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Past Events’ Scrapbook

Have you ever wondered what Project Open Hand’s special events look like? Have you thought about why Project Open Hand has special events for its Bay Area supporters? Have you been to one of our special events in the past and would like to see some photos from the event?

Come check out our 2007 past events’ scrapbook and read about our past events, see photos and more. 2007 event scrapbooks include Dessert First, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, our First Annual POH/SF Giants Plate to Plate 5K Run/Walk, and our Sixteenth Annual Hand to Hand Luncheon. We also have a listing of our upcoming special events listed on our special events home page.

The Future of Food

Sustainablity is a buzzword with some sway around here at Open Hand. We are always trying to incorporate local, organic products into our programs but what if sustainable meant something entirely different? Does our food need to have rustic backstory to be appealing? Here’s an interesting article on a potential new source of food from a very unlikely source.

Paper, Plastic or POH?

Cutting down on waste is one of the simplest ways we can all contribute to the protection of the environment. Simple things like turning off the lights when leaving a room can make a big difference to the impact we make on the world around us. San Francisco recently passed a law banning the use of plastic bags in chain supermarkets and pharmacies, a move intended to cut-down on one of the more ubiquitous and disposable elements of daily life. The logic behind the law is that consumers will be forced to switch to paper bags which are bio-degradeable and can be manufactured from recycled materials. Furthermore, motivated consumers will see an opportunity to go a step further and bring a re-usable bag when shopping, thereby eliminating the need for the paper bag.

The Whole Foods Supermarket has apparently found consumers to be willing participants in the ban on plastic bags an has announced that it is banning the use of plastic bags in all of its stores nationwide. The move by Whole Foods seems to reflect consumers’ willingess to participate in the reduction of waste, even at the risk of increased cost or inconvenience.

Project Open Hand has long been a heavy utilizer of plastic bags for our Grocery Programs and we too have sought ways to minimize our carbon footprint. We recently switched to heavy-duty paper bags for the majority of grocery shops (although plastic is still available for clients who need it). We also recently launched our online store which is currently featuring our own, branded, reusable shopping tote.

It’s a snazzy little number that’s also durable and more than a little chic. We also purchased unbranded, re-usable totes for clients which we distributed before the holidays as an effort to encourage clients to consume less of the disposable bags.

We are currently selling the totes at our online store, www.openhandstore.org as a way to raise revenue to fund our services as well as to encourage POH supporters to make a small change in how we all consume. If you would like to purchase a tote you can click on the store link or go directly to the product page by clicking, here.

The Biofuel Economy

Last week, we touched on the impact that the biofuel boom is having on food costs and over the weekend, the NY Times published an interesting article on the topic. The article is a bit on the long side and you can read it here. A few lines that jump out:

This is the other oil shock. From India to Indiana, shortages and soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil and many other types of vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example of a developing global problem: costly food.

Open Hand has been tackling the challenge of rising food costs for the better part of the last 9 months with the biggest impact coming to proteins, most notably dairy items. The cost increases are hitting across the board and as this article makes clear, food costs are going to continue rising:

There may be worse inflation to come. Food experts say steep increases in commodity prices have not fully made their way to street stalls in the developing world or supermarkets in the West.

Again, it’s an interesting article that spans topics like globalization, the quest for renewable energy and a little bit about the law of unintended consequences.

Facing the Challenge of Rising Costs

Inflation has been in the news quite a bit, lately, you can read about it here and here. Rising energy costs are partially to blame but you can also draw a link to ethanol; ethanol drives up food costs in a few ways, most notably by creating a tighter market for feed corn and putting pressure on farmers to convert land from food crops to fuel crops. All of this is a way of saying the cost of food is up, way up. In the last 9 months alone, we have seen the cost of dairy products rise by as much as 50%, Bread is up by 10%, proteins are up by as much as 50% and most vendors have resorted to delivery surcharges to cover the rising cost of fuel.

At Open Hand, we remain focussed on delivering the same quality and quantity of food to our clients. To meet the challenge of rising costs we have sought to trim overhead through innovative measures such as solar power and fuel efficient delivery vehicles. The challenge we face is significant, no doubt. Looking ahead, we anticipate food, fuel and packaging costs remaining high and we will continue to rely on our donors and volunteers to ensure that we meet the needs of our clients each and every day.

A New Era for POH Board

On Tuesday the 8^th, Project Open Hand’s Board of Directors ushered in a new era. After a regularly scheduled Board meeting, a celebratory dinner was held for outgoing Board members Minna Tao, Tim Schreck, Daniel Johnson, and Marilyn Blake, to thank them for their years of leadership and service. The dinner was prepared by POH’s own Chef Michael Baroman-Coggins.

The evening also celebrated six new community members joining our Board: Tina Clark from San Francisco General Hospital, Steve Ibarra, Nancy Jacobs, Jason Kwok from United Commercial Bank, Ed Lamberger from Macy’s West, and Kent Laney from Wells Fargo.

POH also has a new slate of Board officers: R. Gregg Cochran, M.D., J.D. is our new Board Chair, Barbara Rand is Vice-Chair, Laura Smith is Treasurer, and David Johnson is Secretary. Congratulations to our new officers and Board members!

Sixteenth Annual Hand to Hand Luncheon

Project Open Hand’s Sixteenth Annual Hand to Hand Luncheon was held at the San Francisco Marriott on December 18, 2007. We hosted a record-breaking 850 guests and raised over $365,000 for Project Open Hand’s meal and nutrition services! Scott Seligman, President, Seligman Western Enterprises, was this year’s Event Chair. Kate Kelly of KPIX Channel 5 returned as the Master of Ceremonies and delighted the crowd. This year’s event honored AT&T, The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, Fox Sports Network and the San Francisco Giants.

The tradition of Hand to Hand is to feature food prepared by various chefs in the Bay Area who each prepare a unique item for each course of the meal. This year’s chefs: Khai Duong of Ana Mandara, Mark Dommen of One Market Restaurant, Annie Somerville of Greens Restaurant, Robert Petzold of Ponzu, Paul Arenstam of Americano, Janine Falvo of Carneros Bistro and Wine Bar, Michael Baroman-Coggins of Project Open Hand, Charles Phan of The Slanted Door, Paul Piscopo of XYZ Restaurant, David Thompson of Grand Café, Ellie Nelson of Jardinière, James Irby of Kuleto’s and Keith Jeanminette of the San Francisco Marriott. Dinner was accompanied with fine wines from Clos Du Val and W. & J. Graham’s Port. The event ended with an exciting live auction for a trip for six to Las Vegas on a private jet!

To see pictures from this year’s event or to order a recipe booklet, please check our past events scrapbook on the events page at www.openhand.org.

HIV Today

In the past week, The New York Times has featured two interesting articles on HIV in America. The first story focussed on the rise in the growth of new infections reported among New York City’s young, male poulation at a time when overall rates of infection are going down. You can read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/nyregion/02hiv.html?pagewanted=all

The second article looks at what happens to people living with HIV as they age and the health complications that arise as a result of HIV disease and the treatment methods required to combat the virus. You can read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/health/06HIV.html?ei=5087&em=&en=0fdeb6015cc522fa&ex=1199854800&pagewanted=all

Both articles provide an insight into just what it means to be living with HIV, at a time when treatments for the disease seem to be sustaining more success than ever.

The No-longer New East Bay Grocery Center.

Wow, we are just shy of our one year anniversary at the still kind of new to us Grocery Center at 1921 San Pablo Avenue in Oakland! And what a year it has been, just to re-cap:

We offically moved into 1921 San Pablo on January 21, 2007. We decided to move after it became clear that crime around our old location had increased to the point that it was simply no longer safe or desirable for clients, volunteers or staff to visit. We were determined to stay in Oakland and we were equally determined to find a location that was convenient and safe for clients. We found the space at 1921 San Pablo in October of 2007 and in 3 short months our Facilities staff transformed the empty retail space into a first class Grocery Center. We served our first clients at 1921 San Pablo on January 22, 2007 and we never looked back!

Fast forward one year to the present day and the statistics bear out what we suspected; clients are much more comfortable visiting our new location, they tell us as much and we see it everyday. In our HIV Grocery Program, client visits have increased by over 10% compared with a year ago. In September 2007, we began our East Bay Breast Cancer Grocery Program which brought an additonal 15 clients per week into the Grocery Center.

All in all, it has been quite a year. The neighborhood around us has steadily developed and clients, volunteers and staff have all marvelled at the improvements. Moving is never fun, decorating is fun but moving can be tough. As we look back on the year that was we can say, without hesitation, that this move was the right choice. Many thanks to the staff and friends of Open Hand who helped make the move possible and a special thank you to Vicki, Diane and Michael for making 1921 a special place for clients and volunteers alike.