New Study Reveals More People Going Hungry

On Febuary 2, 2010, North Texas Food Bank President and CEO Jan Pruitt shared the results of the 2010 Hunger in America study with the community.

This study, the most comprehensive on domestic emergency food assistance, shared some staggering numbers. Food banks in the Feeding America network are serving one million more people per week than in 2006 – a 46% increase. Charitable food assistance is reaching 37 million people a year; including 14 million children and 3 million seniors.

“Hunger is not something we expect to happen to us,” Pruitt said. “Most of  those who find themselves at the doorstep of a pantry or soup kitchen will tell you that they never imagined this day.  In reality, the face of hunger looks much like us. It’s the child who sits next to yours in school. Your coworker. Your neighbor. A relative.”

Among others, these statistics indicate a troubling picture in North Texas:

• Fewer households have at least one employed adult, now 29 percent down from 40 percent.
• Over half (57 percent) of NTFB clients must choose between food and utilities.
• Approximately 35 percent had to choose between food and their rent or mortgage.
• 40 percent had to choose between food and medicine or medical care.
• A much larger share of households are receiving SNAP and WIC benefits.

Amy Phaneuf, special guest of the North Texas Food Bank, represented the New Face of Hunger. After her partner Julie fell ill, the two faced hunger for the first time – unexpectedly. Julie, a master’s-degreed brain rehab supervisor, lost her job and had to rely on expensive monthly COBRA payments. Amy was later laid off from her own job as an accountant. Faced with an inability to put food on the table, the two contacted Allen Community Outreach, a North Texas Food Bank agency. Julie was unable to attend, because she recieved the double lung transplant she so desperately needed just one day before. We’ll keep you updated on her condition.

Unfortunately, Amy and Julie represent a new, growing face of hunger. They own homes, have jobs, but are still having trouble making ends meet. This news could not have come at a worse time for the North Texas Food Bank. With these results, Pruitt also had to announce a $900,000 fundraising shortfall.

“Without urgent attention, we will fall behind financially. If that happens, it will translate to less food for our Member Agencies; fewer children able to take home backpacks full of food providing 60 percent of their nutrition for the weekend; less help for individuals like Julie and Amy and so many others who need it so desperately,” said Pruitt. ”This is unacceptable. We live in the greatest country in the world, full of abundance and character, guided by strong leadership. And Texas boasts the 2^nd largest economy in the nation. We cannot ignore the chasm of haves and have nots—not when we live in a state with such heart and passion.”

Please remember, for hungry families in North Texas, $1 = 4 meals.

These are your neighbors, friends, coworkers, and classmates.

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Spotlight: Resource Center Dallas, A North Texas Food Bank Member Agency

This is the first installment of our new series on our member agencies. Each month, we’ll visit one of our member agencies to see what the North Texas Food Bank does to help hungry North Texans.

 The first, Resource Center Dallas, is a wonderful organization located in the heart of Oak Lawn in Dallas. This member agency of the North Texas Food Bank services the local GLBT and HIV positive community in the area. The Center has two different feeding programs; the food pantry and a hot meals program. Each day, their hot meals program serves over 100 people.

My first stop was the Food Pantry. When I stopped in, I saw the volunteers working hard to arrange the food on the shelves and get cold items into the refrigerators. Micki Garrison, Nutrition Center Supervisor, showed me around and gave me some insight into what NTFB actually does to help their clients.

She also explained to me how their pantry works: much like a grocery store! Though there are limits, patrons can come in, shop around and choose the items that suit their family’s needs best.

Then, I headed over to the Hot Meals program to see the Center in action. When I got there, approximately 30 minutes before the meal service, there was a line outside the door of people waiting to be served. Everyone was talking, laughing, socializing as they stood in line to recieve their food.

 On the menu for Tuesday: ham casserole, salad, soup, rolls, and dessert. Dana Martin, a former volunteer and now employee, dimmed the lights and I helped him set the table with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Martin explained to me the importance of the meals program to clients of the Center in this video:

A few minutes after we finished talking, a volunteer sat down at a desk and began checking in clients. People wishing to recieve a meal presented their Resource Center Dallas identification card and walked through the line. While they were eating, I stepped back into the kitchen to get a view of chef Ms. Doris in action – she was chopping celery, stirring (very tasty smelling) vegetables on a grill, and adding spices to her ham casserole. Dana told me that Ms. Doris was excellent at taking whatever foods the Resource Center recieved in donations or had on hand, adding some spices and love, and creating great tasting, nutritious meals.

Check out this 12seconds video of Ms. Doris in action!

After talking to Ms. Doris, I headed into the dining room to chat with some actual clients. This client spoke to me about how important the Resource Center is for him as HIV positive and diabetic:

Resource Center Dallas provides their community with an indispensible need. Their clients rely on the services that they provide, and as Dana mentioned in the video above, many of them recieve their only meal of the day at the Center.

To learn more about the Center, please visit www.rcdallas.org

Biggest Loser Season 7 Contestant Abby Rike Visits The North Texas Food Bank!

Abby Rike, contestant from NBC’s The Biggest Loser, joined us at the Food Bank on 1/20 to help raise awareness for the Pound For Pound Challenge.

Rike, a North Texas native, overcame the unbelievable tragedy of losing her husband and two children in a car accident in 2006. After joining the cast of The Biggest Loser, Abby lost over 100 lbs, and told us that she feels “great.”

While she was here, our Public Relations Manager, Paige Phelps, took her on a tour of the warehouse. Abby marveled at the size of our 72,000 square foot warehouse, was excited about the Food 4 Kids program, and stopped by to chat with some participants in the Texas Second Chance program.

The Texas Second Chance program, coordinated with Dawson State Prison, provides job training opportunities for incarcerated women. When walking through the warehouse, Paige introduced Abby to these ladies, and their excitement was palpable! Abby chatted with the women for a few minutes, and gave them inspiration on making good choices once they are released, saying “every day is a new day. If you messed up yesterday, start again today. Life is about the choices you make. You can make good choices, or you can make bad choices. But every day is a fresh start, a chance to start all over again.” After hearing Rike’s words, many of the ladies were obviously affected – some with tears in their eyes.

Abby was also on hand to make a video encouraging YOU to join the Pound For Pound Challenge. The Challenge, working in conjunction with The Biggest Loser, encourages us to lose weight, get healthy, and feed the hungry in the process! For every pound you pledge to lose, General Mills will donate 14 cents to Feeding America – the cost of delivering one pound of food to a local pantry.

Check out this video of Abby here at the Food Bank! Then, log on to www.pfpchallenge.com to join her!

Attention Pound For Pound Challenge Participants!

The Biggest Loser wants to hear your stories! If your group has signed on to take the Pound for Pound challenge, they want to showcase your success in an upcoming segment on The Biggest Loser! If you are part of a corporation, organization, or just a group of people trying to get healthy, leave a comment here with your information, and we will contact you!

The Pound For Pound Challenge is a nationwide weight loss challenge that benefits Feeding America food banks across the country. This Challenge, conducted in conjunction with NBC’s The Biggest Loser, is General Mills’ pledge to donate 14 cents, the cost of delivering one pound of food to a food pantry, to Feeding America.  

Filming would take place in February/March 2010 and the segment would air in March/April 2010.

Wal-Mart Associates Give Time To The North Texas Food Bank on MLK Day of Service

“Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

On the inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, 70 Walmart associates gave up a day off to give back to their community. These employees joined 90 other community volunteers to pack and sort the second-highest amount of food ever in a 3-hour Volunteer Experience, according to North Texas Food Bank Warehouse Coordinator Randy Gould.

Senior Manager of Public Affairs at Wal-Mart, Kellie Duhr, told KDAF that Walmart is the largest food donator in the United States, and that helping the North Texas Food Bank “just fits” with their business.

Associates that attended the event also signed a banner with their dreams for a better, hunger-free North Texas.

Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Food Bank, Colleen Brinkmann, told KDAF that Walmart was the “largest corporate supporter of Feeding America, our national hunger organization,” and that “they are a key supporter of the North Texas Food Bank, providing premier product through the Retail Food Pick-Up Program, as well as giving their time, and financial support which helps with the operations of the Food Bank.”

This dedicated group helped pack and sort 73,000 meals to go out to the 53,000 families that the North Texas Food Bank serves. These volunteers serve an especially crucial purpose in getting food out to families in our service area, and we thank Walmart for joining us on this Day of Service!

You can learn more about Walmart Gives Back at www.walmartgiving.com

A Message on Haiti Relief from Vicki Escarra, Feeding America President and CEO

By now you have all heard about the tragedy that is unfolding in Haiti in the wake of yesterday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Please join me in extending your thoughts to people who are struggling in Haiti, as well as their friends and family members here in the United States and beyond.

While Feeding America is focused on domestic hunger, we should all recognize and applaud the efforts of our fellow non-profit, non-governmental, and faith-based organizations that are responding at this very moment. Many of these organizations are members of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), as is Feeding America. NVOAD is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and InterAction, an organization that supports the coordination of international nonprofits, humanitarian relief organizations, and the Center for International Disaster Information.

If you are looking for opportunities to help the victims of the earthquake, please consult the following online resources , where they can find opportunities to help:

• NVOAD: www.nvoad.org
• InterAction: www.interaction.org
• The Center for International Disaster Information: http://www.cidi.org/incident/haiti-10a/

Sincerely,
Vicki Escarra
President and CEO, Feeding America

Nick Jonas Gives To The North Texas Food Bank!

Nick Jonas and Serena Pruitt Assemble Bags of Food 4 Kids

The North Texas Food Bank rang in the New Year with Mr. President himself, Nick Jonas. Just hours before he took the stage with the Administration on the opening night of his worldwide tour, Jonas spent a little time in our warehouse taking a tour, listening to a nutrition education class, and interviewing with NBC’s The Biggest Loser.

Much to the excitement of our 140 volunteers from Kroger and Chase, Jonas joined them on the Food 4 Kids line, assembling bags of healthy snacks for hungry North Texas kids to eat on the weekends. Then, with a group of kid volunteers, Jonas headed to the Community kitchen to learn a lesson in healthy eating from Nutrition Education Manager Katherine Lindholm.

Food Bank President and CEO Jan Pruitt’s granddaughter Serena , who joined us at the Food Bank for the festivities, told The Dallas Morning News that Jonas “inspires a lot of kids, including myself. He knows his rights and his wrongs, and he knows that other kids don’t have what he has. And he’s thankful for what he has.” Pruitt hopes that Jonas’ appearance at the Food Bank will inspire future generations of philanthropists to fight hunger.

NBC’s The Biggest Loser was on hand to help raise awareness for the Pound For Pound Challenge. For every pound pledged, General Mills will donate 14 cents, or the cost of delivering one pound of groceries, to Feeding America.

Before he left for sound check at the House of Blues, Jonas spoke to the crowd and thanked them for their service. He also spoke about the importance of young people getting involved and contributing to causes like fighting hunger.

Much to the surprise of our staff, Nick made a $25,000 donation to the Food Bank from the Jonas Brothers’ Children for the Children foundation after a brief consultation with his father. The youngest of the JoBros told Dallas Morning News reporter Diane Jennings “If there’s something I can do to help – volunteer here today or giving a financial gift – that’s something I can do.”

Nick’s donation will help provide meals for 100,000 people in the North Texas area.

Learn more about the Pound For Pound Challenge

Learn more about Food 4 Kids

Dallas Morning News Editorial: Food stamp crisis

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-foodstamps_14edi.State.Edition1.28038e1.html

The state’s miserable job of processing food stamp applicants is allowing millions of eligible Texans to go hungry. State officials should recognize this as a crisis and act accordingly.

Of all the measures that define the problem, one jumps out as particularly distressing: In most parts of Texas, applicants must wait several weeks before they get time with an eligibility worker. North Texas’ record is by far the worst, with an average wait of more than 80 days just for an interview.

The Health and Human Services Commission is overwhelmed. The agency is hobbled by high turnover, inexperience and fewer eligibility workers than it had 10 years ago. And this comes at a time of a mushrooming caseload due to recession.

If pressure isn’t relieved, things will further deteriorate.

The commission made a good call in giving more recipients automatic renewal status, dispensing with a six-month follow-up interview. That will save the workforce valuable time.

Another time saver would be emergency suspension of the review now required of an applicant’s savings and the value of the family vehicle. Most states now have no such test, and the denial rate for assets is extremely low. Health and Human Services Commissioner Thomas Suehs and lawmakers should agree on at least temporary suspension, along with a study of abuse rates.

The agency is now working to fill a backlog of vacancies and 250 positions newly authorized by legislative leaders. We hope the agency does that efficiently and then finds state leaders in a receptive, creative mood on its standing request for even more workers.

The state now helps about 2.8 million needy people put food on the table. But the number of eligible Texans may be another 2.8 million – greater than the population of Dallas County.

This qualifies as a crisis. The North Texas Food Bank is struggling to keep up with demand. For information on ways to help – including donations, volunteering and food drives – go to www.ntfb.org.

Nick Lachey visits the North Texas Food Bank!

Dallas was the 12^th stop on an 11-day tour of the U.S where Nick was celebrating the successful launch of a new website he co-founded called Winnit.com. It’s a reverse auction website where users bid to win items from brands including Apple, Sony and many more. He was also raising awareness for Feeding America food banks. He volunteered with VHA employees boxing and sorting food in the NTFB warehouse and took photos with the group.

Nick and our President and CEO Jan Pruitt

Nick touring the warehouse

Nick volunteering with VHA

The Who What Why of Food Stamps and How to help!

The Increased Demand for Food Stamps

Dallas Food Stamp recipients have increased 10% over the last year.  Recipients have increased 11% across Texas.  Food Stamps are a necessary means of ending hunger, but the program has slowed down considerably due to the tremendous demand and insufficient budget and staffing.  Offices all over the state are working night and day.  With such a workload, it is mathematically impossible for the staff in Food Stamp offices around Texas to process the thousands of new submissions, conduct 30 minute interviews with each applicant, and on top of that, renew already accepted applications.  The process is hard, but Food Stamps work.  They end are one of the greatest tools we have to end hunger and provide access to nutritious meals.

What Are Food Stamps?

The Food Stamps Program has been around in one form or another since 1939.  It was developed to help bridge the gap between the farm surpluses of the time and the undernourished, who had no access to nutritious food.  The program was closed in 1943 when the widespread unemployment of Depression Era America had been neutralized.  In 1961 the Food Stamp Program was reinstated by President Kennedy and has been growing ever since.  In 1977, Congress passed a new Food Stamp Act to ground the program and create the basics of what we see in Food Stamps today.  Since then, every office has taken part in evolving the Food Stamps Program.  In October of 2008, the Food Stamp Program was renamed SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to focus on nutrition.

Why Do We Need Food Stamps?

The need for food assistance has grown tremendously over the past year. The public has done a wonderful job of responding to the call for help, but many of those who use to make donations are now finding themselves on the receiving end.

Food Stamps help lessen the strain on food pantries, which is very important for this time of great need.  They also help stimulate the economy.  In fact, $5 worth of SNAP creates $9.20 in economic benefit to the local economy.

What Can You Do to Help?

You can write a letter to your elected officials asking them to help approve funding for Health and Human Services Commissions so the applications can be processed faster.  Senators and Congressmen are the mouthpieces for the people.  Tell them that SNAP, is woefully under-budgeted and undermanned.  Ask them to lobby for the needs of the Texas community.  Remind them that thousands of children are hungry in Texas and that they have the power to stop it.  The more letters that go out to every representative, the more obvious this need will become.  Ask that application renewals be served every year instead of every six months, or to hire more workers.

Volunteer.

Across the state, there are offices set up to act as a middleman between Food Stamp clients and workers.  An example of such an office is one in the North Texas Food Bank.  On staff are Food Stamp liaisons to help clients fill out the detailed applications.  By volunteering at one such office, you can extend their network to assist with many more people.  Complete and correct applications need be sent in only once, wasting less time for the overworked in the SNAP offices.

Food Banks and social service agencies stand on the front lines in the battle against hunger.  Your support is necessary to influence the government’s approach to Food Stamps and can directly help us turn the tide.  All it takes is one letter from you.

Donate now or learn more.