Epic-Cure rescued and distributed more than 800,000 pounds of food and household goods in April, 2024.
Metric Tonnes of CO2e diverted: Learn more about this calculation here.
We have a made some revisions to our Almost Monthly Report Card.
We have updated the way we look at our Operating Efficiency. Not only do we show the life to date impact, but we also post our current month’s impact.
Through April, 2024, we estimate that, for every $1.00 we spend on our food distribution operations, we have given away $36.26 worth of food and household goods (estimated wholesale value).
In April, 2024, this figure was $56.93 for each $1.00 spent.
April’s monthly figure represents a 57% increase over the life to date value, indicating that Epic-Cure® provides significant operating leverage, delivering significant value to our community.
We have added basic statistics regarding the environmental impact that Epic-Cure® has, through its food rescue efforts, made.
The first statistic is the life to date carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) diverted by our food rescue operations. By redirecting food from landfills, we have prevented more than 27,500 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from harming the environment.
The second statistic is the water footprint – the amount of water used in the production of the food that we have redirected from disposal to the food insecure.
Farm Bill Appropriations Advocacy Update
Over 50 industry players, non-profit organizations, universities, and more signed the Zero Food Waste Coalition (ZFWC) Appropriations requests for the committees to provide funding to address food loss and waste in fiscal year 2025. You’ll see some of our local organizations included on that list.
Read the FY25 Agriculture Appropriations letter here and the FY25 Interior Appropriations letter here.
May 1st Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow of the Senate Agriculture Committee released a detailed section-by-section proposal for the Farm Bill. The proposal includes several bipartisan food waste provisions that will help combat food loss and waste. The Zero Food Waste Coalition (ZFWC) applauds Chairwoman Stabenow for her continued commitment to food waste reduction and looks forward to working with Congress to finalize these important provisions.
Environmental Impact
One of our volunteers traveling through the Detroit airport shared this. We are happy to see more effort and progress being made towards ending food waste and food insecurity!
Last month we shared Climate Change Indicators. Just to keep the conversation interesting, here are two different documentaries with opposing views (the Here Now Project is just a trailer, but you will get the picture) on the topic:
vs.
No matter what view you have, we can all agree that food waste is unacceptable and that we need to be good stewards of our planet and its resources. We encourage you to open your minds, seek facts (especially those that make you uncomfortable), hold conversations (the civil kind are, without qualification, the best sort), and begin the journey with us to improve the health of our planet.
Life of a Strawberry: We were introduced to this video during a recent Florida Food Recovery Association meeting. In the video you will follow the journey of a strawberry from the farm to the refrigerator to understand all of the resources it takes to bring your food to you.
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program provides $5 billion in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories to develop and implement ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution. Authorized under Section 60114 of the Inflation Reduction Act, this two-phase program provides $250 million for noncompetitive planning grants, and approximately $4.6 billion for competitive implementation grants.
We don’t have any insight into the specifics of the grant proposals, but the awards will be announced in July. We will fill you in on the highlights then.
Let’s return briefly (thank goodness for small mercies like brevity) to the topic of Carbon Credits and Carbon Offsets. In the last AMEC Newsletter, we learned that there are two ways to understand, regulate, and tax (yes, it is difficult to imagine a program that had governmental and extra-governmental support that does not involve a tax or two in there, somewhere), climate affecting carbon dioxide (and equivalent) emissions.
Carbon Credits: Mandatory (tax – markets are “Cap and Trade”) and
Carbon Offsets: Voluntary (market – corporations, governments, and individuals voluntarily offset their emissions by purchasing credits).
In the US, California has a Cap and Trade program in effect. There is no such regulatory program here in Florida. So, you may wonder why we are droning on and on about this subject. There are a couple of answers. First, this subject is not going away. We must live on this planet owe a duty to it and future generations to be good stewards of it.
Second, Epic-Cure® is seeking funding that will help sustain our operations and ensure that we continue to fulfill our mission of Zero Food Waste and Zero Food Insecurity here at home. Because carbon offsets can be sold in the marketplace, and because food-based greenhouse gases are now eligible for carbon offsets, we are working with consultants that would represent Epic-Cure® in its efforts to create, and have properly verified, carbon offsets to then sell to the market participants that need them to improve their own carbon footprints. The voluntary market is where companies like Apple, Delta Airlines, and ExxonMobil actively seek to offset their greenhouse gas emissions. Once properly vetted, offsets represent tangible and measurable reductions in the CO2e emissions for companies like these.
Operations – More Mishaps (and Extra Exercise)
We LOVE rescuing food!! Sometime we have to keep reminding ourselves how much we love it. In April, we received 57,205 pounds of drinks from Pepsi and 40,000+ pounds had to be manually restacked because they weren’t loaded properly. The joke around the warehouse is that we are a free gym.
We tried very hard not to have to. We got this pallet successfully on the lift gate, but it didn’t survive the journey down.
Here is our PIPS (Pounds In & People Served) Graph
Notes on the graph:
It was a very busy month! The biggest drivers of the increase in pounds in came from Pepsi (57,205 drinks), Cool Transport Jax (36,162 pounds of iceberg lettuce), surplus USDA commodities, increased donations from Dollar General stores, and surplus from harvest season for corn, bell peppers, carrots, potatoes, romaine lettuce, and canteloupes.
Our “People Served” remained relatively constant, the amount of food we distributed at each location increased, and we still had a lot of surplus. What did we do with the excess? We shared with other nonprofits, food banks and food pantries. 113,612 pounds from 4/1/24 to 5/3/24. We were a revolving door moving food in and out of the Palatka warehouse to agencies from Jacksonville to Orlando.
(Fun)draising
Shine A Light on Epic-Cure 5k: Saturday, October 12th
Registration is open for the 3rd Annual 2024 Shine a Light 5k! This year's event will take place on October 12th at The AMP, and we can't wait to see you there!
Whether you're an experienced runner or just starting out, this is the perfect opportunity to challenge yourself, meet new people, and have fun! We can't wait to see you at the starting line!
Stick around for a FREE concert at the Front Porch of The Amp.
There will be food trucks and music. The bar will be open, too!
Giving Day: we raised $6207! What a day for a daydream! We are delighted to announce that this year’s Giving Day was more successful than we could have hoped.
We had 68 individual donors participate (only one of whom donated “offline”). Collectively, they contributed $6,207 to help fund our mission of Zero Food Waste and Zero Food Insecurity. Thank you all so very much!
We also celebrate the generosity of the good people of Christ Church Episcopal in Ponte Vedra Beach for their continued and unrestricted support of Epic-Cure®.
For the fourth year running, Christ Church has provided us with a grant to help keep our operations humming along apace. We are thrilled with their continuing partnership as we attack the problems of food waste and food insecurity (plus a couple or three other related initiatives to help people), and we will do all that we can to earn their faith in @EpicCureCharity. This year’s grant of $10,000 will go exclusively to cover the costs of directly providing food to those in need.
Thank you Christ Church!
How might you help? If you are interested in doing a fundraiser for Epic-Cure, we would be grateful for the help.
Did you know that you can help raise money to support Epic-Cure’s mission by doing a Facebook birthday fundraiser? Facebook sends you a little reminder about a month before your birthday - you can set your birthday goal and give it to your favorite non-profit " Epic-Cure”. It’s super easy to set up and a notice is sent out to all friends and family. Every effort counts! If you need assistance setting one up, please contact support@epic-cure.org.
Volunteer Spotlight
By Janet McNabb
Paul Pendergraff
Entering the Palatka Warehouse I am immediately encompassed by a big, warm hug. That’s how I met Paul Pendergraff. He gives hugs rather than handshakes as he feels a hug gives a transfer of energy, and his is positive! If he were not feeling positive, he would refrain from passing on anything negative.
No wonder Sunny likes this funny, warm, hard working fellow! On distribution days he jazzes the place up with loud, up-beat music, joking, dancing, anything to make the patrons smile and relax. He’s very aware that they might feel a bit down to have to come in for free food.
A few years ago he moved down from Ohio to care for his aging parents and brother in Satsuma. Hearing about Epic-Cure he was able to get an appointment. He liked what he saw, and when he learned he could volunteer, it was game on! First it was just one day a week, then two, then three, and now he is frequently at the warehouse every day of the week.
His past employment has equipped him for this position. He has worked in the food industry, and remembers trying so hard to meet the requirements of the USDA back in Ohio. It took him fourteen hours to clean the cooler to his satisfaction. He loves the smell of bleach first thing in the morning as shelves, tables and floors are made ready for the day’s distribution.
Currently he is also learning Spanish and American Sign Language which will help him communicate better with other volunteers and patrons.
Other jobs were driving semi trucks and serving as employee and manager of a tire store. He definitely knows how to run a forklift! He also knows how to fix things which is invaluable in this operation.
Interestingly, when he was driving the semi, all the sitting and eating caused his weight to skyrocket to 353 lbs. He didn’t realize it, but he was also depressed. Eventually a doctor helped him with medication but insisted on adding exercise. Soon he was down to a much trimmer 270.
Paul is so happy working at Epic-Cure. He says it gives him purpose, makes him feel good, and uses his time in constructive ways. He wishes more people would step up and volunteer. More dependable people are needed to work the forklift, take in deliveries, assist the patrons during distributions, and keep the warehouse organized, neat and clean. They will find it as rewarding as he does.
As for his feelings for Sunny, he sighed and said,”I would give anyone the shirt off my back, but Sunny would give them her shirt and add some money! She has a huge heart!”
We’re thankful this has worked so well for you, Paul. It has certainly worked well for the warehouse in Palatka, and for everyone who works with you or is in your company. Thank you for your relentless good work ethic and good will. You are priceless.
Sustain U.®
On 4/20, Dee, Ta’ryha, and Anna were “chefs” for the evening making a delicious dinner at the Elks Club.
Thank you so much to Chef Brian Dowd and Dar Christianson for volunteering your time to mentor the kids on their journey in life to become more self reliant and adaptable.
In the spirit of no food waste they deep fried the potato peels and made a delicious topping for the mashed potatoes. You can hear them talking about it in this video:
Our Sustain U.® students enjoyed the flavors of Cambodia and got a lesson in geography and culture at THE PLAYERS Championship Boys & Girls Club. The flavors of ginger, garlic, cilantro, basil, fish sauce, lime juice and Thai red peppers blended together deliciously in the Cambodian Chicken and Rice Soup with Shrimp they made. The kids loved it!
Awareness:
An easy, impactful way that you can help us is to please …
Save And Drop Off Your Grocery Store Plastic Bags.
You will help reduce waste by allowing us to re-use them. You will save us money by reducing the number we have to purchase.
Transparency:
Anyone who wishes to see Epic-Cure’s financial statements need only ask.
Our CPA-Audited financial statements fiscal years 2021 and 2022 have been released and are available upon request.
Also available on our website.
Click here to view: Epic-Cure's Financial Statements
Our 2023 Audited Financial Statements will be reviewed by the Epic-Cure Board of Directors on April 7th. If approved by the Board, they will be issued by the Forde Firm, our CPAs, and published on the website as soon as possible.
Please email your requests to Sunny Mulford: sunny.mulford@epic-cure.org
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