July 21, 2010

Almost a third of U.S. children are overweight, but many are also hungry?

Author: Maria Ali

Almost a third of U.S. children are overweight, but many are also hungry? Does it make sense?

Click here to read more: Eating Nutritiously A Struggle When Money Is Scarce

This article highlights some of the complexities of hunger in America. It’s not just about getting enough food, but getting enough of the right kinds of food, as well as understanding the importance of making the right choices.

It can be very challenging to eat healthy on a tight budget, but have we considered what price we are paying to not eat healthy? What price are our children paying? What affect has it had on our communities?

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated  there is a similarity between low-income families trying to stretch scarce food dollars with high-calorie processed foods, “and youngsters who are just flat out not getting fed because their parents don’t have the resources to feed them.”

Elaine Livas, who runs Project SHARE, a food pantry in Pa., expressed that there’s something else to consider. As the nation becomes more health conscious, she’s noticing less healthy food coming to her pantry. She’s getting more sugar-coated cereals, for example, than the high-fiber ones she used to receive. “We can’t really complain that the poor are heavier, when what we’re donating is our kind of castaways,” she says.

What are your thoughts?

Maria Ali, RD, LD/N
Nutrition Manager

June 10, 2010

My Volunteer Experience at Jewish Family Services

Author: Greg Higgerson

Today I had the privilege of getting my hands dirty and working up a sweat as a volunteer at the Dave Pearlman Food Pantry at Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando (JFS).  

To take nothing away from the fine work of the more than 600 partner feeding programs to whom our Food Bank distributes food each year in Central Florida, I have always been enormously impressed with the work of JFS.   Led by a true humanitarian, Barry Kudlowitz, this caring group of staff and volunteers provide a place where people in crisis can get some relief.   

And not just food relief.  JFS provides a wide range of services designed to help people ‘cover their bases’ on a number of important fronts.  This kind of help is very often all a person needs to get back on his/her feet and move forward in life.

I arrived not really knowing what to expect, but quickly learned the ropes from a true veteran of JFS; a 21-year old young man named Eton (say “Ay-tahn”).  Eton has been volunteering since he was 12—that’s not a typo.  He was very knowledgeable, and explained the mixture of foods I would be packing into brown paper grocery bags.  The system was very well-thought out and organized.  Together we prepared a dozen or so bags of food, and Eton’s shift came to a close.  He bid me farewell, and left me to fend for myself.  

 After only a few minutes, the first intercom buzzer went off and a voice on the wall said “I need two sets plus government.”  That meant two sets of the normal “two bag” portion for families, plus some of the USDA government commodity food they had on hand.  Each bag also contained some frozen protein (chicken or beef) and frozen bakery products.  I quickly hustled these items to the lobby in a shopping cart, where a young couple with a baby were waiting.  With many thanks from them, I helped carry their bags to the car.  

As I returned to the pantry room, I reflected how bare the shelves of the small room seemed.  JFS’s van driver, Jerry, picks up a vanload of food once a week (on Thursdays) from Second Harvest Food Bank to restock the shelves.    Around noon, the weekly bounty arrived.  I helped Jerry unpack approximately 3,000 pounds of canned vegetables, fruits, soups, stews, pastas, frozen meat and fish, noodles, cereal.   

While he worked to re-stock, I was called upon several more times for bags to the lobby.  I was struck by how “normal” and everyday folks the people who received the food were.  And also by how grateful they were to receive the help.

I went back to packing more bags.  Remembering what Eton had taught me about packing each bag earlier in the day, I found myself almost desperate in my temptation to break the rules and add a few more cans, a few more boxes, a little more meat to each of the bags I was packing.  In my head I knew that doing so would deplete the pantry more quickly than they could replenish it, but my heart wanted to do it just the same.  I decided to respect the rules so that the food could last.   (Note to self:  This community needs LOTS MORE donated food!)

I walked away appropriately tired, and greatly moved.  I was grateful to experience a small part of the incredible work that happens at JFS on a daily basis. My sincere thanks to Barry Kudlowitz, Adrienne Cooperman, Marni Chepenik, Es Cohen, Karen Broussard, Jerry the driver, Eton, and all the JFS staff for their caring work and for making me feel valuable today. 

Keep up the good work, guys!

Greg Higgerson
VP of Development

May 3, 2010

Second Harvest Holds First Agency ADEPT Conference

Author: Erin Gray

Last week we held our first ever Agency ADEPT Conference and we had it located in Volusia County at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, we had about 30 people in attendance. 

I thought I would give my perspective of the day.  There were 9 different classes offered by the staff at Second Harvest.  The classes I had taught were Perfect Pantry and Non Profit Ethics. 

I had about a dozen people in each class and we talked about how to run a pantry and what we look for when we are monitoring and when we accept new agencies.  In the ethics class we talked about general ethics and then I went over our Memorandum of Agreement (which is our contract for our partner agencies) to help them understand it and helped relate it to the topic of ethics.  

In addition to my classes we offered two nutrition courses and even a class on how our agencies can start their own blogs and Twitter accounts.

The entire day was a lot of fun and filled of so much energy with the staff members from Second Harvest and from the volunteers and staff from our Partner Agencies.  From talking to the different agencies and staff it seemed like it was a huge success and we look forward to bringing this concept to the different agencies that we work with in the different Counties in the future.  I was happy to be a part of the very first one that we had.

Erin Gray
Agency Relations Manager

May 3, 2010

Second Harvest Provides Food Through a Mobile Pantry

Author: Erin Gray

On Friday April 2nd Second Harvest Food Bank set up a mobile pantry at a Tuskawilla United Methodist Church in the Casselberry area.

Earlier we had received a call from church representatives expressing the need for food in the area. Right across the street from the church is a school that has over 200 students receiving free/reduced lunches. Even though the church was not a partner agency, Second Harvest agreed to bring a truck with some staff members to volunteer their time.

The truck had 8 pallets of canned and dry food, two pallets of fruit and veggies, and 1 pallet of bread products. The pallets were arranged in the parking lot were the church members had set up a drive thru scenario. One person would sign in the people requesting food, and then the client would drive up to receive their order.

It was wonderful to see all the church volunteers that showed up to serve over 120 families in a three hour period.  Tuskawilla United Methodist ended up filling out an agency application and was recently accepted. We are very happy that they will be helping to alleviate hunger in their area on a weekly basis.

Photos from the day:

Erin Gray
Agency Relations 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