When is a party not a party?
When it’s hosted by Potluck, which calls itself the only food rescue organization in Arkansas.
To be fair, they sometimes do throw parties, but this time of year philanthropic Little Rockers may feel pulled in dozens of directions - galas and luncheons and awards banquets and receptions. It’s not uncommon to hear people say, “Next weekend, we’re drinking wine in our pajamas.”
Enter Potluck’s Not-At-All-A-Ball fundraiser, Spring Fling, now in its 22nd year and unique among fundraising parties. Why?
“We encourage you to stay home,” Potluck volunteer and event co-chairman Todd Estes says.
They mean it. Instead of spending money on a ticket, buying a dress, paying a baby sitter, Potluck wants that money you would have spent. Then enjoy your night at home, with family.
“We are asking you to donate the money for a good cause and also, stay home and be in your jeans and know you did something great,” says volunteer and co-chairman Vesna Foster. “It’s a great way of spending good, quality time with your family and also supporting your community.”
The best part about it? There’s no waste. No overspending. No misspent time. No thrown-out food. Every dime goes to the cause, and that’s an idea that fits perfectly with Potluck’s mission.
Potluck, founded in 1989, rescues food. It takes food that might otherwise get tossed out and gives it to the people and organizations that really need it.
Doesn’t it stop and make you think, Yeah, what does happen to leftover food at big parties, cafeterias and restaurants?
Estes says, “Make a phone call to Potluck, and they can pick it up. They know exactly what to do with it.”
Its mission is to “Alleviate hunger by bridging the gap between excess food and the hungry.”
Every year, millions of pounds of food are wasted, whether it’s excess from a buffet or food on the grocery store shelf that, because of a ding or a torn label, can’t be sold. Too often, it all gets sent to a landfill. Those in the know place a phone call and help change lives.
Foster explains, “When you think about how much food in the United States gets wasted, even in our own households, if we would be more careful, we could help so many different families, not just here but in the whole state of Arkansas.”
Over its 25 years, the people of Potluck have developed relationships with area restaurants, hospitals, caterers, markets and cafeterias.
“We have consistent donors and consistent days,” executive director Carol Herzog explains.
Some donors have daily pickups, some weekly and some are on-call. For a donation to be accepted, there must be at least 35 pounds, or enough food to feed 35 individuals. Once the call is placed, one of Potluck’s trucks picks up the food and brings it back to headquarters, where refrigerators and freezers wait.
Sometimes the food comes in the form of boxes of unsold pizzas. Sometimes it’s a surprising haul, like the time it received 40,000 steak burgers that couldn’t be sold because of faulty labels.
The food is then distributed to organizations under Potluck’s umbrella. Food pantries are the first priority; soup kitchens, shelters and children’s programs are also on the distribution list.
One of the misconceptions about food rescue is that food rescue can only supply food to organizations that serve onsite meals, like soup kitchens. (Last year, Potluck distributed more than 4 million pounds of food to a variety of organizations and agencies.)
“That’s so far from the truth,” Herzog says. “Food pantries, emergency food programs are really benefiting from rescued food. It helps everyone. It’s not just one type of food.”
It accepts frozen food, fresh food, prepared food.
The key is getting the word out. For all it does, Potluck doesn’t have a high profile or much in the way of name recognition.
“Potluck is just a great unknown secret that services our community quietly and for free,” Estes says.
“It’s surprising how many restaurants are not aware of this organization,” Foster agrees.
The food they donate is tax-deductible, so not only is it socially responsible but it saves to donate the food rather than toss it in the trash.
More visibility is also important when it comes to finding agencies to help and, particularly, in keeping things running. Potluck relies entirely on grants and private donations - particularly its three annual fundraisers.
At Christmas, it sells Christmas cards that explain the mission of Potluck for $5 each.
In the fall, it has Links and Drinks, when it invites people to tour its facility.
But it’s in spring that it hosts its most creative “event.” Or, really, non-event: the Not-At-All-A-Ball, with its encouragement to sit back, relax and spend quality time with loved ones while also helping people less fortunate.
“Hunger is the one thing we can cure,” Estes says. “Potluck is an answer.”
Foster adds, “If we do it together, we can achieve greater, bigger things than we ever thought.” The Spring Fling “A Gossamer Gala” is any date, any time, at home with a ticket price of “whatever your generosity will allow.” Call (501) 371-0303 or visit potluckfoodrescue.org.
High Profile, Pages 37 on 03/23/2014