2025 NWS Autumn of Service

2018 (September 30 - October 6)
2019 (September 29 - October 5)
2020 (September 1 - November 30)
2021 (September 1 - November 30)
2022 (September 1 - November 30)
2023 (September 1 - November 30)
2024 (September 1 - November 30)

NWS Aberdeen collected 84 lbs of food for the Salvation Army in Aberdeen, SD, and 18 lbs of other items to the Aberdeen Area Humane Society.

From September 17 to November 24, NWS Albany collected food and sanitary items for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY for a school backup program and general food drive. The office generously brought in food donations over 3 months and we collected 3 large boxes of assorted items. We also collected $560 in monetary donations. The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY estimated 100 pounds of food donations.

Baltimore/Washington, VA WFO collected 200 lbs of food to the Loudoun Hunger Relief.

From October 1 through November 12, the Broome County Humane Society shared a wish list with NWS Binghamton, NY. Their office came together to sign up and donate the items they needed. They provided a variety of supplies from their list, including items for cats and dogs, as well as office, laundry, and other essentials. Our donation period began at the onset of the shutdown and continued throughout, lasting six weeks. Despite the challenges, we were able to collect more than we had anticipated, and we personally delivered the items on Friday, November 14th. The Broome County Humane Society greatly appreciated their contributions and support.

From September 8 through October 8, held collection drives for Manna Ministries in Alabaster, AL and Shelby Humane Society in Columbiana, AL. They collected non-perishable food items and pet food to donate to local organizations. In total, they collected 107 lbs of food, 82 lbs of pet supplies, and $45 was donated to Serving You Ministries.

On October 4, several staff members helped sort and hand out food to local families in need. Over 600 families were served.

During November, they sponsored a Christmas Angel from the Salvation Army. The staff donated money toward Christmas gifts for a 9 yr old boy, with 1 staff member doing the shopping.

NWS Bismarck, ND collected 78 lbs of food for the Salvation Army.

NWS Blacksburg, VA collected 75 lbs of food for The Market of Virginia Tech, and 65 lbs of food and pet supplies for the Radford Animal Shelter.

During September, the staffs of NWS Boston/Norton, MA and the Northeast RFC collected 100 pounds of food for the St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry.

NWS Buffalo, NY collected 280 lbs of food for the FeedMore WNY.

NWS Burlington, VT collected 236 lbs of food for the Chittenden County Emergency Food Shelf.

From November 1 through November 20, the NWS Central Illinois staff collected 339 lbs of food for the Lincoln-Logan Food Pantry in Lincoln IL.

On November 5, 7 staff members volunteered to clean up the road side for our Adopt-A-Highway 1 mile segment (IL State Highway 10) for about 1.5 hours.

On November 11, 7 staff members and 4 family members volunteered for 1.5 hours at the Midwest Food Bank in Morton, Illinois filling food boxes for disaster relief. They boxed up 560 boxes that contained 11,000 meals. 7 staff members helped, along with 4 family members.

   

NWS Charleston, SC supported two organizations for the 2025 Autumn of Service. The first organization was the Ronald McDonald House of the Coastal Empire, which provides a "home away from home" for families who have critically ill/injured children receiving treatment at area hospitals. The items donated included paper towels, toilet paper, plasticware, among others. The second organization was the One Hundred Children's Foundation, which promotes the health, education, and well-being of children. One of their projects is making pillows for the children in the hospital. We collected several fun fabrics for the pillows.

During Decmber, they participated in the Salvation Army Angel Tree program https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/midlands/christmas where they chose tags for children in need in the Columbia area and purchased gifts for them.

Chicago, IL WFO & CWSU collected 371 lbs of food for the Romeoville Community Pantry.

From October 24 trhough November 23, NWS Davenport/Quad Cities, IA/IL collected 57 lbs of food for the River Bend Food Bank. Their donations provided 48 meals.

NWS Detroit/Pontiac conducted a food drive in which they were able to collect 74 lbs of food for Gleaners Food Bank.
 

NWS Dodge City collected 41 lbs of food for MANA House.
 

From September 15 through October 25, NWS Eastern Region Headquarters held a collection drive for a local food pantry and local outreach program to homeless/struggling families. They collected over 250 lbs of warm clothing, and over 300 lbs of food/hygiene supplies.

October 17 - Empty Bowls of Las Cruces

Two NWS employees worked with the Potters’ Guild of Las Cruces to conduct the annual Empty Bowls community service project. Funds raised help feed the hungry in the Las Cruces area. The Potters' Guild set a lofty monetary goal for El Caldito and smashed records! Early totals show more than an estimated $50,000 was raised at the recent 33rd Empty Bowls event held Friday, October 17, 2025. Over 1,500 handmade bowls were sold. 100% of the proceeds go to help El Caldito Soup Kitchen.

October 25 - Kelly Centeer for Hunger Relief

Three NWS employees volunteered time to work the food bank lines with Kelly Memorial Food Pantry. Volunteers worked to sort food, open boxes, and distribute to people in line. The demand for assistance and number of food insecure people in El Paso was shocking; the line stretched down the block for several hours. Our volunteer time with local food banks works to make El Paso a community where no one goes to bed hungry.

November 1 - Vitalant Blood Donation 

Two NWS employees donated blood with Vitalant. The donations were whole blood. Daily personal emergencies and ongoing medical needs of thousands of patients require a constant and ready blood supply. It’s the blood already on hospital shelves that saves lives. In the face of the ongoing national blood shortage, our donations become the ultimate pay-it-forward moment.

October 1 through October 31 NWS El Paso Food Drive for El Pasoans Fighting Hunger

Final count was $130 of monetary donations, resulting in 910 meals for local families!

These donations have gone to El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, which will be used for meal prep and food delivery to families and individuals in need across the borderland. El Pasoans Fighting Hunger is the food distribution center for over 100 partner agencies and programs including pantries, churches, schools, soup kitchens and shelters.   In 2024, El Pasoans Fighting Hunger distributed 110 million pounds of food across El Paso, Hudspeth and Culberson Counties.

El Pasoans Fighting Hunger is now ranked 3rd in the nation in food distribution. Our donations help prevent numerous families and refugees in the borderland from going hungry, and I am very thankful to live in a place that supports those most in need. We, including myself, often take food, health, and shelter for granted. Doing what we can to help those in need is just another aspect of our office's commitment to protecting lives and property.

During September, NWS Fort Worth/Dallas along with the West Gulf RFC, and Fort Worth CWSU held a food drive for the Tarrant Area Food Bank, a local food pantry that services portions of the DFW Metroplex. They collected 287 lbs. of canned and non-perishable food items.

NWS Glasgow, MT collected 98 lbs of food and $1,030 in monetary contributions (directly donated) for Valley Community Emergency Food Bank.

During November, NWS Green Bay, WI collected 83 lbs of food for Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin.

From September 7 through November 21, the staff collected 150-200 lbs in food donations for the Daily Bread Ministries-Greer Soup Kitchen in Greer, SC in order to help them feed members of our community for the holiday season.

From November 1 throught December 12, NWS Huntsville, AL collected 249.2 lbs of food for the Food Bank of North Alabama. They set up a collection area in operations for Food Bank of North Alabama with a list of suggested items to donate. The drive originally went through November only, but extended it to December 12th due to shutdown.

NWS Juneau, AK collected and donated 408 lbs of food to the Southeast Alaska Food Bank.

Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO WFO & CWSU, & Missouri Basin RFC collected and donated 321 lbs of food to the Pleasant Hill Food Bank.

During the autumn, the staff collected 89 pounds of food for WAFER. During their 13 food drives since 2013, a total of 1,363 lbs and $3,853 have been donated to WAFER. In addition to this, one of their staff members and his wife volunteer regularly at WAFER.

For the fourth consecutive year, they collected pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House in Rochester, MN. Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is a non-profit organization supporting families around the world helping them access medical care and resources when their child is very sick, including a place to stay, meals, and so much more. Watch this video to learn more about how RMHC Rochester serves their families. While collecting pop tabs seems like such a small way to make a difference, each year $10,000 to $15,000 is raised for the 70-room Ronald McDonald House in Rochester exclusively through pop tab donations.

During December, the office will make the holiday brighter for 2 local families by buying Christmas gifts for them. This will be part of the La Crosse Family & Children's Center's Holiday Giving Program.

On Christmas Eve, an employee and his wife made and delivered 24 preemie and 17 baby hats to Franciscan Skemp Mayo and Emplify Health. Another 21 hats and 3 head bands were delivered to New Horizons and Outreach Centers.

  

Seven members of the La Crosse WFO participated in a joint fund raiser and team building activity by building pinewood derby cars and racing them at a local business hosting the event. Nearly 50 cars were entered, and NWS team members advanced through several of the heats. Each participant was given a pinewood block and had to build their own car for racing, with all proceeds going to local Scout groups. Staff and their family members were involved in the building and racing process.

NWS Las Vegas donated 72 lbs of food, 941 lbs of other items, and $381.99 of monetary donations directly to The Shade Tree, Noah's Animal Shelter, and Opportunity Village.

Around Christmas time, NWS Louisiville, KY collected items for Toy for Tots. They have done this for the past 15 years.

From December 5 through December 17, the LMRFC raised 285 lbs of food and $200 in donations! The volunteers at Good Sam's Ministry really appreciated our donations and shared some additional information about how they help serve our local community. Good Sam's has about 135 volunteers to take in donations and distribute grocery and personal hygiene bundles. Good Sam's developed an amazing network in the community to help fill gaps, as well as pursue grants, to help those in need. For instance, they recently received a huge donation of diapers from a group in the Slidell Community. This year, Good Sam's helped distribute to 900 East St. Tammany families for Project Christmas. Sue stated this was a challenging year for the food pantry, with an increased demand during the government shutdown. Their cupboards were bare going into Thanksgiving. The local schools helped to donate a number of canned food staples and our food donations help to compliment those supplies.   

NWS Melbourne, FL collected 121 lbs of food for the Second Harvest of Central Florida - Brevard Branch.

During autumn, NWS Miami, FL donated $428.75 directly to Feeding South Florida.

 

WFO Nashville collected a total of 142.5 lbs of food for Mt. Juliet Help Center.

During November, NWS New York, NY collected 142.5 pounds of goods for Long Island Cares, an established local food bank.

NWS Northern Indiana, IN collected & donated 80.8 lbs of food to the Syracuse Food Pantry.
 

NWS Portland, OR and Northwest RFC collected & donated 255 lbs of food to the Northeast Emergency Food Program.

NWS Raleigh, NC collected 293 lbs of canned goods for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

NWS Riverton collected & donated 291 lbs of food to the Foundations for Nations Food Pantry & 105 lbs of food and other supplies for the PAWS Animal Shelter.

NWS Sacramento, CA and the California-Nevada RFC collected and donated 39 pounds of items for Loaves and Fishes.

During the months of November and December, NWS Shreveport, lA held a food drive for the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana and a toy collection for Operation Santa Claus. They collected 70 lbs of dried food and canned goods and donated them to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana on December19th. We also collected donations of toys and games for Christmas gifts for children and donated them to the Operation Santa Claus drive, through the KVKI station locally, on December 18th.

On December 11th, five members of our staff and 1 family member spent two hours volunteering at the food pantry at Noel Memorial UMC in Shreveport. They prepared toiletry kits for distribution, bagging food for distribution, and preparing paper bags for eventual food distribution.

The NWS Springfield, MO staff collected and donated 40 lbs of food and $70 (donated directly) for the Ozarks Food Harvest.

The State College, PA WFO and Middle Atlantic RFC staffs held a food drive for the State College Food Bank. They collected and donated 646 lbs of food.

From September 24 through October 5, the WCM (Marcus Landon Aydlett) and SOO (Brandon Aydlett) at WFO Guam built their next Tower for Humanity at the Agana Shopping Center.

In addition, they conducted a community-wide food drive in support of Be Heartfelt and their mission to feed children in need on Guam.  This was their third year coordinating and hosting the Humanity Food Drive Competition and it has become the largest Food Drive event on Guam, now supporting children in Guam, Saipan and Palau. Food donations this year surpassed that of years 1 and 2 combined. 

For the overall tower for humanity project, the goal was for 25,000 cans/food items. The final tally came in at 24,944, with an estimated 21,000 cans and about 18,500 pounds overall. The 'items' also include noodle bowls, bags of rice, drink/water/milk bottles and snack packs. There's about 9 more Food Drop Sites that will bring their collected items to the Charity this week, with those numbers still unknown. I hope to get those numbers, and cash donations finalized this week. 

On the NWS side, Brandon and Landon Aydlett contributed 541 pounds of canned food to the project. 

On July 11, July 25, and July 27, a NWS Twin Cities staff member and 7 family members volunteered time to cook and sell food for fundraisers that support multiple youth groups and fixing a couple old churches.

NWS Twin Cities and the North-Central River Forecast Office (RFC) kicked off Feds Feed Families office by holding 2 luncheons at the Twin Cities, Chanhassen office. On August 13, we had a make your own spring rolls lunch and on August 19, we had a rice bowl lunch. Nhan Dang donated the food and people signed up for the events, donated money going to Prop Food (14700 Martin Dr, Eden Prairie Mn 55344).

On September 16, Laura Diamond (NC RFC) made a tacos luncheon (Taco Tuesday) and then ask that donations be made towards local food shelter (Prop Food).

On September 30 and October 8, ten volunteers from WFO MPX and NCRFC and 2 family members helped box meals to be shipped to families in need across Honduras and Haiti at two 1.5 hour long packing sessions for Feed My Starving Children. In total, 55 boxes were packed which equates to 11,880 meals (a price of $3,445.20), feeding 32 kids for a whole year.

September 30 Feed My Starving Children

October 8 Feed My Starving Children

During October, they held a food drive for Bountiful Basket in Chaska, MN. we gathered 357 pounds of food to donate to a local food bank. In addition to the food, we raised a total of $882 in monetary donations through hosting local lunches and direct donations to the food bank.

On October 15, 5 volunteers from WFO MPX and NCRFC spent 2 hours cleaning a mile-long stretch of a local highway. A total of 8 garbage bags were filled and collected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Throughout the autumn, various staff continued to donate homemade lunches to feed people at the office. In return for the lunches, a donation was asked to be made to the local food shelf or to a 3rd party member. At the end of the events a collected check was made out to the food shelf. We held a total of 5 luncheons this year: Springrolls, lemongrass tofu/chicken rice bowls, tacos Tuesday, Octoberfest (sloppy Joe, hotdogs/brats, sides), serving our Native partners (wild rice soups). We just got the total of $882.00 sent to Prop Food this fall.

From October 1 through December 17 (extended due to the shutdown), NWS Wakefield, VA decided to collect donations for the local, rural animal shelter (Sussex County Animal Shelter) once again due to their dependency on community donations. We collected over 100 pounds of dog food, 30 pounds of cat food, 56 cans of wet food, 14 bags/boxes of treats, toys, bowls, litter, and many, many blankets and beds. The staff and animals were so excited and appreciative!

On Friday, October 24, 3 meteorologists from NWS Wilmington,NC kayaked Smith Creek, a tidal creek that cuts through the city of Wilmington. They collected 5 large bags of mainly plastic and glass litter from the creek.