July 26, 2011

Gina’s Missing Tooth

Author: Greg Higgerson

A volunteer named Annette spends her free time working at an East Orange County summer camp that hosts 40 young campers each day.   Recently, she felt a tinge of joy when one of her campers ran up and told her “Gina’s in the bathroom, and she just lost a tooth!” 

“These kids are growing up so fast,” thought Annette with a smile.   She hurried off to the girl’s restroom to find 10-year old Gina standing in front of the mirror.  When she saw tears instead of excitement on Gina’s face, Annette’s joy quickly turned to sadness. As she stared at the object in Gina’s outstretched hand, she realized that it was her permanent front tooth. Gina shared that it had been loose for some time, and that it had finally fallen out. She showed Annette other permanent teeth that were loose as well, and the two shared a long hug and cry together. 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 …

December 8, 2010

You cared, people were helped. Thank you.

Author: Dave Krepcho

Your support of Second Harvest Food Bank has made an impact in lives of thousands of Central Florida seniors, children, and families this past year.

Here’s a look at our accomplishments:

- Second Harvest distributed 24,764,248 pounds of food to more than 500 partner feeding programs in our 6 county-wide service area.

- Our Kids Cafe program served, prepared or catered meals to 164,155 children at 13 kids cafe’s in 3 counties.

- During the summer, we served 43,188 meals for school age children at 17 sites in Orange County through our Summer Feeding program. Through a grant from ConAgra we were also able to provide the kids with 15,773 take-home, shelf-stable food packs for the weekends.

- Our Hi-Five Kids packs program distributed 31,245 shelf-stable food packs to needy children at 18 elementary schools. These packs are designed to help bridge the nutritional gap that exists during weekends, when children lack access to school cafeterias.

- An amazing 1,227,100 pounds of non-perishable grocery products were collected in fiscal 2009/2010 through our Community Food Drives.

- Our Benefits Connection program secured over $14 million in food stamp benefits for Central Floridians. In addition to food stamp benefits, our specialists also signed clients up for Medicaid and Cash Assistance, and provided referrals to a network of collaborating agencies.

- Second Harvest Food Bank set up an online advocacy center and urged congressional leaders to fully fund and pass Child Nutrition Reauthorization. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill was passed last week in Congress!

Whether you volunteered, gave a special gift, contacted your elected officials, or simply were part of our online community, YOU helped thousands of Central Floridians this year. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Dave Krepcho
President & CEO

November 19, 2010

Victory Blog

Author: Brady Koch

I’m pleased to announce that our trio Childhood Hunger programs received a Victory Against Hunger Award from the Congressional Hunger Center, Victory Wholesale Group and Feeding America.

We reached a record number of children through our Kids Cafe, Hi-Five, and Summer Food programs in the last year and it is always a pleasure to be recognized for our work.

A breakdown of the 3 programs:

Kids Cafes
           At 13 After School sites in 3 counties, 164,155 prepared or catered meals were served in fiscal 2009/2010. This reflects a 12% increase over the previous year. An average of 910 children were served daily.

Summer Food Program
           During 51 operational days while children in needy areas lacked access to school lunch programs, 43,188 meals were served at 17 sites in Orange County this past summer, reflecting an increase of 9% over last year. Through a grant from ConAgra we were also able to provide the children with , 15,773 take-home, shelf-stable food packs for the weekends.

Hi-Five Kids Pack Program
          31,245 shelf-stable food packs were provided to needy children at 18 elementary schools last year. These packs are designed to help bridge the nutritional gap that exists during weekends, when children lack access to school cafeterias.

The Congressional Hunger Center (CHC) is a bipartisan anti-hunger leadership training organization located in Washington, DC. In addition to the fellowships they offer, the CHC facilitates the national discussion of finding ways to end hunger in America.

It’s nice to be able to take a break from our workday and be honored, but there’s always more work to get back to. We continue to see more and more children enrolled in our programs and there’s much more to do. Can you help?

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs
bkoch@foodbankcentralflorida.org

August 24, 2010

New USDA Pilot to Feed more Kids During the Summer

Author: Brady Koch

This summer, we’ve provided Central Florida kids with over 42,000 meals at a variety of community programs through the Summer Food Service Program. Additionally we reach thousands of children through our Benefits Connection food stamp outreach program.

The USDA is considering a pilot program that will merge both programs into a benefit hybrid that is designed to provide children with food during the Summer when they don’t have access to the Free and Reduced Meal Program.

News Article: 16 Million Hungry Kids, 1 New Idea for Feeding Them

 What do you think of the idea? It could potentially reach many more children, but what about the accountability of the EBT cards? Hopefully Florida will participate in the pilot and we can provide even more meals to kids next summer.

Brady Koch
Director of Agency Relations & Programs