Murrieta Springs into action!

For spring break, ninth grade students from Murrieta Springs Academy spent their week volunteering at projects in San Diego County, and did two great projects with North County Community Services! On Monday, April 11th, they volunteered at North County's Food Bank for over two hours and helped with all of the daily operations, including unloading, sorting, and packing food. They were a great group of enthusiastic, energetic volunteers, eager to accomplish goals and learn as they worked. They even came with their own photographer, who took some great pictures!

On Thursday, April 14th they spent the afternoon at the Gardens at River Road. There, they helped weed, and harvest ripe veggies. In all, they harvested about 30 lbs of kale, lettuce, chard, and peas that we

nt to North County's Food Bank to be distributed to those in need.

Thank you Murrieta Springs Academy! I hope to see you again next spring break!

~Abby Weglarz~

~Volunteer Coordinator~

~North County Community Services~

Macys bags hunger in March!

Every year for the past 14 years, Macy's stores nationwide rally around the cause to "Bag Hunger". Across the country, each store finds a local nonprofit organization working on eradicating hunger to support. As in the past, North County Community Services was chosen in 2011 by several Macy's stores in the area as the nonprofit they would like to support. The Macy's at North County Fair in Escondido, and the Macy's at Plaza Camino Real in Carlsbad helped "Bag Hunger" in March by supporting North County's Food Bank.

Macy's employees helped eradicate hunger this past month in more ways than one. Both locations hosted food drives, and together collected 240 pounds of food to be distributed to the needy through North County's Food Bank. Additionally, both locations allowed employees to sign up for volunteer shifts at North County's Food Bank, for a total of 24 volunteer hours served.

The Macy's at North County Fair also committed one Saturday morning to replanting the edible garden at one of our low-income preschool sites in Escondido. Volunteers helped weed and clear beds, amend the soil, and replant a variety of edible plants including bush beans, cucumbers, sunflowers, tomatoes, basil, and strawberry. Yum! This garden is used as a living classroom for preschoolers to learn about where food comes from, and get extra access to healthy, fresh produce for their lunches.

Thank you North County Fair, Plaza Camino Real, and all Macy's locations for helping bag hunger in March!

If you are interested in helping to end hunger in North County San Diego as an individual or corporate partner, you can do so by hosting a food drive, volunteering, or better yet both! To set up a volunteer opportunity, contact Abby at volunteer@sdnccs.org or 760-471-5483. To start a food drive, email Mai at fooddrive@sdnccs.org. We appreciate your support!

~Abby Weglarz~

~Volunteer Coordinator~

~North County Community Services~

Food donations, made easy!

The Holiday Food and Funds Drive is over, but that doesn't mean it's time to stop giving! We are making it easier than ever to donate nonperishable goods to North County's Food Bank. Use the map below to find a drop location near you.

Keep in mind our most needed items:

• Canned protein (tuna, chicken, salmon, etc)
• Canned soups, chili, beef stew (preferably low sodium)
• Peanut butter, nut butter
• Pasta & pasta sauce
• Canned or dried beans
• Rice
• Cereal or rolled oats
• Boxed macaroni and cheese
• Canned fruit (preferably in its own juice)
• Canned vegetables

Sorry, but we do not accept the following:

• Nonfood items
• Glass jars
• Damaged containers

Don't see a spot on the map near you? Be the change you wish to see and start a food drive! Email fooddrive@sdnccs.org to get started.

View Food Drive Locator Map in a larger map

~Abigail Weglarz~

~Volunteer Coordinator~

~North County Community Services~

3-Meals Campaign Against Hunger

Learn how you can support North County's Food Bank and their 3-Meal Campaign Against Hunger by visiting us at www.sdnccs.org.

2011 Carlsbad Marathon!

The 2011 Tri-City Medical Center Carlsbad Marathon & Half has come and gone. I thank the one-hundred-and-some volunteers that assisted with the water station and course support operated by North County's Food Bank.

Volunteers started trickling in around 5:30 am on Sunday, January 23rd. By 6, most of them had arrived, and by 6:30, there was a buzz of activity to prepare our station for the 10,000 or so runners that were expected to start passing through in about an hour.

Having never worked at a marathon before (and honestly, having never even seen one) I didn't quite know what to expect, other than excitement. I sure was right about that part! Our station served both the marathon and half-marathon runners at mile 20 and mile 7, respectively. With only a few exceptions on either end, the majority of both marathon and half-marathon runners passed by our station in a steady stream that lasted about an hour or two. While the runners were running, our station was running like a well-oiled volunteer machine, pouring and handing out water and "Ultima", cheering, and being generally awesome. It was great to see so many volunteers putting so much effort into this event, and the result was so fun! If you didn't get a chance to volunteer this year, I strongly suggest getting involved next year. It is an event you shouldn't miss!

If you were there and have any picture from the day, you can post them on our Facebook page!

Again, thank you so much to all the volunteers for all the hard work!

~Abby Weglarz~

~Volunteer Coordinator~

~North County Community Services~

Thank You To Our Community Partners

The Creek Meets the River

On Friday, December 10th, eighteen employees from Eagle Creek (a Vista based travel gear company) joined North County Community Services staff to inspire learning through adventure in three to five year old preschool students enrolled at NCCS North River Road Child Development facility in Oceanside.

The students, Eagle Creek employees, and River Road staff gathered in the early afternoon and got to know each other over reading stories and singing songs. Then, the volunteers shared some presents with the students: Eagle Creek backpacks for all! Later, while some Eagle Creekers went on a nature walk and read more stories with the students and staff, others went to work building two circular raised flower beds out of cement blocks in the garden. Before goodbye's were said, everyone met up in the garden for pea planting and group photos.

Eagle Creek has been a supporter of North County Community Services for more than two decades, providing annual support to hunger relief efforts through North County's Food Bank. This year, Eagle Creek joined NCCS in its efforts to prepare young children for the formal education system by providing a generous grant of $8,000 to support its preschool programs serving more than 700 children in Northern San Diego County.

Thank you Eagle Creek for your generous gifts and time! More pictures from the day can be found here.

~Abby Weglarz~

~Volunteer Coordinator~

~North County Community Services~