Food & Friends Sells Pies to Feed Sick
Serve a Thanksgiving pie that will warm your heart and feed your neighbors. Food & Friends is conducting its seventh annual Slice of LIfe fundraiser.
Food & Friends hopes to sell 8,500 pies this year, said Christopher Copely, the organization’s communications manager. That will raise $290,000 to provide free meals. Each pie provides one day of meals — breakfast, lunch and dinner — for one child or adult battling HIV/AIDS, cancer or other life-challenging illness, Copley told DC on Heels. The meals not only provide vital nourishment, but hope and comfort in their time of need.
Five kinds of 9-inch round pies are for sale — homemade apple pie, spiced pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie for $25; pecan pie for $35; and cherry pie for $45. All but $8 of each pie is tax deductible. The deadline to purchase pies is Nov. 21. Pies will be delivered frozen on Nov. 26 and can be picked up from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. at 33 CVS Pharmacies across D.C., Maryland and Virginia or at the Food & Friends office in Fort Totten.
For the second year, Baguette Republic in Sterling, Va., is baking the pies, Copely said. Previously, they were made by a Chicago bakery and shipped to D.C.
Pies can also be purchased to be sent to a client with their Thanksgiving dinner. The entire cost of pies purchased for clients is tax deductible. Also on sale are 250 pounds of Cup of Life “Fiesta Holiday Blend” coffee made specially for Food & Friends’ supporters. Each bag was roasted by Las Dueñas, a women-run coffee business in Costa Rica and costs $16. Limited edition Food & Friends pie plates (pictured above) are also on sale. Plates are $30. Both can be picked up at one of the 34 pie pick-up locations.
Food and Friends provides specialized, nutritious meals, groceries, nutrition counseling and friendship to more than 2,900 individuals who will receive more than 1 million specialized meals this year alone. Meals are delivered Monday-Saturday, 52 weeks a year including holidays. Each delivery includes food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with liquid nutritional supplements, if needed.
Its staff of professional chefs and dietitians design meals that meet the special dietary needs of persons living with a broad range of illnesses. Eleven different specialized meal plans are available. Services are free of charge to individuals and their families and caregivers living throughout the Metro D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area.
Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Food & Friends has delivered 15,850,775 meals to 22,687 clients since it opened in 1988. In 2012 alone, the organization’s volunteers delivered 1,119,370 meals including 93,280 monthly and 3,588 daily. They will serve an estimated 1,157,158 meals this year.
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.