from the list by marking on the menu or telling the pantry worker and pantry worker fills the bag and brings it to the client. A guide/security volunteer is available to interact with the patron and to answer questions.
This is empowerment at its best because the client takes responsibility for making decisions that will impact their own lives.
The goal is to raise $3,000, but Circle Urban Food Pantry hope to surpass that number with everyone’s help.