When the time comes for a new leader or a new strategic direction, nonprofits recognize that sound decisions can mean the difference between a sustainable future and irrelevance. That’s why Mountain Xpress took a look at a spectrum of local nonprofits that have recently experienced significant change s or are now in the midst of transformative shifts in management or focus.
A La Mode Macaron brings its interpretation of the European sweet treat to North Asheville. Also: VegOut returns, No Taste Like Home hosts Wildcrafted Cocktails and more in this week’s Small Bites.
The inaugural U Grow Community Dig Day kicks off Western North Carolina’s growing season with a plant sale, free workshops and other activities.
Bounty & Soul’s VegOut fundraiser returns for its second year. Also, Native Kitchen and Social Pub holds a fundraiser for the Autism Society of North Carolina, Backyard BBQ Competition takes place in Brevard, the fourth annual Skillet Six Ways returns and more.
The Black Mountain organization provides the free boxes of nutritious holiday cheer with its upcoming food markets.
White Horse Black Mountain hosts musicians Jimmy Landry, Beth Wood and David LaMotte at the seventh annual Birthday Bash Sunday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m.
Charitable organizations, food pantries and community gardens are working hard to combat hunger in WNC. And at the heart of those efforts, are hundreds of committed volunteers.
With one in six people in Western North Carolina lacking consistent access to food, MANNA FoodBank and its partner agencies are uniting to host hunger-awareness events and initiatives in September for national Hunger Action Month. MANNA also hopes to wrap up its Space to Erase Hunger capital campaign this month, allowing for crucial expansions to the organization’s capacity that will impact hungry families in 16 counties.
U Grow, a partnership between Bounty & Soul and Eat Smart Black Mountain, offers a hand-to-mouth approach to food security by encouraging families and individuals to grow their own food.
From the Get It! Guide: According to MANNA FoodBank’s 2014 Map the Meal Gap study, food insecurity affects 15.3 percent of Western North Carolina. But several local efforts are looking to stop hunger in WNC, bringing the battle to the fields, the pantries, the neighborhoods and even city hall.
Jubilee! Community Church is hosting a night of dancing, singing and bidding to get the Bounty & Soul mobile market on the road.
From the Get It! Guide: Allison Casparian has spent her entire adult life working in food. But it wasn’t until she experienced her own personal health crisis that she realized the power of nutrition and wellness.
The organization has been running a pop-up food pantry and food security effort out of three locations in Black Mountain since 2012 but has been looking for a way to expand its reach since last spring.
Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes, with skills ranging from data entry to hair and makeup design. Whatever your interests, talents or passion, there’s likely a nonprofit or community group in WNC that could use your help. To get you started, Xpress has rounded up 10 area groups seeking volunteers for 2015.
The USDA has identified several areas in WNC, and Asheville, as places without access to healthy, affordable food. But three different mobile food markets are aiming to launch this year — reducing the distance between healthy foods and communities in need.
Feeding America estimates that 100,000 people in Western North Carolina are experiencing food insecurity. Winter heating bills, new restrictions to food stamp eligibility and rising medical costs may be increasing situational poverty. But if a lack of access to food is a growing problem, some across the region are working on a growing solution. Read more in part two of our series looking at how community gardens are fighting hunger — from the ground up.
Each year, area food assistance programs seek out locally grown produce in their fight against food insecurity. But as some services struggle to provide enough food, some growers face an overabundance of certain crops — which may end up in a compost pile or rotting on the stock. Part one of our two-part series on community gardens looks at how growers are working together to eliminate food waste — and fighting hunger from the ground up.
