Early on the bright and crisp morning of Saturday, December 17^th, three large Second Harvest trucks filled with 52,464 pounds of emergency food boxes and fresh produce got ready to roll toward six Orange County public schools. Second Harvest staff and management gathered in the parking lot to work out last minute details. Dave Krepcho, Second Harvest President and CEO, was first to rumble out of the lot and toward Hungerford Elementary School.

At the schools, families of students were already lined up in anticipation, as enthusiastic volunteers prepared for an orderly distribution. The energetic volunteers, young, old and in between, had been recruited and organized by Orange County Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services. They worked like a finely tuned orchestra, handling every surprise with patience, smiles and lots of laughs.

At East River High School, a seemingly endless line of vehicles stretched off into the distance. Volunteers quickly began filling trunks and backseats with food boxes. A couple pulled up on a motorcycle. They left with saddlebags brimming.

At Cheney Elementary the turnout was even more dramatic. By then, the local media had reported the event and many families on foot were patiently waiting as we pulled in. Youngsters helped carry boxes to parked cars while others filled bags with fresh produce. Smiling faces and expressions of gratitude made an already sunny day that much brighter.

Similar scenes played out at Evans High, Ivey Lane Elementary and Glenridge Middle Schools. Nearly 1,400 families worried less about having food to eat during the two week break from school when children lack access to school cafeterias.

This has been our largest Holiday Food Drop to-date and it was all done within the space of four hours.

Thanks to our partners, the Winter Park Health Foundation and Orange County Public Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services, as well as to the volunteers who helped make the face-to-face link between our work and the community at large.

Photos from the day:

Santos Maldonado
Childhood Hunger Programs Manager

I am thrilled to introduce our fabulous intern – Sam Greenberg.  Though new to our blog, Sam has been interning with our Grocery Alliance Program since September.  From day one, she has immersed herself in all things GA, and has contributed to a number of projects including new donor rollouts and a 6-county food drive!  Today, she blogs about one of our newest donors, BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, and their Holiday Food Drive … which starts today!

In the spirit of holiday giving, BJ’s Wholesale Clubs is launching a chain-wide food drive that will take place from November 28^th through December 12^th.

Each BJ’s location will have a donation collection bin located near the front of the Club.  Members can look for aisle talkers near critical need items such as pasta, canned sauce, canned fruits and vegetables, and protein-rich items such as tuna fish and peanut butter.

BJ’s is urging its members to break apart their multi-pack or family-sized grocery bundles and donate a few packages to the food drive.  You can also bring in your own non-perishable food donations to any BJ’s Club.  Not a member?  No problem.  Anyone can participate — simply stop by member services to receive a free 60 day trial membership.

If you can’t participate in the food drive, you can help out online. For every “like” or “share” on their facebook page, the BJ’s Charitable Foundation will donate $1 to Feeding America that goes towards assisting food bank transportation costs to make sure that there is no delay helping those in need!

All 7 Central Florida BJ’s Clubs also recently joined our Grocery Alliance Program through their Feedings Communities initiative. Each day, BJ’s Team Members gather unsold perishable food to be picked up 3 times a week by Second Harvest Food Bank trucks, and in turn distributed to our partner
agencies.

We would like to take a moment to say THANK YOU to BJ’s for recognizing the need for local hunger relief, and the importance of ensuring those in need get a well-balanced nutritious meal.  Don’t forget to stop by your local BJ’s Wholesale Club today through December 12^th to help those less fortunate enjoy the season.  With an extra serving of kindness, we can all make a difference!

Sam Greenberg
Second Harvest Intern

Our mission depends heavily on the passion of volunteers, the generosity of corporate and private contributors and food donors, and the hard work of our partner agencies.

Approximately 55,000 people every week receive assistance through Second Harvest. We can only meet this need with support from our retail, manufacturing and distribution partners.

An example of one such partner is Publix. Click below to look back at the different ways Publix supports Second Harvest during the year.

Food for All Campaign
During the holiday season, Publix embraces the Food for All campaign. Throughout Publix’s campaign, customers and associates can contribute to the fund by purchasing contribution cards in $1, $3 or $5 amounts.

In 2010, Publix presented Second Harvest Food Bank with a check for $97,424 from Food for All!

The Food for All campaign runs from November 13 – December 24, 2011.

For additional information contact:
Kirsten Langan, Product Sourcing Manager, at klangan@foodbankcentralflorida.org or 407-295-1066 ext 29

The generosity of our donors and this community never ceases to amaze.  On October 30^th, all 12 Central Florida Walmart Neighborhood Market stores kicked off a weeklong food drive benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank.  For the duration of the week, customers and staff donated critical need items like canned veggies, soup, rice and baby food, and filled storefront donation bins to the brim.  The weights are all in – more than 10,000 lbs were collected for our neighbors in need.

The food drive culminated with an event at the 600 S Alafaya Trail location on Saturday, November 5^th.  MIX 105.1 and 105.9 SUNNY FM were on hand all day with rockin’ tunes and giveaways, including children’s bike helmets compliments of Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, and Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus provided free opening night circus tickets to those who donated 10 or more items.  Beyond that, 12 lucky families received brand new children’s bicycles, each donated by one of the Walmart Neighborhood Market stores!

“This time of the year especially, it’s important to our company and associates that we reach out and help those less fortunate in our communities. For the second year in a row, our Central Walmart Neighborhood Markets took up this cause and did a phenomenal job providing much needed food to those in need. We appreciate them for all they do and we appreciate our partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank,” said Cheryl Lester, Walmart Regional General Manager.

Since partnering with the food bank in 2009, Walmart Neighborhood Market stores across Central Florida have donated the equivalent of over 672,000 meals through our Grocery Alliance Program. 

A HUGE thank you to all 12 Walmart Neighborhood Market stores for making the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Food Drive a tremendous success!

Photos from November 5, 2011:

Lauren Moskowitz
Grocery Alliance Program Manager

It feels like just yesterday I was just finalizing our 30 Ways in 30 Days Hunger Action Month calendar.  I am devoting this blog post to all those who got involved with this year’s HAM and thanking everyone that helped make it happen. This year we did some new and exciting things to help raise awareness about hunger in our community.

The goal of our calendar was to show that even small actions can make a deep impact on the problem of hunger. We were super excited to receive a lot of positive feedback and can’t wait to make next year even bigger and better!

Hunger Action Month would not be possible without the support of our community partners.  They held partial proceeds nights at their restaurants, donated food, organized events for us and even let us join in their monthly community events. All our partners were very supportive and helped get the word out about Hunger Action Month.

 Thank you!

This year we also pushed the color of hunger relief, Orange.  Huge thanks to everyone that wore Orange in September in support of Hunger Action Month. 

Below is a slideshow of orange shirts that were worn during HAM:

A special thanks to the City of Orlando! The City got involved and lit the Lake Eola Fountain Orange!

“The City of Orlando is lighting the iconic fountain in Downtown’s Lake Eola Park the color orange this September in support of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s Hunger Action Month campaign,” says Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.  “The City is committed to draw attention to help address the problem of hunger and poverty in Central Florida. We hope that the orange glow of the fountain will prompt local citizens to take the pledge to fight hunger and do what  they can to help feed those in need in our community.”

This year we also launched http://www.CFLHungerAction.org! We will continue to use the site to highlight future events and to post community food drives. So make sure to check back soon because the fall is always filled with so many amazing events that the Central Florida community puts together for us.  

Thank you for helping to Fight Hunger and Feed Hope this September!

We hope you continue to follow us this fall. Below are some links that will help keep you updated:

• Like us on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Receive our E-news
• Sign up for a Food for Thought Tour

Did you like our 30 Ways in 30 Days Calendar? What other types of events would you like to see more of next year during Hunger Action Month?

Maria Diestro
Online Services and Communications Manager

As the government continues to wrestle with proposals to control the growing national deficit, difficult decisions will have to be made in the coming months on the federal budget.   A number of proposals have been put forward that cut many of the safety net programs that serve millions of low-income Americans.  If these cuts are included in the final budget, they will come at a time when unemployment and the need for food assistance remain stubbornly high. As a result, more and more people will be forced to seek help from food assistance programs, many of whom are already struggling to meet this record need.

In order to bring a voice to our neighbors whom are struggling to put food on the table we have begun a Paper Plate campaign. We are asking recipients of food assistance programs to let their voices be heard by filling paper plates with statements attesting to how important this food is to their family.  This campaign will offer our clients an easy, open-ended, and powerful way to advocate for themselves. For many this may be the first time they have done anything like this.

Jen Gibson
 Events Specialist

Our intern Melissa Kear, wraps up Hunger Action Month in this latest blog post. 

October is just around the corner, and with it (we hope!) comes cooler weather! Using our 30 Ways in 30 Days calendar, you can count down the last days of September and support Hunger Action Month every day of the week.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit our main facility for one of our popular Food for Thought Tours, please plan to join us Wednesday, September 21, 2011  6 pm for a special Food Bank tour of Second Harvest Food Bank. RSVP is required at CFLHungerAction.org. Spend one very interesting  hour with us learning about hunger in Central Florida and what Second Harvest is doing to help.

Celebrate Thursday with pizza! NYPD Pizza’s College Park location will be donating 15% of your bill to the food bank from 4-10pm when you mention “Second Harvest”.  Who knew you could give back while munching on your favorite NYPD Pizza slice, and what a great way to mark off your calendar!

Want to do more to help fight hunger? Take Friday and set up a time to volunteer at Second Harvest!  Find out more about volunteering opportunities at FeedHopeNow.org, and learn what you can do to help support your community. What better way to strike Friday off your calendar than by taking a step to be more involved in helping to fight hunger.

If you have extra time Saturday, help support Hunger Action Month by taking a quick shopping trip to pick up and donate critical need items.  Some of these items included: meals in a can, canned tuna, nonfat dry milk, peanut butter, oatmeal, nutritional drinks, dry beans, evaporated milk, canned vegetables, canned soups, pastas, rice, and baby food.  These items are all important in providing nutritional foods to those in need, and in many cases can be found in your local grocery store’s buy one get one free deals.

Sunday, register your school food drive and get a free toolkit. It’s an easy and efficient way to give back and help your community.  If registering and running a food drive isn’t in your schedule, check out our calendar to find other local food drives and how you can help support them and your community.

The start of a workweek can be a little crazy, so if you are short on time Monday, head over to our website, where you can donate a gift to help hunger.  Every dollar donated can provide up to $9 worth of food, so whether you can spare a little or a lot, your donation will be making a difference!

In case you can’t make our Wednesday’s Food for Thought Tour, join us Tuesday the 27th at 11:30 am to make our last tour of September.  Remember to RSVP at CFLHungerAction.org to join us for an hour tour of the food bank.  We look forward to seeing you!

Your support for Hunger Action Month has been amazing, and we are excited to see Central Florida come together to help fight hunger.  From September 18th – September 24th, Downtown Orlando will be lighting the Fountain at Lake Eola orange in support of Hunger Action Month, so take some time to stroll around the lake, reflect on the events of this month, and send us all of your pictures by the orange lighted fountain on Facebook or share them with us on Twitter, and thank you again for all that you do to support Hunger Action Month and Second Harvest Food Bank.

Melissa Kear
Second Harvest Food Bank intern

The future of hunger relief in Central Florida is coming into focus more and more each day. Second Harvest Food Bank’s Building Solutions to Hunger project will move the possibilities forward in dramatic fashion by creating much-needed capacity that will help provide food for thousands more families in need every year.    

A new facility is planned at the corner of Old Winter Garden Road and Mercy Drive in Orlando. More than two years in the planning, this vital project will help to ensure that the Food Bank no longer must turn away millions of pounds of available food each year. On the contrary; the additional coolers, freezers, and new overall capacity will allow for many millions of additional pounds of food to flow to those who desperately need our help.   

From humble beginnings, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida has grown over nearly three decades into a major part of the solution to hunger in our community. But so much more remains to be accomplished for our seniors, children, working poor families, and others who are struggling. With such a wealth of food resources available, it would be tragic to allow the challenges of adequate infrastructure to continue limiting our work in such a serious way as it does today.  

Consider these facts as proof of what can be accomplished moving forward:

• Just 16 years ago, Second Harvest Food Bank was collecting and distributing six million pounds of food per year for our neighbors in need, but had reached a plateau of capacity that meant ‘no more growth’ without a new facility.
• A capital campaign in the mid-nineties allowed for the purchase of new facilities, and a huge amount of new capacity.
• Having the new capacity available back then allowed the Food Bank to increase its service to more than 32 million pounds distributed just  last year alone!    But today we find ourselves with the same capacity dilemma we faced in the nineties. 
• The completion of the new facility on Mercy Drive will allow the same sort of dramatic leap forward in service delivery that we’ve accomplished over the last decade and a half.                                     

So what will it take to make this urgent project possible? A community that cares, and agrees that living with hunger’s ‘status quo’ is unacceptable. Moreover, it will take people who care enough to invest in making the vision a reality for so many of our neighbors. In short, “We can’t do it without you…”   

To date, our fundraising campaign has great momentum, and we find ourselves nearing a point at which we could break ground on the new facility in a period of mere months. Incredibly generous local corporations, foundations, and individuals have stepped up to get the campaign started, but more investment is needed to make this project happen.

In terms of the food value that this facility will provide for Central Florida over the next 20 years, the return on a charitable investment is an incredible 1400%. That’s right–$1.4 Billion dollars worth of food will be provided (and that is a conservative estimate).  

Among our generous investors so far, we include:

• Morgan & Morgan, P.A.
• Darden Restaurants Foundation/Capital Grille
• Second Harvest Food Bank Board of Directors
• Dr. Phillips Charities
• Baker Barrios Architects
• CNL Commercial Real Estate
• Burke, Hogue & Mills Architects
• Brasfield & Gorrie Construction
• Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation
• The Golf Channel

and many others.        

Meaningful naming/dedication opportunities remain at this date, as well as leadership volunteer opportunities. We hope that you will consider carefully what your part in this exciting project could be.    

Below is our Building Solutions to Hunger Capital Campaign video:

For more information, take a moment to visit www.showmercynow.org  or give me a call or email.    Thank you!

Greg Higgerson, CFRE
Vice-President, Development