September 20, 2011

Paper Plate Campaign

Author: Jen Gibson

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.

Read More …

September 20, 2011

Winding down September and Giving Back

Author: Maria Diestro

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. Read More …

August 30, 2011

Building Solutions to Hunger …

Author: Greg Higgerson

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.    Read More …

August 3, 2011

Count Your Blessings

Author: Dave Krepcho

I just met with part of our team at Second Harvest and they talked about the people they are helping that need food.

The faces are haunting indeed; they include more single people from broken marriages, folks that a few months ago had a job but no longer do, more injured vets as they come home, and a special audience….the blind, deaf and mute. The procession continues….

Thank you once again for your support, you can see what a difference it makes in people who are less fortunate. If there’s any saving grace in this blog, it’s the fact that your support helped our team get millions of meals to people this past year. Read More …

July 25, 2011

Because Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation

Author: Maria Diestro

I recently accompanied Santos Maldonado, our Childhood Hunger Programs Manager to take pictures of some of our Summer Feeding sites. Second Harvest currently sponsors 20 sites. Working with a major local food vendor, we are able to provide meals and snacks to children in low-income areas during the critical time when they lack access to school cafeterias.

As compared to June 2010, meals distributed doubled, from 12,642 to 25,753, making this the largest monthly increase since the program began. I will make sure to post an update for July when those numbers are available. I also learned that one of our most satisfying development this year is the expansion into Osceola County, specifically along the 192 corridor where many children of homeless families live in the motels. Read More …