Ride for the Feast Events & Opportunities

It’s not too late to get involved as a Rider or Crewmember for Ride for the Feast 2011, taking place on May 14-15th, 2011.

Riders commit to raising $1,300 for Moveable Feast by the day of the Ride. During the two-day bike ride, Riders travel 140 miles, commemorating the distance to our farthest client. Crewmembers assist throughout the Ride by working pit stops, serving as a support & gear (SAG) driver, assisting at overnight stop areas, and sharing their expertise in our bike technician or medical assistance teams.

To learn more about the Ride for the Feast 2011, and to get involved and register, please visit the RFTF website.

Riding through Baltimore on Day 2 of the Ride for the Feast 2010.

We have over a hundred Riders and Crewmembers signed up so far. Support them by attending team fundraisers and events. In March, you can expect to see:

• Wednesday, March 23rd: Team Diet Tribe at a dinnertime fundraiser at Noodles & Company in Owings Mills. 
• Sunday, March 27th: Team Bike Curious and Fierce Chicks Rock at their Third Annual 80s Roller Disco at Dundalk Skateland.
• Monday, March 28th is the last day to enter the raffle to win a brand-new Fuji 3.0 Absolute Hybrid bicycle. Raffle tickets are $10 and benefit Team DragonFLY. For more information, click here.
• Tuesday, March 29th: Team Diet Tribe at a dinnertime fundraiser at Baja Fresh in Fairfax, Virginia.

For more information and to see all upcoming RFTF fundraising events, please click here.

This Sunday: RFTF Chili Cook-Off!

Calling all Moveable Feast supporters!

Join us this Sunday, February 27th at the Moveable Feast kitchens for a spicy, snappy afternoon of chili tasting - at the RFTF Chili Cook-Off 2011! 

5 Ride For The Feast teams will be competing with their most unique chili recipes. The main prize will be awarded by a judging panel featuring such notable Baltimore celebrities as:

• Dara Bunjon, food blogger for the Baltimore Examiner and owner of Dara Does It: Creative Solutions for the Food Industry
• Thomas Rudis, owner and top chef of Hampden's Golden West Cafe
• Keith Bridgeman, one of Baltimore's finest firemen, thereby an expert on chili
• and Brandon Stanley, Moveable Feast's very own kitchen crew member.

The event will also feature a raffle of a gigantic gift basket, donated by Manager Maurice Lamarche of The Fresh Market in Pikesville.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Tickets will be $15 at the door. Kids twelve and under are free. Raffle tickets sold for $5 at the door and $7 inside.

Weekly Health Tip: Almonds

Part three of our warming and immune-enhancing foods series; last week, we looked at lentils. 

Nuts have many health benefits, and almonds are a standout even among these star performers. Almonds are high in protein and fiber, low in saturated fat, and rich in Vitamin E, Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), magnesium and manganese. A 4-ounce serving (about 100 nuts) contains only 4 grams of saturated fat. Compare this to a similar portion of cheddar or American cheese, which contains 24 grams of saturated fat. Almonds are a wonderful snack food and go well with apple slices and can also be added chopped to salads to provide crunchiness and protein. Roasting appears to have little impact on nutrient content--but eating almonds with the skin may enhance their antioxidant value and reduce oxidized LDL cholesterol, which is associated with heart disease. For immune compromised individuals, roasted almonds may be a bit safer, as there have been rare reports of salmonella in raw almonds.

Special note: Our team of registered dietitians works hard to provide each client with life-saving nutritional counseling, and then uses that information to tailor meals to the client's dietary and medical needs. Each week, they also provide the Weekly Health Tip that you enjoy. Support our dietitians and Team Diet Tribe in their Botanical Interests Seed Fundraiser.

Diet Tribe Seed Fundraiser

(click here to read the original blog post on the Ride For The Feast blog)

Team Diet Tribe, one of our Ride for the Feast teams, will be holding a seed fundraiser to raise money for Moveable Feast and the Ride!

How can you help Diet Tribe & Moveable Feast? We will be selling packets of "Botanical Interests Seed Collections." Moveable Feast will receive 40% of all sales, on behalf of Diet Tribe and Ride for the Feast. The seeds come in a pretty gift box and are great for upcoming birthdays or holidays! 

To see the seed selection flier and order form, please click here.

When should orders be placed by? All orders must be placed by Valentine's Day, February 14th. To place a seed order, please contact dietitian Sara McClean.

When will my seeds arrive? Seeds will arrive on or around April 1st.

I don't need seeds. How can I still support Ride for the Feast? That's easy! You can get still support Moveable Feast in a very personal and direct way. The following seed retailers have long been strong supporters of Moveable Feast and our mission. You can purchase seeds from any of the following retailers and have the seeds shipped to Moveable Feast (attn: Sara McClean). We'll use your seeds to grow vegetables and fruits to feed our clients!

www.BotanicalInterests.com
www.SeedsOfChange.com
www.SeedSavers.org

Team Diet Tribe and Ride for the Feast thank you for your support!

5% Day at Whole Foods - Success!

On Wednesday, January 5th, we were the lucky recipients of a Whole Foods Market Harbor East 5% Day. All day, 5% of all sales were donated to Moveable Feast! 

Moveable Feast was there all day - beginning early in the morning and not leaving until late in the evening - with a table of information and some delicious cookies provided by Whole Foods. Staff and volunteers welcomed shoppers as they entered the store, passed out fliers, and enthusiastically explained how their purchases would benefit Moveable Feast. 

Shoppers were also able to make a food donation at our table, following guidelines provided by our dietitians.

Staff and volunteers got along famously, and everyone had a fun day. 

Best of all, the day collected a grand total of $3,356 for Moveable Feast! 

(We even beat the previous 5% Day record.) 

That's enough to feed almost forty clients for an entire month - achieved in a single day, thanks to Whole Foods!






Whole Foods Market Harbor East is a Ride for the Feast 2011 sponsor, located at 1001 Fleet Street. 

The Numbers Are In...

2010 was a remarkable year for Moveable Feast. We formed new partnerships and broke new records for our meal deliveries, transportation programs, and culinary job training program. All of it could not have been achieved without the help of staff, volunteers, board, and supporters.

Out in the community, we held very successful Ride for the Feast and Dining Out For Life campaigns. The year also saw the birth of the Partnership for Life with Chase Brexton Health Services and AIRS, leading to the creation of the B'more Aware of HIV: The Living Red Ribbon campaign. On October 9th, we broke a new Baltimore record for the largest living ribbon ever created in the city. And in 2010, we also began providing services to people living with blood cancers, in partnership with the There Goes My Hero foundation.

We surpassed our expectations for meal deliveries. For our meal home delivery program, which includes Daily Home Delivered Meals and Meals for a Week, we delivered 534,527 meals to 948 clients.

For our community partnership programs, where we work with shelters, drop-in centers, and other organizations, we delivered 204,596 meals to 1,065 clients.


All in all, that brings us to a grand total of 739,123 meals delivered to 2,013 unduplicated clients living with HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, and blood cancer. To do so, our vans travelled the world more than 3 times over, covering a distance of 75,829 miles.


Moveable Feast also broke new records for our various transportation programs, which help our Ryan White clients and the Baltimore City homeless get to important medical appointments or social services buildings.


We transported 196 Ryan White clients over 32,000 miles to medical appointments. And we drove 28,194 miles in 2010 in the People On the Move program.

And finally, our Culinary and Life Skills Training Program was a huge success in 2010. This past year, 32 students participated in the program, 27 graduated (84%), and 21 secured jobs (77%). In addition, 12 students (44%) received the ServSafe Certification. 

In 2010, our mission to feed people, fight disease, and foster hope was achieved for more than 2,000 individuals. We look forward to 2011 to not only replicate these incredible successes, but also expand them even futher.

Team DragonFLY Bike Giveaway

(Click here to read the original blog post on the Ride For The Feast blog.)  

Team DragonFLY, a Ride For The Feast team, will be giving away a brand new 2011 Fuji ABSOLUTE 3.0 Hybrid bicycle.

Anyone is eligible to enter the raffle. Raffle tickets cost $10 apiece - to enter, simply donate $10 to their general donation page, found here.  

To compile the list of entrants, Moveable Feast and Team DragonFLY will tabulate donations from now until the end of the raffle.

Don't forget to support Team DragonFLY and Ride for the Feast by adding yourself to the official Facebook event here! 

The winner will be chosen on March 28th! 

Team Atomic Spanish Tapas & Sangria Fundraiser

Team Atomic, one of our teams for Ride For The Feast, will be holding a fundraiser on Saturday, January 15th, from 5-9PM.

Join them for a delectable evening of nibbling on tasty Spanish tapas and sipping on a wide variety of sangria - a menu hand-picked by the members of Team Atomic themselves! The goal for the night is to raise $1000 for Team Atomic and Ride for the Feast!

The fundraiser will be held at the Callahan's, located at 2009 W. Rogers Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21209. 

Suggested donation of $20....but a donation of $30 or more grants you a raffle ticket to win a 2011 Team Atomic pin-up calendar. The calendar features exclusive, unique photography by retro-glam photographer Mike Lee.

Donations will be accepted on-site or online. For more information and to donate, please click here. 

For the official Facebook event, please click here.

Hosted by Team Atomic cyclists Marion Penn, Diana Giglio, & Shaun, Sheila, and Jack Callahan.

It's Sunday...Are you still shopping for holiday gifts?

Everyone's shopped out. And with the nippy weather outside, traversing more-than-questionable roads is not the most enticing prospect. If you still need to purchase a few holiday gifts, consider buying one of Team Atomic's "Atomic Bombshells" 2011 calendars. One hundred percent of proceeds will benefit Moveable Feast.

Team Atomic is a Ride For The Feast team. Working with photographer Mike Lee, who specializes in retro glamour photography, the Riders took twelve of the hottest pin-up calendar pictures ever. The limited-edition calendars went on sale around Black Friday and have been rapidly selling out since. 

They make perfect gifts, if not for the hilarious and unique photography, then for the simple fact that the purchase of each calendar - just $20.00 - can feed one of Moveable Feast's homebound clients for an entire week! That's 3 meals a day for 7 days in a week - twenty one nutritious, illness-fighting meals, delivered straight to their doorstep. 

Click to enlarge

The calendars are on sale in select bookstores in and around Baltimore, including Joe's Bike Shop, Atomic Books, Kiss-n-Makeup, or DoubleDutch Boutique. They are also sold online at www.TeamAtomic.org.

Ride for the Feast 2011: Website and Registration now LIVE

The Ride for the Feast is a two-day, 140-mile bicycle ride across the state of Maryland, over the weekend of May 14th-15th, 2011. The Ride for the Feast is now in its ninth year, and is Moveable Feast’s biggest fundraiser. Last year, 150 Riders participated, enabling the Ride to generate over a quarter of a million dollars, all of which went directly to client services.

In 2011, the Ride kicks off in a brand new location – Ocean City, Maryland! Yet the distance of the Ride remains at 140 miles – why? Moveable Feast’s furthest client resides at precisely 140 miles from our headquarters. Bicycling this distance commemorates our effort to reach any and all clients, regardless of their location.

The Ride for the Feast 2011 website gets launched today, and its sporting a whole new look. Registration is live, so anyone can register, sign up for a team, and get started on fundraising from family and friends. Each Rider commits to raising $1300 prior to the first day of the Ride.

Click here to register for the Ride for the Feast 2011.

Team Atomic Pinup Calendar

Team Atomic's Pinup Calendar is now on sale at www.teamatomic.org for just twenty dollars. Twelve months and twelve pages of sizzling shots of Team Atomic members in all their glory. It will also be on sale in select stores - Atomic Books, NV Salon Collective, Ma Petite Shoe, Kiss and Makeup, Meadow Mill Athletic Club, Baltimore Tattoo Museum, Proteus Bikes, and Joe's Bike Shop. 

Right now, pick it up at Joe's Bike Shop, Atomic Books, Kiss-n-Makeup, or DoubleDutch Boutique.

Click to enlarge flier

Remember, all proceeds benefit Moveable Feast!  

Proteus Bicycles's Annual 3-Day Sale

Just wanted to tip you all off on a great bike sale starting today. 

Proteus Bicycles, located in College Park MD, is having their 3-day CRANKSGIVING blowout sale. Moveable Feast works closely with Proteus for Ride for the Feast promotions, gear, and supplies. 

Brand-new 2011 bicycles are 10% off, 2010 bicycles are 20% off, and 2009 bicycles are 50% off! There are huge sales on gear, accessories, and apparel too.

Head on down to 9217 Baltimore Avenue, College Park MD 20740 to check out the bikes! (The shop is located on Baltimore Avenue between Delaware and Erie Streets). 

Turkey Burn (no, not a burnt turkey!)

Looking for something to do tomorrow morning before gorging on a delicious Thanksgiving feast? 

Get ready for Ride for the Feast 2011 and preemptively burn off some calories at Meadow Mill Athletic Club, located at 3600 Clipper Mill Road, during Teresa's Thanksgiving Spin Classes - TURKEY BURN edition. 

Classes will be held at 9:15AM and 10:15AM. Space is limited, so come early and register at the front desk. The cost will be $25 for members and $35 for non-members. All proceeds benefit Moveable Feast.

It should be a great time and great prep for the Ride 2011!

Click to enlarge flier

ATOMIC BOMBSHELLS

Black Friday is just around the bend. What's #1 on our wish-list? It's not that new Blu-Ray TV. Or that Maytag washing machine. Or even a new iPod. Nope. What do we want more than anything? What item could possibly make 2011 the coolest year ever? 

Team Atomic, from Ride for the Feast, has created the 2011 Atomic Bombshells pin-up calendar, featuring the Riders in fabulous poses and attire to boot. This is the gift of the year, and the most unique calendar you'll ever own.

The calendars will go on sale around Black Friday at select bookstores, including Atomic Books, NV Salon Collective, Ma Petite Shoe, Kiss and Makeup, Meadow Mill Athletic Club, Baltimore Tattoo Museum, and Joe's Bike Shop. The calendars will also be sold online at www.TeamAtomic.org.

Each calendar costs just $20, and all proceeds go to Moveable Feast. The sale of an individual calendar will feed another human being suffering from HIV/AIDS or breast cancer for more than FIVE days. 

Plus, we're fairly certain you'll have the coolest cubicle on the block once you hang up the Atomic Bombshells.

There are a limited number of calendars, so get yours soon! 

click to enlarge

We're GaGa for Bingopalooza 2010!

Folks, what better way to spend a Saturday evening than playing BINGO?!

This Saturday, November 20th, the Divas (a team from Ride for the Feast) will be hosting Bingopalooza 2010, and we've got a bad romance with a good old bingo showdown. 

There will be a multitude of prizes offered, but the grand prize will be: Four (4) tickets to see LADY GAGA in New York City & two (2) nights at the Intercontinental Hotel Park Place!

So put on your Poker Face, shake off your Paparazzi followers, and get down to Baldwin Hall at 1358 Millersville Road at 7:00PM on Saturday. Bingo packages cost a maximum of $30 at the door. 

We'd be Speechless if you didn't win something on Saturday night! 

Bingopalooza 2010 online e-vite

Spinners for Dinners - THIS WEEKEND

Moveable Feast's largest fundraiser is the Ride for the Feast, held in May of each year. Bicyclists ride 140 miles and 100% of funds raised go toward feeding our clients. Getting ready for such a big bicycle ride takes a lot of training and practice on our Riders's part. 

Here's a great training opportunity to get started - the Canton Club 24 Hour Spinners for Dinners event! Participants will be bicycling for 24 hours straight to raise funds for the Maryland Food Bank. The event will also include a virtual food drive, where online donations can be designated for a purchase of a particular food item. The cost for participants is $15 and includes an event shirt & a ticket for a door prize.

So how's this event related to Moveable Feast? One of our Riders, Andy Bujanda (on Team With A Purpose), will be teaching some of the Spin classes! Team With A Purpose was a great Ride for the Feast team last year. 

Andy will be teaching the Spin classes on:

• Friday, November 5th - 10:00PM
• Saturday, November 6th - 7:00AM

Team With A Purpose

Read the ABC2 news report on Spinners for Dinners! And check out Team With A Purpose's blog.