Summer Hunger

In our mission to engage the community to end hunger, we make an effort to direct a lot of attention to the innocent children affected hunger in our communities. In the Grand Rapids Food Shelf alone, 40% of those coming for food assistance are families with children under the age of 18. These families rely on federally subsidized school breakfasts and lunches as well as our “Kids Packs to Go” backpack program. Our backpack program provides snacks to children at risk of going hungry over the weekend. Every month during the school year, our volunteers pack 1635 “Kids Packs” and we distribute them to 16 schools in Itasca, Aitkin, Cass, Kanabec and Crow Wing counties.

Next month, school is out for summer break. While summer vacation is considered to be freedom for many children, for too many other children it means losing the one place that they can count on for a meal. It is estimated that more than 12 million children are at risk of hunger in America.

For most of the country, the face of hunger is surprising. It does not discriminate against age, race, gender, or ethnicity. It affects working families who are forced to make difficult choices between food and basic necessities such as heat, medicine or rent. These families are left struggling to find a way to keep their children fed when these programs end and summer vacation begins.

The USDA’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides low-income children with free, nutritious meals during the summer months when school is not in session, is intended to fill this gap. SFSP is the single largest federal resource available for local community organizations that want to combine a feeding program with a summer activity program. It is now easier than ever for organizations to participate and provide food for children in the summer through the SFSP.

However, nationally and here in our community, the Summer Food Service Program has been underutilized. Sponsors are needed to help coordinate the program, and agencies are needed to host feeding sites and encourage families to bring their children. One of the biggest reasons that the SFSP is underutilized is that families do not know that it is available for their children. Help is needed in raising awareness of this important program. Together, we can ensure that all children have access to healthy meals this summer. A list of SFSP sites will be complied and posted on our website as soon as it is public knowledge. Visit http://www.secondharvestncfb.com/ for more information or call Second Harvest North Central Food Bank at (218)326-4420.

Without Additional TEFAP Commodities, Food Banks May Face Empty Shelves this Year

As Congress crafts a budget that addresses our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, Second Harvest North Central Food Bank along with Feeding America urges legislators to safeguard nutrition assistance and other safety net programs. The number of families struggling to make ends meet increased significantly during the recession. With unemployment at an average of 12 percent in the region and still hovering near 14 percent in the Grand Rapids area, the need for food assistance continues to grow and food banks are pressed to meet need in their communities.

• 37 million people – one in eight Americans – receive emergency food assistance each year through the Feeding America network of over 200 food banks, a 46% increase in the number of clients served since 2006.
• Federal nutrition programs provide support not only to struggling working Americans and their families but also to America’s farmers and the agricultural industry.
• Feeding America food banks could not provide current levels of food assistance without support from TEFAP and CSFP, nor could we meet added demand if the current funding levels and structure of SNAP and other federal nutrition programs were eroded. We urge Congress to protect essential nutrition safety net programs like TEFAP.

FEDERAL RESPONSE – THE EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (TEFAP): TEFAP is a means-tested federal program that provides food commodities at no cost to low-income Americans in need of short-term hunger relief through organizations like food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters. Healthy and nutritious food commodities provided through TEFAP are an essential resource for the continued success of Feeding America food banks.

• TEFAP commodities accounted for 24.7% of the food distributed through food shelves and mobile pantry agencies of Second Harvest North Central Food Bank in 2010.
• Local food banks combine TEFAP commodities with privately donated foods to maximize TEFAP program benefits far beyond the budgeted amount for the program. In this way, food banks exemplify one of the optimum models of the public/private partnership.
• Declines in Section 32 funding at USDA and less need for USDA commodity intervention in the agriculture economy have resulted in an estimated 50% drop in commodity purchases for FY 2011. This will reduce the volume of food provided by TEFAP by approximately $345 million at a time when our members are already struggling to meet increased need in their communities.
• If commodity purchases drop as expected by 50%, many food banks will face the prospect of empty shelves beginning this summer and on into the Holiday season. As the demand for food remains high at food banks across the country, TEFAP is necessary for the provision of a steady emergency food supply.

This program is the backbone that supports the emergency food relief work that our food bank network members carry out every day and provides some of the most nutritious food that we distribute. Our challenge is that even as the need for emergency food assistance remains high, the agricultural markets are currently very strong. As a result, there is little need for USDA to intervene in agricultural markets through bonus TEFAP purchases. Unless we take action now to alert Members of Congress and the Obama Administration to the pending dramatic decline in TEFAP supplies, the level of commodity support Feeding America receives from USDA will to drop off significantly – possibly by as much as 50% -- in federal fiscal year 2011 and on into federal fiscal year 2012.

Please contact our Senators and Rep. Cravaack, about the impact a reduction in TEFAP on food banks and call Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at (202)720-3631 and urge him to use his administrative authorities to increase the availability of TEFAP commodities in FY2011.

For more information visit: http://hungeractioncenter.org/

Thank You for Stamping Out Hunger

This past Saturday, May 14th was the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. The letter carriers in the Grand Rapids area collected 5,718 pounds of donated food. Local letter carriers branch #3610 made a donation of $350 and collected an additional $185 in donations during the food drive. That's a grand total of 6,253 combined pounds and dollars! Thank you to all who participated in the food drive and a special thank you to the letter carriers for collecting all of the food and funds! 

Senior Hunger

In respect of the 3.4 million Americans age 65 and older living in poverty, I urge you to reach out to your local food bank and help those at risk of hunger.

After a lifetime of work, many seniors are living on fixed incomes that often force them to choose between paying for healthcare or prescriptions and buying groceries. Because they often need the medication to maintain their health, many elderly Americans must forgo the foods they need to stay healthy. Limited mobility and dependence on outside assistance makes seniors particularly vulnerable to hunger.

Food insecurity among this vulnerable population is especially troublesome because they have unique nutritional needs and may require special diets for medical conditions. According to Hunger in America 2010, among client households with seniors, 30 percent have had to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care. Many food banks, like the Second Harvest North Central Food Bank operate mobile pantries or partner with food transport organizations to get food to those seniors that need it most.

Second Harvest North Central Food Bank, a member of Feeding America, has served north central Minnesota since 1984, feeding thousands of hungry seniors each year. Food insecurity in north central Minnesota on average is 14.4%, including these seniors facing difficulty keeping themselves fed.

Congress is considering significant cuts to the federal budget, putting nutrition assistance for low-income seniors at-risk. Earlier this year, Congress wisely rejected cuts to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which helps Second Harvest North Central Food Bank provide nutritious monthly food packages to 2,319 seniors each month. Cuts to CSFP and other federal nutrition programs would make it much harder for our food bank to safeguard local seniors from hunger, and we urge Congress to protect nutrition programs from cuts.

Feeding America is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the country. Through its network of more than 200 member food banks, Feeding America serves 37 million hungry Americans annually, including 3 million seniors.

To find out how you can join the fight against hunger, please visit www.secondharvestncfb.com.

MANY SENIORS FORCED TO FORGO FOODS NEEDED TO STAY HEALTHY

After a lifetime of work, many seniors are living on fixed incomes that often force them to choose between paying for healthcare or prescriptions and buying groceries.

Because seniors often need the medication to maintain their health, many elderly Americans must forgo the foods they need to stay healthy. Limited mobility and dependence on outside assistance makes seniors particularly vulnerable to hunger. Food insecurity among this vulnerable population is especially troublesome because they have unique nutritional needs and may require special diets for medical conditions.

According to Hunger in America 2010, among client households with seniors, 30 percent have had to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care. Many food banks, like the Second Harvest North Central Food Bank, operate mobile pantries or partner with food transport organizations to get food to those seniors that need it most.

With widespread community support we are working with Feeding America to ensure that seniors in need are provided with nutritious food. But charity alone cannot solve senior hunger in our community. In addition to generous private donations, we rely on federal programs, like the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), to supply 2,319 nutritious monthly food packages to low-income seniors, and help connect seniors to other programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to ensure they have groceries to last them through the month. As elected officials make decisions about state and federal budgets, it’s important that our community know that many of our seniors right here in Grand Rapids rely on both federal nutrition programs and food banks to get by each month.

Together, we can provide hope to hungry Americans. http://www.secondharvestncfb.com/

Second Harvest Reports a Record Setting First Quater!

Second Harvest North Central Food Bank had a record setting first quarter by distributing over 1 million pounds of food. By the end of March 2011, Second Harvest had dispersed 1,092,933 pounds of food throughout their seven county region. The need is great in north central Minnesota and Second Harvest North Central Food Bank will keep working to satisfy that need and feed the hungry.

Celebrity Bowl Reception

Join us today, May 2nd at the MacRostie Art Center for the Celebrity Bowl Reception for the Itasca Empty Bowls Project. The event will take place from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the art gallery. There will be a silent auction and celebrity bowls will be available for purchase. Enjoy light hors d' oeuvres and beverages while you browse the beautiful selection. All proceeds to benefit the Community Cafe and Second Harvest North Central Food Bank.