January 12, 2011

Tis the Season to Give

Author: Maria Diestro

We are so grateful to have so many wonderful organizations coordinate food drives for Second Harvest Food Bank during the holidays. We wanted to take a moment to highlight one of these groups. Central Florida Preparatory students spent a month giving back to various organizations in Central Florida. Below is a small write up and some photos from their month of charity.  

Central Florida Preparatory School Participates in a Month of Charity
 
When Mrs. Ramos asked students, “How can we help neighbors who are distressed with hardship this season?”  She received overwhelming response.  While students recognized a need for shelter, clothing, and monetary contributions, they all agreed that no one should go hungry.  From that class discussion, sprouted wide spread excitement about the opportunity to help the less fortunate in Central Florida.

The entire school, which houses students from Pre-Kindergarten thru High School, took part in a month of charity.  Hundreds of Central Florida Preparatory students participated in a “Tis the Season to Give” Food Drive, which collected nearly 1,000 pounds of food to benefit the many Central Florida Residents afflicted with hunger.  Further students expressed charity through Art, Language, Volunteerism and Self Expression. 

Pre-schoolers drew pictures about charity, while first graders participated in Macy’s “Letters to Santa” to benefit Make-a-Wish Foundation which grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. 

All food proceeds were donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida.  Central Florida Preparatory School is a non-profit non-sectarian private school located in Orange County and in the Southwest Orlando area.  “Tis the Season to Give” Food Drive ran through December, 2010.

 

November 22, 2010

Help Fight Hunger in Central Florida

Author: Maria Diestro

Walmart is asking Central Florida residents to participate in a nationwide week-long holiday food drive to benefit local food banks as part of an $18 million initiative to fight hunger this holiday season.

Walmart’s nationwide food drive will be held from Tuesday, November 16 through Monday, November 22, in each of Walmart’s 3,700 stores nationwide. Customers are being asked to bring non-perishable food items to be donated to local food banks.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida received a truckload of food last Tuesday, enough to make about 32,000 meals. Second Harvest was one of 10 food banks in the country to receive this donation, it came just in time for Thanksgiving.

View truck photos:

The food donation request is accompanied by a hunger relief campaign that runs through Friday, Dec. 31. It gives local residents an opportunity to visit Walmart’s Facebook page at facebook.com/walmart and help decide which cities should receive $1.5 million in grants to fight hunger.

Participants will choose from a list of 100 communities where hunger rates are the highest. The city with the most support will receive $1 million in grants, and the next five cities with the highest support will receive $100,000 each.  

Please help Fight Hunger in Central Florida by visiting the following link: http://fightinghunger.walmart.com/city/Orlando-Kissimmee-FL and place your vote by clicking the “Like” button.

October 29, 2010

Putting Things In Perspective, Dave Krepcho, President/CEO

Author: Dave Krepcho

Recently, one of our Benefits Connection Outreach Specialists shared a story that puts a face on someone in need in Central Florida. It shatters the stereotype of who we think may be in need of something so basic as food.

 

There are so many reasons why people require food assistance. There are thousands of these stories.

Last year alone, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida reached 732,000 different  individuals (many of them multiple times) that were in need of food. People suffering from the poor economy, folks under-employed, kids who need proper nutrition, the disabled and senior citizens on fixed incomes.

If you have supported Second Harvest, thank you, we need your continued partnership. If you are checking us out for the first time and considering support, thank you.

It’s through the generosity of many folks that make our work possible. For every dollar donated, we distribute $9 worth of groceries. 96 cents of every dollar goes directly to feeding people…quite a “Return On Investment”. It’s amazing and it’s a fact.

Please join us in being part of the solution to hunger – it’s a rewarding experience. It’s always healthy to put things in perspective.

Dave Krepcho
President/CEO

October 13, 2010

Take a walk on the wild side

Author: Sasha Hausman

Are you ready to talk a walk on the wild side? We sure hope so! Because Canstruction is back with a new theme for 2010: ZOO CAN DO IT! Canstruction Orlando is teaming up with the Central Florida Zoo to create the best Canstruction yet!

So you might be asking, what in the world is a Canstruction?

Canstruction is a design/build competition currently held throughout cities in North America.  Teams of architects, engineers, and folks from numerous organizations come together to build large structures made entirely from full cans of food.  Since its inception, 10 million pounds of food have been donated to aid in the fight against hunger throughout the nation.

Orlando has produced an event every year since 1994. Over the years we have collected over 306,000 cans, boxes, or bags of food and raised over $37,000 in donations through the People’s Choice award for a favorite structure. We have had strong support from the Design Community and in particular, the Society for Design Administration and the American Institute of Architects.

This year’s 8 fabulous teams have been busy trying to come up with the best zoo themed structure for the event. I am pretty excited to see what everyone has been working on. The build will begin Sunday, October 17th at 9 am at Orlando Fashion Square! You can come out and watch the teams create their masterpieces.

Lions! And tigers! And bears! OH YES! Well kind of…If you come out between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on the 17th, you will be in for a WILD time as the folks at the Central Florida Zoo will be bringing some of their friends over.  You’ll have to come out to Orlando Fashion Square to see what kind of fun furry friends, or creepy creatures will be there.

The structures will be on display at Orlando Fashion Square all week, October 17-24. The teams will receive awards like Best Meal, Best Use of Labels, Jurors’ Favorite, Healthy Award, People’s Choice, and Best Signage.

Would you like to have a say in who wins the People’s Choice Award and have a chance to win a pretty awesome Central Florida Zoo gift pack? Well stop by the mall all week while the structures are up and vote! You will be automatically entered to win a membership to the Central Florida Zoo for a family of 4, a zip line experience for a family of 4, and 4 zoo shirts!

This is the most important part…what happens to the food after the event? On Sunday the 24th, all the teams will get together to break down the structures. The Second Harvest Food Bank truck and staff will be there to load the food and bring it back to the food bank. From there, our trusty volunteers will sort the food and get it ready to go out to a neighbor in need.

The staff over at Second Harvest is going BANANAS over Canstruction 2010: Zoo Can Do It! We just wanted to say a big thanks to all of our teams, team sponsors, and of course our hard working Canstruction Orlando Committee.
               
So quit “lion” around! Make your way out to Orlando Fashion Square to take a look at these amazing structures.  For more information about Canstruction Orlando, please visit www.canstruction-orlando.org

See you there!

Sasha Hausman
Development Manager

August 5, 2010

Portraits of Hunger 1940

Author: Brady Koch

Earlier today I ran across an image of a Surplus Commodities distribution in October of 1940 in a collection of early color photography. For those of you who’ve ever volunteered at a food pantry, this looks strikingly familiar.

Speaking of photographs, we’re looking for submissions to our 2010 Portraits of Hunger competition. It’s a great way bring visibility to the invisible face of hunger. You are only limited by your vision for a hunger-free Central Florida.

If you would like to shoot photos at our facility please contact Sasha Hausman at shausman@foodbankcentralflorida.org to make an appointment.

There will be an online contest where the top 10 photographs will be voted on by the public for Portraits of Hunger. The top 3 photos will then be displayed at our Portraits of Hunger Showcase party. Photographs will remain on our website throughout the month of September.

Be sure to browse the rest of this Depression-Era color photography collection:  http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/

 

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations and Programs