“You’ve got a great set-up here! There’s even a space for the kids. It’s so spacious and organized, I love the recipes and the sheets with all the health food information. This is just fabulous.” – FFO Client Gwen

We think the new My Market@ Food for Others is fabulous too. My Market replaces FFO’s old “choice” section that we started in 2016 to allow families to select foods that they like instead of receiving standardized boxes.  Clients can still choose pre-made boxes if they’re in a hurry, but 9 times out of 10 they choose to shop.

Before choice, we noticed some clients would trade food items in the parking lot, or we would hear about people throwing away food that they couldn’t eat or didn’t know how to cook. We carved out a temporary space in the warehouse so that we could test the popularity of shopping as well as the flow of the shopping area before making it more permanent. Now that the permanent space is a reality, we couldn’t be happier.

My Market is much safer and more comfortable for clients and their families. There is heating and air conditioning, fully stocked shelves of food, and a small activity table to keep the little ones busy while their parents shop.

Volunteers shop alongside families to help them choose foods which will meet their families’ nutritional needs based on the USDA “MyPlate” guidelines. The guidelines cover how much of the family’s groceries should be composed of fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein.

The market is complete with a brand new refrigerator and freezer – both double wide commercial machines with glass fronts.  This not only reduces stocking time and keeps our perishables fresh, it allows us to separate and classify our frozen meats by pork and non-pork.  The refrigerator is fully stocked right now with gorgeous produce from Capital Area Food Bank.

Now that we’re back to shopping with our clients after pausing for construction, we could use your help. We need more volunteer shoppers to accompany families as they choose their foods. If you’d be willing to lend a hand, please contact volunteer@foodforothers.org.