Happy Feature Friday everyone! It’s almost time for Christmas and we’re keeping the holiday spirit high and focusing on our favorite way to give back this year. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of your everyday life and forget that there are people out there who can only dream of living a life you live. That’s why this year we held our first ever Donuts and Donations to gather donations for one of our favorite local non-profit, Friendship Trays.
Photo from Friendship Trays Facebook
Friendship Trays is a local, non-profit organization that provides meals for the elderly and infirm of Charlotte. Founded in the Elizabeth neighborhood in 1976 by members of St. Martin Episcopal Church, Friendship Trays has grown from serving 5 elderly neighbors that had become homebound to serving 750 people throughout Charlotte Mecklenburg each weekday! Delivering nutritious meals isn’t all Friendship Trays has to offer. By delivering these meals, they deliver human interaction to those who may be feeling isolated and alone while delivering peace of mind to the families of the recipient. As Friendship Trays has grown, they’ve added two additional programs to their organization, Friendship Gardens and The Bulb.
Friendship Gardens is also based in Charlotte and is a growing network of “community, school, faith-based, institutional, and backyard gardens as well as an urban farm.” Most of their garden partnerships actually share their harvest for the benefit of Friendship Trays. The Bulb’s mission is “to provide mostly local produce as well as education on health and wellness to vulnerable neighborhoods, namely ‘food deserts.’” To find out more on Friendship Tray’s partners, visit their websites at http://friendship-gardens.org or https://www.thebulbgallery.org.
Photo from Friendship Trays Facebook
We had the pleasure of speaking with Lani at Friendship Trays about what inspires them. Her response,“knowing that we are part of a local food system focused on helping people throughout the community gain access to healthy food”. Lani also shared with us that Friendship Trays volunteer needs are infinite. They need 120+ volunteers each weekday to help them prepare and deliver meals. They even offer volunteer opportunities that can be accomplished during a lunch hour- “Feed five hungry people in the time it takes to feed yourself.” Needless to say, Friendship Trays is hungry for our help! If you’re looking for ways to get involved, head to their website for more information at frienshiptrays.org.
Photo from Friendship Trays Facebook