Myriad nonprofit and community groups are springing into action to help locals persevere through the crisis. As existing organizations adjust their work to focus on COVID-19 needs and new efforts begin to knit neighbors together, community resilience is blooming throughout WNC.
Local bakeries are fit to be pied for Pi Day. Also: Area St. Patrick’s Day food and fun, a sake tasting at WakuWaku, a PubCorps volunteer event at The Collaboratory and more.
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, French Broad Food Co-op is hosting its latest workshop focused on aphrodisiacs. Also: Asheville Mardi Gras celebrates its latest Cajun Cookoff; Green Opportunities announces latest classes; and plenty more in this week’s Small bites.
Faith-based organizations in WNC have historically worked to alleviate the daunting problem of hunger, pooling resources, collecting food and volunteering at nonprofits.
Federal free and reduced-price lunch and breakfast programs help ensure that the 53% of public school students who qualify are fed when they’re at school. But what happens when those kids go home for the evening or the weekend?
Perspective Café by Food Experience opens inside the Asheville Art Museum. Also: the season finale of Asheville Drag Brunch; Asheville Mac Attack launches; and more in this week’s Small Bites.
“Sourcing more of our food locally would simultaneously boost the region’s economic stability, food security and health.”
PubCorps, a new local nonprofit, launches with a volunteer event at the Asheville Masonic Temple. Also: Metro Wine hosts a Spanish tapas dinner; The Bountiful Bonanza of Bitters comes to Villagers; Looking Glass Creamery leads a cheese pairing event; and plenty more in this week’s Small Bites.
MG Road will close on Aug. 3. Owner Meherwan Irani plans to use the space as a downstairs lobby bar for his restaurant, Chai Pani. Also: Asheville Tea Co. and Franny’s Farm host a hemp tea party; Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. teams up with Luella’s Bar-B-Que; and more in this week’s Small Bites.
Terpsicorps’ ‘Hunger’ returns to the stage Thursday-Saturday, June 20-22, at Diana Wortham Theater for the company’s 17th season. Its message is even more relevant today than when the ballet premiered in Asheville five years ago.
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.
“We are continually amazed by the philanthropic nature of our culinary and hospitality community here and how generous they are to the local community,” says Mary Nesbitt, chief development officer of Asheville-based hunger relief nonprofit MANNA FoodBank.
Brews and Bears returns to the WNC Nature Center with the launch of its monthly summer event series on Friday, May 10. Also: Rhubarb hosts a honey-tasting event; Food For Your Fingers opens; Tressa’s Downtown Jazz & Blues closes; and more.
Chef Dan Silo opens Sawhorse on New Leicester Highway. Also: Cider, Wine and Dine weekend returns to Henderson County; Azalea Bistro launches in Saluda; Community Table hosts its latest Empty Bowl fundraiser for MANNA FoodBank and more local food news.
A host of factors, including poverty, job loss, lack of transportation, unaffordable housing and chronic health issues, contribute to creating barriers to food access. But the vague mental images painted by these scenarios do not necessarily put an accurate face on WNC’s sprawling and complicated food insecurity problem.
Joel Edelson only meant to sell books to pay for college. Instead, going door to door, he became the first Jew many of the folks in a rural area he traveled had ever had met in their lives. “I became an ambassador for Judaism,” says Edelson, president of the Mountain Synagogue in Franklin, recalling his […]
While organizations continue to use traditional forms of community engagement such as printed mailing lists and media relations, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have widened their scope of donors and support.
As families deal with competing demands, organizations that use volunteers have learned that flexibility is key. By smoothing the process of participation, groups such as the YMCA of Western North Carolina, the Junior League of Asheville and Girl Scouts Carolina Peaks to Piedmont are attracting kids to the habit of giving back.
The goal looks the same for everyone involved: an equitable, resilient system where all community members have access to plenty of nutritious, fresh food.
The inaugural Harvest Festival kicks off at the Burton Street Community Peace Gardens. Also: White Labs Asheville hosts its latest fermented pairing class; Twin Leaf and Whisk AVL team up; Fiesta Hendersonville returns; and plenty more.
With new plans for a pantry on wheels and a pop-up market program that can connect with untapped collaborators, MANNA FoodBank rounds out almost five years of work aimed at addressing health inequities among WNC’s most vulnerable populations.