FEED THE NEIGHBORHOOD
feed - serve - empower
2023 EVENT:
AUGUST 13TH 5P-7P
3 Drive Thru Locations:
Longfellow Middle, Garfield Elementary, McKinley Elementary
Feed the Neighborhood has been held each year on the second Sunday of August for 22 years. It is an event that is geared toward helping elementary students and their families in the area prepare for the coming school year. Each year we give out 2,000 backpacks and school supply packs, 2,000 sock, shoe, and underwear vouchers, and provide food and entertainment for the whole family.
"Feed the Neighborhood is an amazing example of businesses, churches and individuals coming together to make a difference for others. Thanks to the donors and volunteers, students begin the first day of school with the items they need. It helps them feel confident and ready to learn when they enter the classroom. There's no worry about pencils, paper or other supplies, and it sets the tone for a successful year. The Enid Public Schools family is grateful to Feed the Neighborhood partners for their generosity and kindness."
-Dr. Darrell Floyd, Superintendent
Enid Public Schools
FEED
Each year Feed the Neighborhood gives out over 4,500 hotdogs, 4,500 bags of chips, 4,500 bottles of water, and hundreds of grocery items for FREE to the people of the Garfield County area. We understand the unity that is derived from eating together as a community, as well as recognize the need for food that many families struggle with each day in our community.
SERVE
We believe in the importance of serving our community in whatever way we can. Feed the Neighborhood offers haircuts, bike giveaways, grocery walks, games for the family, face painting, socks/underwear vouchers, free shoes through our partners: Foster Feed, and much, much more. The best part of all these services is that they are completely FREE to the community.
EMPOWER
Erasmus once said that "the main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of the youth." Feed the Neighborhood recognizes the importance of empowering the youth through education. We have seen the increasing need for school supplies in our community, and we seek to meet this need at all costs. Every year Feed the Neighborhood gives approximately 2,000 backpacks filled with school supplies to the youth of the Garfield County area to empower them to reach their dreams through education.
SUPPORT
Feed the Neighborhood is completely FREE to the community. This extraordinary event is made possible by businesses, churches, and individuals in the Enid area who want to make a difference in our community.
We are needing YOUR corporate support to make this year's Feed the Neighborhood the most successful event yet!
YOU can make a difference and become a part of our team, feeding, serving, and empowering the students of Enid, Oklahoma and surrounding areas. All donations are tax deductible. You can choose to sponsor units (ex: school supplies, backpacks, vouchers), you can make a general donation, or you can become a sponsor.
We need YOUR help! It takes over 200 volunteers to hand out backpacks, school supplies, and vouchers, run Inflatables and games, paint faces, cook and hand out food, and keep the event clean and running smoothly. If you would like to volunteer, fill out the form linked above and a Feed the Neighborhood representative will contact you. Thank you!
OUR HISTORY
The Feed the Neighborhood event has been held each year on the second Sunday of August for 20 years. It is an event that is geared toward helping elementary students and their families in the area. We have accomplished this through feeding, serving, and empowering those that attend. Throughout this time span, more than 56,500 people from the Enid area have been directly impacted, and 24,000 kids have received school supplies. That is a total of more than $995,000 invested in the education of Garfield County students.
HOW FEED THE NEIGHBORHOOD BEGAN
Back in 1998, a small group of people from the Enid community wanted to reach out to the individuals of Garfield county. They decided to hold a small event called Feed the Neighborhood providing food and games for families. The volunteers wanted to give each of the kids at the event a prize for playing the games. They gave the kids an option between candy or school supplies, such as erasers, pencils, crayons, etc. Not even half way through the event all of the school supplies were completely gone. All of the kids chose school supplies over candy! Through this event, the volunteers stumbled upon this unknown need in our community: the need for school supplies. From then on Feed the Neighborhood became centered upon supplying the basic need for school supplies in the Enid community. It has grown to be a city-wide festival that feeds, serves, and empowers the people of the Enid area.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE, INC.
Feed the Neighborhood is hosted by Making a Difference, Inc. (a non-profit organization in Enid, Oklahoma). In 2008, the 501(c)3 was created in order to grow Feed the Neighborhood from just a one time a year event. In 2012, Justin Simmons and Kelli Osburn took the 501(c)3 and started a counseling targeting kids and youth. Since then, Making a Difference, Inc. has grown, helping families in the community through various services. For the past few years, they have been doing a character building program at Longfellow Middle School where we had 25+ students attend! This program is expanding in 2021 to be Enid's first Youth Center. The center will be located in downtown Enid and will be an after-school program for youth to attend and have access to tutoring, mentorship, activities, and many more things. We are excited to give more information about the youth center in 2021.
More information at www.enidmad.org
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If you would like to become a sponsor, please click here to be re-directed to the sponsor page.
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If you would like to volunteer, please click here to be re-directed to the volunteer application
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If you would like to donate goods or services please contact Brittany Juliano at the number below.
For any questions, please contact:
Brittany Juliano
(580) 484-0951
brittany@ftnenid.org
P.O Box 1268
Enid, OK 73702