Archive for the 'Agency Partner Profiles' Category

February 4, 2010

Behind the Scenes of Hunger in Central Florida 2010: The Data

Author: Brady Koch

We’re always excited and anxious about getting the results of our Hunger in America studies. On one hand we finally get the results of a year’s worth of training, coordination and volunteerism. On the other hand we get a nearly 300 page document that can be overwhelming. 500, 80 questions surveys creates a lot of data. How can we condense this into something that is digestible and still tells the complete story of hunger in Central Florida?

Once we get the results, a group of us involved in the study from the beginning meet to sift through all of the tables, graphs, and narratives to pinpoint the information that Central Floridians care about most. At first we focus on the demographics. How many children, seniors, working adults, and homeless are affected by hunger.

Then we look at all of the questions that see how hunger is impacting their lives. How many people had to choose between gas for their car or buying food? And so on. Finally we look at the information from our partner agencies to see how they are responding to the ever increasing demand.

After weeks of meeting and going back and forth what data to include in the final presentation, we’re ready for our press conference. As you’ll soon see, the results for Hunger in Central Florida are staggering.

While it can be overwhelming to see the face of hunger in our statistics, we hope that everyone can also see that we have a strategy to fight hunger in Central Florida. If you’re interested in learning more, please attend our Hunger in Central Florida 2010 reception on Monday, February 8 at the Orlando Repertory Theatre. Click here to RSVP and for complete details.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs

February 2, 2010

Behind the Scenes of Hunger in Central Florida 2010: The Process

Author: Brady Koch

Every four years, all of the Feeding America food banks participate in the Hunger in America Study. On February 8th we will be holding a press conference and reception to share the Central Florida results. Click here to RSVP >>

The Study

The study is broken up into two parts. The first part is a questionnaire mailed to each of our Partner Feeding Programs. We have 530 partner agencies and it takes quite a bit of coordination keep track of who’s completed the survey and determine if it was a paper form or online.

The second part of the survey is much more resource intensive. We have to visit a random group of our agencies and then complete an 80 question survey with a random sample of clients from the people present. Because this is more work than we can accomplish with just staff, we rely almost exclusively on volunteers for the interview.

Once all of the surveys are complete, we turn them in to Feeding America to process the results. One year later, we get a really large email with our results and put together our Hunger in Central Florida 2010 books. It is a long process, but the information learned about local hunger is invaluable.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs

January 13, 2010

Participants in Second Harvest Food Bank’s Kids Cafe learned the fine art of Pie Making (and Pie Eating!)

Author: Maria Diestro

Central Florida children served by Kids Cafe – an after school nutritional program operated by Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida – became bakers-in-training on Tuesday, January 10 at Midway Safe Harbor Center. Midway Safe Harbor Center is located in Sanford, Florida.

Yesterday, a group of around 50 kids learned how to make and enjoy homemade pies! The American Pie Council’s Board was also there to teach the basic cooking skills and prep work, such as rolling dough.

Pie making is geared toward elementary-school age children. The American Pie Council will be making pies again in April for the Great American Pie Festival.  For more information, visit the American Pie Council.

Watch a video of the kids at work:

Photo Slideshow of Pie Making:

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

December 15, 2009

Kids Cafe: Designed for Kids, Strengthening Families

Author: Brady Koch

The following story is based on a telephone interview with Cassandra Williams at the Pine Hills Community Church, the site of one of our Kids Cafes.

A child was walking from school toward the Pine Hills Church Kids Café, when another youngster approached him.

 

 “Where you going”, asked the child.

“To the church”, replied the other.

“What’s there?”

 “Food!”

 “Really!”

 “Yeah”

“Can I go too?”

“Sure, they don’t mind”

Once at the church, the children were served an after school meal and then participated in the many activities the community center has to offer.

The new child returned home that afternoon and told his mother all about the Kids Café. The next day, both the mom and the child showed up.

The mom was told she would not be able to receive a prepared meal since Kids Cafes are for kids only, but since she was already there and had expressed need, she would be provided with groceries from their food pantry which is stocked with products from Second Harvest Food Bank.

As time went by, the mom began to accompany her son to the church every afternoon. The child would get his usual meal and mom would sit by his side, having brought her own meal prepared from the pantry products she had received.  Afterwards, they would linger over homework, reading improvement activities and much more.

The site supervisor tells us that the Kids Café acted as a magnet, bringing mother and child closer together. “This same story has played out on several occasions”, she commented.

 “The parents are learning from their children, and as a consequence the family grows stronger.”

 

Santos Maldonado
Childhood Hunger Programs Manager

December 14, 2009

Partner Agencies Working Together to Save Thanksgiving

Author: Erin Gray

At Second Harvest we have over 600 partner agencies who together help to fight and end hunger.  One of our partner agencies in Orange County is Mt. Sinai Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  Their food pantry is open every Wednesday from 1 p.m. -6 p.m. to help feed individuals and families in need. They are one of our larger agencies, and they serve over 1000 individuals each month from their pantry.  We talked to Amy Walker from Mt. Sinai Seventh Day Adventist church for a success story, and she shared their Thanksgiving experience with us.

This year for Thanksgiving, the volunteers at the church were able to feed 2,501 of: Orlando’s low income residents, disabled, and the senior citizen, and homeless population in the Parramore district with a unique mobile outreach concept. Reaching out this way is particularly effective for those who have difficulty making it to a food pantry.

“Most of the people we were able to feed were because we knocked on their door. Some of the people we saw were amputees or blind and the rest was mostly senior citizens. The majority of them were in no condition to come out of their homes and stand in line especially in the rain. We had to go to them!” says Pastor Herman L. Davis.

Pastor Davis and his team spent two years redesigning their Thanksgiving distribution to feed many more people. Unlike past years the church had access to two large mobile units that can fully prepare and cook upward of 10,000 hot meals at any location it’s driven too. This allowed the volunteers to go to the people that needed their care the most, rather than have individuals to find them.

After an entire day of cooking prep, the Mt. Sinai Community Outreach Volunteer team was ready for their first stop. At 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve served a menu of collard greens, mixed greens, curried egg plants, turkey breast, rice and gravy, baked whole turkey and mash potatoes, which some of the food for the meals were received from Second Harvest.  And they served 900 hot meals while people waited in light rain.   Later that day the team was joined by Loving Hut restaurant who had witnessed what the volunteers were accomplishing and wanted to join in and help. Loving Hut  prepared an additional 200 vegetarian meals consisting of egg rolls, rice, and vegetables.

On Thanksgiving Day a three man team; Pastor Davis, Ken Unick, and Dave Worrell distributed another 700 hot meals donated by the Salvation Army to the Maxwell Terrace community which are both partner agencies of Second Harvest Food Bank. A third wave of volunteers went out again on the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving Day and fed an additional 501 people. While this initiative had been planned well in advance the outcome is still unbelievable.

The volunteers have returned to their bi-weekly Wednesday food distributions from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. where they package a week’s worth of groceries for the public at the church located at 2600 Orange Center Blvd. Orlando, FL 32805. “Mt. Sinai is full of compassionate people who are dedicated to touching the individual lives of the community, these volunteers are a blessing and serious about the impact of our outreach,” says member Timotheie Aurelien.

Erin Gray
Agency Relations Manager