Tony and Dolly Ellis

For the past two years Trey Stafford has worked with Time Ingram of KAIT TV to organize the Fill the Food Bank drive to benefit the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas. In the first year, this one-day food drive collected over 20,000 pounds of food. They also supply free air time to help educate the public about the problems of hunger in northeast Arkansas. The 2009 drive ws officially launched in northeast Arkansas during the month of September.

For the past two years Mr. Ingram worked diligently to organize the Fill the Food Bank drive to benefit the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas. In the first year, this one-day food drive collected over 20,000 pounds of food. He also supplies free air time to help educate the public about the problems of hunger in northeast Arkansas. The 2009 drive was officially launched in September in northeast Arkansas.

A lifelong resident of Texarkana, Hadley chose child nutrition as her platform, titled "Food for Thought". “Food for Thought,” is centered on preventing the risk to developing minds and bodies that lack of nutrition causes. The school program that she has developed is “Kids Food BANK.” Through an interactive presentation, she shares with children the consequences of inadequate nutrition, and then sets up challenges for classes to help the hungry by bringing their coins and placing them in large clear plastic jars so they can see how their contributions are growing. Their donations benefit the BackPack program. Hadley is serving as the ambassador for Harvest Texarkana, the anti-hunger organization in her hometown, Texarkana, USA. In addition to making presentations in schools, packing BackPacks with food, and attending fund-raisers, she has produced and anchored a mini-documentary that is shown to school groups, organizations and businesses. The video explains how food banks work and details the dangers of childhood hunger.

A lifelong resident of Texarkana, Hadley chose child nutrition as her platform, titled "Food for Thought". “Food for Thought,” is centered on preventing the risk to developing minds and bodies that lack of nutrition causes. The school program that she has developed is “Kids Food BANK.” Through an interactive presentation, she shares with children the consequences of inadequate nutrition, and then sets up challenges for classes to help the hungry by bringing their coins and placing them in large clear plastic jars so they can see how their contributions are growing. Their donations benefit the BackPack program. Hadley is serving as the ambassador for Harvest Texarkana, the anti-hunger organization in her hometown, Texarkana, USA. In addition to making presentations in schools, packing BackPacks with food, and attending fund-raisers, she has produced and anchored a mini-documentary that is shown to school groups, organizations and businesses. The video explains how food banks work and details the dangers of childhood hunger.

Fay J and Norma are long time supporters of Harvest Texarkana through action and deed. Each has served as board members for Harvest Texarkana, each service on the Executive Committee, she as President. (Harvest Texarkana is the Feeding America Member Foodbank for the southwest corner of Arkansas and Bowie Co Texas). In addition to their board service, they hosted the annual Harvest Texarkana Wine and Jazz fundraiser (the largest of the year) in their home for many years, until the event outgrew the space. They continue to be presenting sponsors for our events. But most noteworthy is their public support. The Durrants have owned three businesses in the Texarkana area and they have used the businesses to promote the work of Harvest Texarkana. In all advertisements for their businesses, the Durrants mention their support of Harvest Texarkana and they make a donation to Harvest Texarkana from each of their business deals.

Erma Smith has been a hunger advocate for nearly 25 years. She worked as a volunteer with the food bank in southwest Arkansas for 12 years, then served as executive director for another 12 years. During that time, Erma provided food to about 100 food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and other organizations that feed the hungry in southwest Arkansas. Each year, she distributed about 1.5 million pounds of food and grocery products to help feed hungry people. Erma singlehandedly secured much of the food she distributed, relying on the Arkansas Foodbank Network as one of several sources. In addition to distributing food, Erma's food bank distributed clothing, school supplies, household items, toys and personal care products through a program known as Gifts in Kind. Erma developed a cadre of dedicated volunteers who helped her at the Food Bank. Additionally, she and her volunteers prepared gift baskets for those in need as well as for our annual agency appreciation luncheon, to be given to our volunteer food pantry operators as "thank you's". In May, Erma left the Food Bank, not because she wanted to, but because her doctor demanded she retire for her health. Erma, who was known as a forklift operator, lifter, order puller as well as ambassador for her organization, reluctantly agreed. Recently, Erma was recognized by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance at a breakfast at the Governor's mansion. During her remarks, Erma red a poem she had written which served as her "mantra" for 15 years. The poem is called "Priorities" and remarks upon the importance of "Service for the Lord".

An all volunteer members of the Mayors’ Feed the Hungry Program Committee, took on the task of contacting area schools, businesses and civic organizations to participate in our annual holiday food drive. Over sixty-five schools — from elementary to college, public and private — as well as an assortment of area organizations, businesses and government offices are participating this year. “With hundreds of school students participating, area teachers use the food drive as a real-life community service lesson teaching students the value of sharing with those who are less fortunate,”. Last year your generosity provided over 12,000 meals - over 35% went to children, over 16% went to the handicapped and over 15% went to the elderly - however more than 40,000 requests were left unfilled!

This food bank has been here operating for 18 years without government funding and provide food to families on a weekly basis. In Novemeber for thanksgiving they distributed over 1500 food baskets to families to take home and cook in their homes. the serve food to the homeless, elderly (some are delivered), and children. I am a volunteer only and spend many countless hours trying to help others through the distribution.

Ms Hawthorne has a desire to be the change in our community. We admire that she invests her on time, money and experience to educate others. Ms Hawthorne is truly worthy of this award because her dreams of helping with hunger relief and our youth has come alive in Moms United Youth Free Food Giveaway

The Queens Galley connects people to food by offering breakfast, lunch and dinner EVERY day at the soup kitchen to anyone who hungers regardless of income (no proof of poverty required), connecting people to food resources (by assisting with food stamp applications and help finding food pantries and coordinating food stamp token systems at farmers' markets ) and then helping them to make the best of resources they have access to (as a local partner for Share Our Strength's Operation Frontline). Over 9,000 meals a month are served at the Queens Galley and over 30 Operation Frontline classes are held for children and/or seniors each year. The remarkable thing is that Diane started this when she was recovering from a dibilitating injury and her household food budget was $25 a week for a family of 5. As a chef she realized the importance of culinary skill and as a mom she recognized how important access is to REAL food for every family so she did something about it and now hundreds of people are eating better because of her.

We must come together as a community and pool our resources. Compassion organizations need to work with churches, businesses, and government. We need to come together to help those who have fallen on hard times. With 400 plus volunteers, Love Your Neighbor has manpower to work along side other organizations in times of need. Our volunteers come from all walks of life and religious backgrounds, putting differences aside in order to Love our Neighbors. We are planning a series of community farms using hydroponics. Fresh fruits and vegetables will be given to the needy and sold locally to help support the ministry.

Iray Nabatoff arrived as a volunteer in New Orleans from Acworth NH during January 2006, expecting to stay only about 3 weeks. But after working at the Made With Love Café in Arabi, LA, and seeing first-hand the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Iray found that he just couldn’t walk away. He returned to New Hampshire in February 2006 to shut down his life there, and made a long-term commitment to helping in the Gulf for as long as he was needed. Giving up his comfortable NH home for a tent and then a FEMA trailer, Iray has continued to work tirelessly as an unpaid fulltime volunteer in St Bernard Parish, adjacent to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Every single building in this Parish (county) was flooded, and hurricane damage to the Murphy Oil Refinery caused the largest residential oil spill in US history. Even today the population is only about half of what it was before the storm. In April 2006, Iray was chosen by a group of local community leaders to be the volunteer Executive Director of the newly-formed nonprofit Community Center of St Bernard. Under his guidance, the Community Center has become a premier provider of recovery resources in St Bernard Parish. One of the main Community Center programs overseen by Iray is the Mustard Seed Food Pantry, which is a Second Harvest/Feeding America Member Agency. This program provides free food, including canned goods, produce, eggs and bread, to families in St Bernard and neighboring parishes who earn less than 130% of the federal poverty limit. To put that in real dollar amounts, 98% of these families earn less than $25,000 annually. In fact, 62% of them are struggling to survive on less than $10,000 per year. In addition to being low-income, many Mustard Seed clients meet multiple vulnerability criteria. Demographic data on the 2,033 unique households (5,560 unique individuals) who used Mustard Seed Food Pantry services between January-December 2008 shows that 36% were children under age 18 and 6% were senior citizens age 65 or older. Of those survey participants who opted to disclose their race, 55% indicated they were Caucasian, 33% were African American, 6% Hispanic, and 1% Asian. 21% of households were receiving Supplemental Security Insurance, 26% got food stamps, and 28% were on Medicaid. 43% of households were unemployed, 6% were homeless, 31% contained a member who is physically or mentally disabled, 24% were single parent (female) and 5% were single parent (male). Geographically, 1% of these clients came from Jefferson Parish, 11% from Orleans Parish (New Orleans), 2% from Plaquemines Parish, 84% from St Bernard Parish, 1% from St Tammany Parish, and the remainder listed no fixed address. Under Iray’s direction, the Mustard Seed Food Pantry -- using a staff that included senior citizen trainees enrolled in the federal Senior Community Service Employment Program, on-site job training crews from ARC of New Orleans, and more than 1,500 short-term volunteers from all around the world -- distributed 245,000 lbs of food to local families in need during 2008. However, it is Iray’s intention that the Community Center go beyond just providing food to these families, and also help them achieve independence and self-sufficiency. That is why, rather than being an isolated program, the Mustard Seed Food Pantry is an integral part of the Community Center’s innovative Community Connections Model, which seeks to bring a wide variety of recovery resources together at one centralized location. This “one-stop shop” approach to service delivery both increases client knowledge of the many kinds of available assistance and also provides clients with access to service providers from throughout the greater New Orleans area right in their own community. For example, the Community Center itself provides clothes, hot meals, internet access, public phones, computer classes, information and referrals. Meanwhile on-site partner agencies, including BlueStone Ministries Case Management, LA Office of Family Support (Food Stamps), Road Home, St Anna’s Medical Mission, Daughters of Charity of New Orleans Mom & Baby Mobile Heath Center, New Orleans Legal Assistance, Families Helping Families (advocacy for the disabled), Milestones Mental Health Agency, Red Cross St Bernard Chapter, Rebuilding Information Station, and the Jefferson & St Bernard Councils on Aging (Senior Community Service Employment Program) help families and individuals to meet their housing needs, get job training, receive food stamps, and avoid medical and emotional crises, eviction notices, and utility disconnects (www.ccstb.org) Unfortunately, for low-income families like those who participate in the Mustard Seed Food Pantry, just receiving assistance is often not enough. These families must also learn to use every dollar that passes through their hands effectively if they are ever to become financially self-sufficient. Iray is therefore a working with local Regions Bank branches to offer the “Money Smart Adult Financial Education Curriculum” to Mustard Seed clients. Developed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Money Smart training program helps individuals build their financial knowledge so that they develop sound financial practices to avoid excessive debt, damaged credit records, and even bankruptcy while accumulating savings and becoming financially self-sustaining. While it may not be possible for every Mustard Seed Food Pantry client to become an ex-client, it is Iray’s goal that as many as possible have the practical skills that they need to do so. Finally, in addition to being the volunteer Executive Director of the Community Center since its inception in April, 2006, Iray was appointed to the St. Bernard Parish Citizens Recovery Committee in July 2006 by the St Bernard Parish Council, and also serves as vice-president of the Board for both the St. Bernard Community Recovery Committee and Unified Nonprofits of Greater New Orleans. Iray's ongoing dedication to assisting the hurricane survivors in New Orleans has led the Times-Picayune newspaper to name him one of its “Heroes of the Storm” for 2006. And in August, 2008 he received the "Footsteps to Growth" award from the St Bernard Parish Government for the significant role he has played in the recovery effort.

Aeilts is the current chair and originatior of Meals From The Heartland, which drew more than 12,000 volunteers in 2008 who packaged 4 million meals for distribution to impoverished residents of Haiti and other countries in Central America.

Chef Ron is a champion for the fight against hunger. He believes the mission of the Community Culinary School of Charlotte is to get to the root cause of hunger which is unemployment. Chef Ron trains adults who have experienced barriers to employment primarily substance abuse, incarceration and generational poverty in the culinary arts. Upon graduation students have the tools to seek employment in the hospitality and food service industry. Working with food that has been donated to the school ,Chef Ron teaches students proper food preparation techniques as well as good nutrition. His desire to help thers to gain skills to help themselves also goes to help others who are hungry. Every day Chef Ron is approached about helping to feed other groups of people in need. With food prepared by his students he is seen about Charlotte at various day care facilities and churches to feed the hungry. Many of our students come from backgrounds of poverty and homelesssness and this is the first time they have been able to give a hand back to help others instead of always being on the receiving end. Chef Ron never lets anyone go away hungry. The ability to help feed people in need while also teaching the appropriate skills to help them feed themselves is a true blessing.

Sarah Owen is a tireless and unrelenting hungerfighter in the true sense of the word.

Sarah  is the CEO of Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc.  CCMI is the umbrella agency for The Soup Kitchen, Meals on Wheels, Faith In Action Senior Transportation, Hands & Hearts Montessori Preschool, and 2 United Way Resource Houses. The agency is dedicated to feeding the homeless and hungry and caring for the most fragile children and seniors in our community.

Her journey into the non-profit arena came by way of a career in public relations and corporate communications.

Sarah has worked in investor relations, public relations and corporate communications for publicly traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange as well as private companies throughout the Southeastern United States.

On a 3 year adventure with her family in Richmond, Virginia, Sarah discovered her passion for advocacy and community service while working for a not-for-profit that lobbied and advocated for the rights of persons with mental retardation.  Upon returning to Southwest Florida, Sarah was committed to working for a not-for-profit agency and advocating for citizens who could not help themselves. God has blessed Sarah with the opportunity to work at CCMI and she humbly acknowledges that He equips her to carry out her responsibilities. 

In addition to her work at CCMI, Sarah co-wrote and founded, “What’s Next? A Support Group for Single Mothers and their Children” a program that is now widely used in churches and communities throughout the Northeastern United States.

Sarah is a “nearly-native” Floridian moving to the state when she was 3 months old.  She is married to David Owen and they are have successfully launched their two oldest kids out of the house and into college and are enjoying the time they have with their eight year old son.
 

Midwest Food Bank is a reliable supplier to the Lakeview Church Food Pantry every month. This food is then distributed to the needy in our community.

I help at the Lakeview Church Food Pantry and Midwest Food Bank has been very helpful in supplying food for our clients. They supply a very large portion of our food we use for our clients.

Debi, my sister helps out in a small town in mount Vernon, Texas. She cooks for children that come to her each day. They live in a low income housing project, where is is giving her time and her money (which is not a lot),   She makes breakfeast, lunch, dinner some nights, She helps with school work, scrapes, stories, school projects while there familes don't have the time or don't want to give the time. She is trying to feed the children ranging from 5 yrs to 15 yrs. She cooks ,so that they will not go hungry before school before going to her job ay Habitat for Humanity, Then  she goes back for lunch and after school time and projects. Without her help these children would go hungry and would not be able to finish theie schooling. I would love to see her get some help with food.  She gets donations from food banks and churches, but it's coming into summer where they are going to be needing more food.  I can't see her using her own money as she gives to them first before she gives to he self.  She says children come first.  They have just begun to live where she has lived and she would give the shirt off her back if she could. Please help

Bob Edwards joined the FreestoreFoodbank board of trustees in 1991 and has been one of our most faithful and hard-working volunteers. In addition to fulfilling the regular, ongoing duties of a trustee, Bob launched the FreestoreFoodbank’s annual Rubber Duck Regatta in 1995. This special annual event is held in conjunction with the City of Cincinnati’s Labor Day celebration known as Riverfest and has become a highlight of the annual festivities. Through Bob’s tireless efforts, the FreestoreFoodbank Rubber Duck Regatta has grown to become the second largest such event in the world, netting the organization more than $500,000 in 2008 and a total of over $3 million since its creation fourteen years ago. Not only does Bob Edwards work constantly to build awareness for the Rubber Duck Regatta and the FreestoreFoodbank, attracting generous corporate sponsors and prestigious media attention, he also is an active supporter of the FreestoreFoodbank’s many other events and activities. Bob’s humanitarian work is highly regarded and well-known in Greater Cincinnati, and we are grateful for his dedication and service to our organization and community.

We here at Gimmie Something to Eat (GS2E) wanna eat your food and help those in the world who are hungry in the process. Sound too good to be true? Well, actually too good to pass up! Send us your food to eat. We will record us eating and critiquing your product, and entertain you all the way to the food bank. Only one dollar a day, $1xday of the year. January 1 = $1, December 31 = $365. 2009 has been prorated until the end of the year. We will donate a portion of our proceeds to a TBA food bank. For every day sold we will donate $1, for every month that we sell out we will donate $300. If we sell out the entire year we will donate $5000.

They donate food to Christian organizations for their food bank.

There is no more selfless or tireless anti-hunger advocate in Central Florida than Andy Kimpel. As a volunteer for Second Harvest Food Bank, Andy is a constant ambassador for our mission, and frequently brings in groups and other new people for our hunger awareness tours. In addition, he serves as the national point of contact for Feeding America food banks with the CHEP Corporation, who provides distribution solutions and pallets to food banks around the country free of charge. Andy also volunteers for every "Trade Show gleaning" project at the Orange County Convention center that comes along. He has helped our organization collect between 20,000 and 250,000 pounds of food samples and other supplies PER SHOW that he has worked. Further, Andy has been a key advisor in the pre-planning stage of a campaign to build a new food bank facility for Central Florida. His logistics expertise has provided a very unique perspective on the new food bank's "ideal" location from an operations and transportation perspective. Andy is a true believer that hunger can be solved in this community, and works very hard toward that end.

Daily, many southwest Missouri families are faced with the decision to pay their bills or feed their children, a decision that one should never be confronted by. Luckily, there is help out there for these families. For years, groups of hardworking, caring people have come together to stock the shelves and open the doors of local food pantries. 25 years ago four men started a journey to meet the growing need of hunger in their community. Bill Verfurth, Don Baker, Dale Ball and Art Steinbaugh recognized that hunger and poverty were becoming serious problems in their community and decided that they were not going to sit back and not doing anything to help. The men opened their own chapter of The Society of St. Vincent De Paul. A chapter that has seen Bill as president initially, and is now run by Done, the youngest of the four. Members of the Society of St. Vincent De Paul are people who strive to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to individuals in need and share a common vision of “embracing the world in a network of charity“. It is through the help of this society that these men were able to open their pantry. Located in Billings, Missouri, the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Pantry is a place where the needy families of the area can go to get the relief they need. The pantry first opened its doors in 1983 and became a member of the Ozarks Food Harvest network in 1986. It operates out of a custom-built garage featuring a walk in freezer and fridge, distributing the second Saturday of every month. This is a long way from the three five-foot shelves, and refrigerator they started with in the church’s basement. The need for the pantry has more than doubled in the past year, going from serving around 35 families, to serving more than 100 families monthly! Last year alone they gave away more than 135,000 pounds of food! “We had families waiting here at 9:00pm the night before, just to make sure they got their food,” said Don Baker on the February 14th distribution day. What makes this location truly unique is its leadership. The “Four Musketeers”, as they are known around Ozarks Food Harvest, come in once a week to The Food Bank to pickup what they need. Then Bill, Don, Dale and Art make their rounds, chatting up everyone they can find. And, it’s this fact that has undoubtedly led to the Musketeer’s success. The group’s friendly nature translates to trust throughout their church. So much so that the congregation of 300 families provides the group with most of the financial backing they need. These men have even gained the trust and support of the other churches in their community! One volunteer on the February 14th distribution date said, “We’ve got one of the best ecumenical projects around!” It’s that trust that keeps the group going year after year. These men share a bond, both with each other and with the people they serve. A bond that serves their community well, allowing those facing tough challenges and decisions to find some easy answers. Though these men have been together for the past 25 years, some of them have history that pre-dates even the opening of the pantry. A few of these gentlemen graduated from the same high school and were even baptized in the same church! It is this type of lifetime bond and devotion that allows a group of men to sacrifice so much time and effort over so many years, to serve their community in such an amazing capacity!

Diane Smith started her career feeding hungry children in 1977!! As a School Food Service Director for thirty years, Diane saw first hand what hunger can do to a child. For the last eight years of her career as a Food Service Director Diane became an active volunteer with Harvesters, the Community Food Network of Kansas City. During those eight years Diane could be found developing PowerPoint presentations for Harvesters, collecting food, volunteering at any number of Harvesters events and doing presentations as a Harvesters Ambassador. Since Diane's retirement she has been appointed to the Board of Directors for Harvesters and is more involved than ever. You might find her packing thousands of BackSnacks to feed hungry children on the weekends, sorting donated food products, collecting canned goods at community events, doing presentations to promote feeding the hungry or helping out with the nationwide hunger study. Diane spends countless hours donating her time to help Harvesters feed the hungry in a twenty-six country area in Kansas and Missouri.

Anne has been program manager for Churches United for over 8 years and her primary focus is to manage and direct the organization of 26 food pantries that are funded and controlled by Churches United. She works diligently to make the community aware of our hunger issues at every opportunity she has. Each year she coordinates the CROP Walk in October and the Souper Bowl of Caring in January. She gives her time freely to speak at community luncheons, schools and anywhere else that will give her a podium. Like many communities, the Quad Cities has been hit hard over the past few months with numerous layoffs, but thanks to Anne and the 26 bi-state food pantries of Churches United of the Greater Quad Cites, area families have a sound resource to turn to for food assistance.

Anne has been program manager for Churches United for over 8 years and her primary focus is to manage and direct the organization of 26 food pantries that are funded and controlled by Churches United. She works diligently to make the community aware of our hunger issues at every opportunity she has. Each year she coordinates the CROP Walk in October and the Souper Bowl of Caring in January. She gives her time freely to speak at community luncheons, schools and anywhere else that will give her a podium. Like many communities, the Quad Cities has been hit hard over the past few months with numerous layoffs, but thanks to Anne and the 26 bi-state food pantries of Churches United of the Greater Quad Cites, area families have a sound resource to turn to for food assistance.

One night while driving home from a gig, drummer Mike DePetrillo heard on the radio that Oklahoma was number one in hunger. He was horrified and knew that he had to do something about it. He was a life-long drummer, so he decided to combine his love of music with his new-found passion for fighting hunger and organized Drum Day Tulsa, benefiting the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. This event is held the first Sunday in November. Drummers from across the region come together to break the Guinness World Record for the most drummers playing the same beat at the same time. The registration fee is 10 cans of food. Over the past four years, they have raised over 17,000 pounds of food. Even more importantly, Mike has used his media contacts in the Tulsa area to help spread the word about hunger in our own backyard. His passion and enthusiasm are amazing. He deserves to be recognized for his selfless devotion to this project.

After retiring from a career in sales, Marsha began volunteering at the San Antonio Food Bank. Volunteering is not new for her, prior to moving to San Antonio last year she was volunteering at a small Food Bank in the Los Angeles area. She is also helping to run her church’s small closet food bank. From the minute I met Marsha she was willing to work wherever she was needed. Her passion is for the plight of the food insecure elderly and children who can not help themselves is remarkable. Marsha says “True satisfaction does not come from serving ones self, but serving others”. She did not hesitate to step up and when I asked her to be the lead in the food sorting warehouse a couple of mornings a week. She was a natural at directing anywhere from a handful of volunteers to over 100 in a session. No task is too great, or too small and she’s always there with boundless energy giving extra time such as we just experienced with Hurricane Ike. For Marsha there is an extra bonus from helping to feed our area’s 25,000 people per week. “Getting to work along side people of all ages and backgrounds all with the heart to help others less fortunate than themselves” This is what she says keeps bringing her back. For all the people Marsha has served and will continue to serve we are grateful. She is an more than than an all star...she is a super star.

Ron should be nominated because of his determination to help those in need. He first got the idea of building a community center in the late 1990s, a time when he owned The Little Grill, a restaurant on North Main Street. For years, ron offered a weekly Free Food for All Soup Kitchen at the restaurant. It was great, but he wanted to do more. The homeless population in Harrisonburg was growing, and he wanted to expand his efforts to better accommodate the poor folks in that neck of town. There was the vacant structure built in the 1930s located across the street from his restaurant. The blue building was for sale for $65,000 and had been empty since the Salvation Army sold it at auction. By 1999, he and other key volunteers formed a nonprofit organization under the name Our Community Place. They set their sights on purchasing the little blue building for the community center. In 2002, the group was able to pay cash for the building and have money left over. They built a new roof and kitchen, installed new electric wiring and plumbing - everything. About four months ago, he has been able to open Our Community Place and is providing food and guidance for the homeless.

Iowa East Central Train, Salvation Army, Benevolent Society and Camanche Food Pantry

Terry owns McCaslin's Northside Market in Milan, TN. Terry does several caterings in and around the Northwest Tennessee area. He helped to organize a fund raiser meal at the Milan National Guard Armory. This was the first year for the event, but I do not think that it will be the last. Due to Terry's hard work and determination, Hunters for the Hungry raised over $10,000 at this one event. Even though we are in tough economic times and giving is down in most areas, Terry was able to get the people of Milan and the surrounding area to come out and support a great cause.

This lady started collecting food from local grocery stores and finding people in need to take the food to. The ministry grew over the past two years, that required she and her husband, Rick to get a building to give the food out of. Almost 7,000 people were helped with free food in the month of October, in the city of Lenoir, N.C. Lenoir use to make most of the U.S. furniture; however, the furniture industry moved out and thousands of people lost their jobs in Caldwell County. I personally worked at their loclation in Lenoir this past Monday and saw hundreds line up to receive the food that the Ministry had collected to give out. I really wanted to ask if Tyson Foods could provide a refrigerated truck full of chickens to come to their building in Lenoir sometime in December to give out donated chickens. The people who came did not receive enough food to last but a day or two. I personally interviewed about 40 of these people; most who make meager earnings, are unemployed, disabled, and some having no income whatsoever. Several young mothers came in to try to get food for their children. My heart was broken when I saw all these people in need for food. Rick & Ceceilia started a church called Crossroads Community Church, they have volunteers who also cook meals to take to shut-in's. There is a great need for food in Caldwell County. Would you please consider donating chickens on a Monday in December, before Christmas! They do not have but 5 or 6 freezers in the building so a truck would have to be sent and the chickens would have to be given off the back of the truck! I am crying Help, Help, for these people! I don't know what to do but ask! Thank you for considering this worki. If you would like to contact Storehouse Daily Bread Ministry; you may contack Cecilia Bowman at Phone: 828-612-6802 or at: storehousedailybread.org Thank You! God Bless you Greatly!

Mr. Triplett has helped struggling families in Wilkes County, NC for years. In 2007 he became the Director of the Wilkes Ministry of h.o.p.e which provides food and finanical assistance to those in need in Wilkes County. Thanks to donations from Tyson Foods in Wilkesboro, he has helped feed hundreds of families who would have otherwise gone hungry. Mr. Tripplett also heads up a Christmas Toy Store in association with the h.o.p.e. Ministry that helps provide Christmas gifts for children whose parents are unable to provide for them. Mr. Tripplett has also worked with other organizations in the county to provide adequate shelter and furnishings for people who cannot do so themselves...often at his own expense. He works many hours "off the clock" for which the only pay he recieves is the "thanks" from those whom he has helped.

REBECCA HAS BUILT THE OUTREACH TO OUR COMMUNITY OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS WITH AN UNWAVERING CONVICTION OF LOVE AND RESPECT FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE IN OUR CITY. EVERY WEEK SHE IS AVAILABLE TO HUG, LOVE AND OFFER A WORD OF HOPE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE. REBECCA LEADS A TEAM OF 50 VOLUNTEERS WITH AMAZING CONVICTION. SHE OFTER REMINDS US, "IT'S NOT A HAND OUT BUT A HAND UP." WE ARE SEEING HUGE NUMBERS OF UNEMPLOYED AND LAYED OFF INDIVIDUALS IN WAYNE COUNTY. MOST ALL OF THEM COMMENT WEEKLY ON HOW MUCH THEY ADMIRE AND APPRECIATE THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE TREATED BY REBECCA . SHE WOULD BE SO HUMBLED BUT TRULY DESIRES RECOGNITION. THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING MY LETTER.

Migdalia is a dedicated, compasionate woman. She is always thinking about how she can help feed a hungry American every day. She worked in a food pantry for 18 years as a volunteer then became the executive director of the pantry - she and her team helped feed over 30,000 people a month in her tenure. She currently works for Island Harvest in Mineola, New York,  and has been the food sourcer for five years.  She has increased donations each year by 1 million pounds to provide for the agencies the food bank serves. At home she is always giving, giving, giving and her passion to help alleviate hunger is tremendous.  She has a heart of gold - she gets my vote.

A team from the Tyson Joslin plant showed up in force to sell food for the final day of RAGBRAI, as riders dipped their tires in the Missippi River in Le Claire.   No strangers to the Powering the Spirit program, this Joslin crew is deserving of the Hunger All-Star designation.  The team included Dave Hinojosa (who was along for the entire week),  Crystal Dyer (who also worked in North Liberty the night before),   Phuong Nguyen, Michael Nguyen,  Michelle Nguyen, Vicki Heyaert,  David Hays, Laurie Hays, and  Tony Lang.

 

William Sanders, Barb Larsen, Bob Purvis and Raul Lagos

Seven Tyson Team Members from the Columbus Junction plant worked to prepare and sell food for hunger relief in Belle Plaine and North Liberty.    Three of the team members, William Sanders, Barb Larsen and Bob Purvis, worked both locations, a hectic Belle Plaine,  during the breakfast shift, and at North Liberty on Thursday evening.  Mark Coleman Aaylan  Wheeler, Peggy Hobach and Wade Bruns worked the evening shift.  All of these folks worked really hard and are deserving of the designation of Tyson Hunger All-Star. 

Crews from the Tyson Foods Waterloo plant prepared and sold food for hunger relief during RAGBRAI '08 at locations in Green Mountain and Toledo, Iowa.  Their hard work has earned them a Hunger All-Star designation.

Four hard-working volunteers from the Northeast Iowa Food bank also contributed to this effort and are equally deserving of this recognition.

The team included:  Green Mountain--Patti Luebbers and Ron Wood from the Waterloo plant, along with Mike Lind, Kim Hines, Jordan Vernay and Patrick Bird from the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.      Toledo--Tara Wait, Jason Mauch, Robin Mueller, Gail Mueller, Enrique Arifa, Mark McKay (who was also riding the entire route),  Emsul Byeelorie, Vivian Reader, Steve and Nancy Louthan (previous Hunger All-Stars). 

 

Here's part of the Perry crew who worked at Ames

Two shifts of Tyson Team Members from the Tyson Foods Perry, Iowa plant worked to prepare and sell food for hunger relief in Ames, during RAGBRAI '08.  They worked from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. as thousands of people thronged to the Iowa State University to see a performance by classic rockers Styx as part of the week-long ride.  Wih temperatures soaring into the '90s, they sold hundreds of ribeye, pulled pork and BBQ chicken sandwiches to benefit hunger relief organizations in the Ames area.

Because of their hard work, they're the Tyson Foods Hunger All-Stars of the day. 

The team members who worked the event were:  Terrance McCauley     Darrell Meinecke     Craig Pote     John McNamara     Edna Colon     Angela Cerwick     Daisy Diaz       Krystal Garcia     Ignacia Diaz    Maxima Campos     Thomas Oyres     Chase Golik     Roger Baumgartner     Eloisa Baumgatner     Xiomara Guzman     Tom Barragan     Jennifer Whitner     Herman Gonzalez     Gordy Laird     Lnda Welchel 

Team members from Tyson Foods Storm Lake, Iowa plant got up early on July 22 to cook and serve food for hunger relief in Grand Junction during RAGBRAI.

The team included:   Barry Thomovanh     Jannette Stephens     Walter Chism, Jr.     Maria Zavala     Maria Gonzalez     Ron Hott     Montoa XaXnax     Paul Juffey     Agustin Silva

Because of their hard work, they're the Tyson Hunger Heroes of the Day.

 

The Tyson Denison plant team

A group of  Tyson Team Members from the Denison, Iowa plant demonstrated their commitment to hunger relief by traveling an hour and showing up at the RAGBRAI Powering the Spirit Location in Kimballton, Iowa.

They worked hard and fast and cheerfully, and by the end of the day, more than 600 omelets and chicken sandwiches had been sold to benefit childhood hunger relief in Kimballton.

The team included:  Dave Gregerson      Jeff Fink      Regina MacLaine     Debbie Ahart     Gabriela Luna     Yislan Burgin

Because of their work, they're the Tyson Hunger All-Stars of the day.

These Team Members from the two Tyson Council Bluffs plants and some members of their families showed up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning to work really hard to raise money for hunger relief as part of the  Tyson Powering the Spirit effort at RAGBRAI 2008.

They cooked, prepared, and served food for  six intense hours, making and selling more than 700 omlette burritos and chicken sandwiches.

And to top it off, they missed their own company picnic, which had been planned before the RAGBRAI event.

Because of their hard work and dedication, the Counci Bluffs RAGBRAI team is the Hunger  All-Star of the Day,

Read more about Dave here.

by Kelly Richard

Ethel Shepherd was inspired 25 years ago in her small town of Mountain Grove, Missouri to pursue her mission through God to distribute food and clothing to those in her area. With her vision she approached her church pastor and asked him for his blessing to begin her service through the church. Pastor John Chasteen agreed and she began to distribute food and clothing from the basement furnace room of the Church. She claims that they began with only three shelves!

Ethel learned that she could receive surplus food through Ozark Food Harvest and immediately signed up for the program. She and another church member began driving to Springfield, Missouri, where Ozarks Food Harvest is located to pickup their supply of food. Ethel would drive every 2-3 months to load anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of food to take back to Mountain Grove. As the word got out about her benevolence, the need for a larger space increased. People were coming to the doors of Ethel's Love Center for help more and more, but Ethel could only manage so much with her small space in the basement of her church. She and her husband began to search for a way to expand the Love Center to accommodate those in need in the community. Three individuals stepped forward from the church congregation to offer their construction skills. People began to donate money and time into the project and by 1998, the new Love Center was completed.

As the years went on, Ethel and her team made several trips each month to Ozarks Food Harvest for groceries and commodities to keep up with the growing need for food assistance from the Love Center. Ethel's Love Center serves over 600 people each month. Even today, after 25 years of service with her pantry, Ethel still makes the hour long trip to Springfield and back to pick up the groceries that her community needs. Ethel is now 80 years old but still pursues her mission in the Lord to serve her community. She now runs the Love Center with 8 other volunteers from Tuesday through Friday each week.

For the last 10 years, Barbara has worked tirelessly to help those in need. It has been her goal that no one would have to choose between having food or buying medicine or paying a utility bill. She is always as close as the telephone. Her number is listed with the State 211 Service under St. Gabriel Church Food Pantry.

Charlie Redmond is a weekly volunteer the soup kitchen, Manna House. He has been a dedicated volunteer for the organization for more than 17 years. Mr. Redmond makes at least three trips a week to the Food Bank to check the inventory and order the needed food items for the soup kitchen. He is always kind and helpful to the less fortunate. Charlie is the oldest member of Manna House's volunteer team and one of the hardest workers. Mr. Redmond was awarded the Food Bank of Central Louisiana's "Volunteer of the Year" award in 2007.

 

Ernie Conduff, LifeSource

Ernie Conduff is definitely an "All Star" in hunger relief. Ernie started with a small food pantry, run out of a spare closet at the church he attended in Northwest Arkansas. The need was bigger than food though.  There were so many sources of "hunger" in the lives of people that Ernie tried to help. So Ernie took a risk, resigned his job, and started LifeSource International in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

 Ernie is not just trying to cure the symptoms.  He and the growing team at LifeSource are working to change the causes of hunger. LifeSource is no longer just a food pantry. LifeSource takes a holistic approach to the problem of hunger. They offer adult education classes to help adults increase their work competencies. They offer counseling for adults and children, to help stop some of the behaviors that contribute to the poverty cycle and family disruption. They offer support to senior citizens, parenting classes, and mentoring and tutoring for school age children. In addition, LifeSource conducts an all day summer day camp for children. At the camp, children who would otherwise be home alone, eating whatever food is easy to fix are fed two meals a day.   And . . . the children have cooking and nutrition classes.The children are tutored in the primary school subjects, taken to summer activities that wealthy kids enjoy, go on field trips, and get attention from caring adults while their hard-working parents fight against the tide of hunger and poverty.

Ernie is not only stemming the tide of poverty and hunger happening now, but he and the organization he formed are also helping provide a bright future for people for whom there wasn't one before.

Terri has served the community served by the Food Bank RGV for over 19 years. She is the epitome of what a hunger relief worker should be. She is a person who is here for the mission and takes every day of service to the community to heart. She is a leader who makes sure we understand why we are here. She quietly does her job, but I strongly feel she must be recognized for her dedication to this very important effort.

During his 17-year tenure as a FSFB Board member, Bob has served as Chairman of the Board and Development Vice Chair. He also is the “founding father” of the extraordinarily successful annual FSFB Rubber Duck Regatta fundraising event. Through his tireless devotion and hands-on dedication, Bob has built the Duck Regatta into the largest in the country and the second largest in the world. In 2007, the 13th year, 85,000 ducks were “adopted” and $400,000 was cleared for the FreestoreFoodbank. Bob works yearround to make the Rubber Duck Regatta bigger and better every year and, through his never-ending efforts, more than $3 million has been raised by this event for the FreestoreFoodbank which serves a population of more than 160,000 low-income persons in a 20-county region. In 2002, Bob received the “Bengals Community Quarterback Award” for his outstanding volunteer service to the FreestoreFoodbank. This is a league-wide volunteer recognition program that awarded $10,000 to the FreestoreFoodbank on Bob’s behalf.

Phillip Robert was a Food Pantry Worker at Voices of the Heart's Inc. Food Pantry in Glens Falls, NY 12801. Mr. Robert eventually became coordinator of this program. He was well respected by all consumers for welcoming them as neighbors and friends. He himself overcame great deversity in his life and turned this into a strength and gift whick he shared with anyone who came into his life, no matter their background, needs or issues. At his untimely death on May 3, 2007 the Food Pantry was overwheled with the many consumers of service whose life Phillip had touched through his work at the Pantry. Then food pantry saw an multitude of cards and flowers in gratitude for Phillip's kindness and support. Voices of the Heart Inc. is a 501 (3) c non profit mental health peer advocacy agency. Phillip had a dual diagnosis of schzophrenia, depression and was also in 15 + years of recovery. Phillip had a wonderfull sense of humor which he also shared with eveyone who came in contact with him. He left behind two teenage children who often would volunteer their own time at the food panty. Voices of the Heart Inc. and its staff, consumers, volunteers and other community individuals have sense Phillips death developed The Phillip H. Robert Humanitarian Award. This prestigious greater community award recieves nominations and selects a group or individual who best demonstrate the qualities of life that Phillip shared with all persons. Our website is www.voicesoftheheart.net Phillip only a few months before his untimely death wrote a letter that I think surely helps to exspress Phillips beliefs and understand of the real mean of life. His award will be presented on Nov. 22, nominations are open till August 18th and are open to anyone. I hope you will seriously consider Phillip for your Hunger All Star Award. His letter and the nomination process on our website will certainly provide greater insight as to why I am nominating him for your award. Phillip and his sense of giving, caring and helping individuals with not only food but a sense of belonging, self and desire to continue his work lives on even in his death. Thank you, John D. Sullivan

Bob Smagala has been volunteering at the NORWESCAP Food Bank in Phillipsburg, New Jersey since March, 2005. After retiring, Bob decided that he wanted to do more with his time than just golfing so after reading a Food Bank newsletter he decided to volunteer. Bob began volunteering with the Food Bank two days a week as a van driver helping to pick up bread and baked goods from local grocery stores and produce from local farms. After completing these pick-ups, Bob can often be found in our salvage area helping to sort donated food and grocery product for distribution to our member agencies. Bob has also volunteered his time and talent for a number of NORWESCAP Food Bank’s annual fundraising events including our Culinary Celebration and Empty Bowls Luncheon. Bob has spent many hours on the day of our Culinary Celebration helping to transport supplies and set-up at our event location. Even after helping all day to prepare for the event, Bob can be found at the event later that evening helping to serve food and provide his assistance anywhere he is needed. During our annual Empty Bowls Luncheon, Bob again lends his support by preparing and serving his own homemade soup. In the past year Bob has added a new project to his volunteer work at the NORWESCAP Food Bank. In October, 2007 Bob was asked if he would be willing to help out with packing bags for our Backpack Program, which provides a food filled backpack every Friday to low income children who may not have access to nutritious meals on weekends and school holidays when the school lunch program is unavailable. Bob happily agreed and has since made even greater efforts to ensure the success of the program. In addition to packing 77 backpacks each week, Bob delivers these bags to 4 sites throughout Phillipsburg, plans the weekly menu, and keeps an inventory of program supplies. During his time working with the Backpack Program, Bob has really taken the program and the children it serves to heart. Although he does not know any of these children personally (a great deal of care is taken to protect the anonymity of the children participating in the program), Bob packs the bags with the loving care of a parent, worrying about the weight of the backpack and variety of foods available for the children. Bob has even bought special treats out of his own pocket to include in the backpacks for each child. Bob’s generosity to this program and the Food Bank doesn’t stop with his volunteer efforts. In addition to his own personal financial donations, Bob has encouraged his friends and family to lend their support, helping to raise nearly $5,000 for the Backpack Program this year. Since joining the NORWESCAP Food Bank family as a volunteer in 2005, Bob has logged more than 1,310 volunteer hours. He is always willing to help wherever and however he is needed and plays a vital role in the day to day operation of the NORWESCAP Food Bank. He does it all with a smile on his face and an attitude that endears him to everyone he meets. We feel extremely fortunate to have such a reliable and kind hearted individual involved with our organization. It is for this ongoing commitment and support provided in far too many ways to name, that we consider Bob Smagala a Hunger All-Star.

Anne's fundraising efforts for Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank demonstrate a perfect balance of sincere compassion for those suffering from hunger and food insecurity and forward-thinking strategy proven to be efficient and effective. Each fiscal year, Anne meets the challenge of raising the funds necessary to grow Food Bank operations and programs to better service those in need. Through her integrated marketing, communications, and fundraising approach, Anne's efforts produce a consistent message broadcast through special events, mailing campaigns, Internet-based initiatives, media campaigns, and donor relationships. Anne's innovative work has helped the Food Bank in building an impeccable reputation.

Caleb Lucien and his wife Debbie have been serving in Haiti for over 20 years bringing food and education to this impoverished nation. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and the cost of food is continually rising while averagae person has to eat dirt cakes to survive. Caleb has worked so faithfully for these people and deserves this more than anyone I know. Please consider him for the Hunger All Stars.

After retirement some people look forward to taking it easy and sleeping in everyday. Not  Mr. Isiah Baker, Foodbank volunteer for more than 14 years. “I tried doing nothing after I retired, but that only lasted about a month,” says Mr. Baker. Every weekday morning he arrives at the Foodbank at 7:00 am to start his day, making copies of the forms that he’ll use to assist the agencies that are coming to the warehouse to pick up their orders and shop through the daily salvaged “specials”. Once the agency representatives are done picking out the items they want for their pantry or prepared meal program, Mr. Baker is there at the scales, weighing everything and recording it on their checkout form. His voluntary workday ends by noon, after he has cleaned up, swept, and put things away. “I just love the fellowship, getting to know people from the churches and other groups that come here for help,” Baker continues, “All my life somebody had been doing something good for me; when I retired I just wanted to do something for someone else.” Also very active in his church, Mr. Baker recalls one day, when it was slow he was studying his Sunday school lesson for the coming weekend, and a lady from an agency asked him what church he attended. “She was from the same town, and knew everyone I knew in the church, although I don’t remember seeing her before,” that’s when he realized the wide range of people the Foodbank helps. “It showed me just how close to home this is. You never know who is helping get food to people who need it.” Mr. Baker also contributes financially to the Foodbank, as well as volunteering some 1,300 hours annually. “My volunteering can’t help everybody [that comes to the Foodbank], so the money I give helps the people I don’t get to help by working here,” Baker modestly adds. He first got involved through his church, when they joined the Foodbank as a member agency. “I just liked it, and what it does for people,” he says, adding with a smile “That’s what it’s all about – helping other people.”

Six years ago Greg was at a meeting in Anderson, Indiana where he heard that shelves were bare in food assistance pantries throughout town and that the food bank itself was short of food. He invited businesses, schools and churches from all areas of the county to come together to participate in a county wide food drive he named We Can Care. The drive was so successful that it was continued year after year. From 2003 through 2008 the We Can Care food drive has leveraged 761,917 pounds of food for food assistance programs in Madison County – that’s more than 586,000 meals for hungry families. All this happened because Greg Graham saw a need, followed his heart and took action to make a difference. At the kick-off meetings for the drive Greg often tells the story of visiting a local food pantry and seeing a little girl who was there with her grandmother. The little girl had her eyes on a bag of marshmallows but grandma was picking out more sensible food items. At the end of the line the pantry worker made sure the little girl had her marshmallows. Greg passes out marshmallows to the audience and suggests they keep one to remind them that We Can Care and we can make a difference in the lives of our neighbors.

In 1992, Stuart Kellogg, General Manager of 16 WAPT-TV in Jackson, MS, came up with the “16-WAPT TV Food For Families Football Challenge” food drive. This food drive would get “rival” high schools to not only compete on the football field, but to also compete in holding a food drive that week benefiting the Mississippi Food Network. To keep it fair, the winning school each week is based on average cans of food per student. The administration, faculty and students all get very competitive, while at the same time are doing a great community service Stuart recruited the help of Teresia Gray, Special Project Manager at the station, to help him in coordinating this food drive. For the past 16 years, Teresia has worked tirelessly recruiting the schools, setting up the schedules, making presentations to the winning schools on Friday night during football season and the annual awards luncheon each spring, setting up media, and all the other details that it takes to conduct a 10-week food drive. Since the first year when 25,098 cans of food were raised until 2007 when 185, 871 cans were raised, this food drive has collected more than 1.8 million cans of food to help feed hungry Mississippians. This is a perfect example of volunteer service by these two people and their employer, WAPT-TV in the battle against hunger. This is a very important project for the Mississippi Food Network in supplying a variety of nutritious, canned food items to our 320 member agencies for the clients they serve. Thank you Stuart and Teresia for your commitment to our organization.

Colquitt, Georgia has a population of 6,239. With a poverty rate of 19%, they have approximately 1,185 living at or below poverty. Under Ms. Estelle's leadership, Colquitt United Methodist Church has distributed 113,000 lbs. of food and grocery items over the past year, which translates to over 95 lbs. of food per person in poverty. Not only are they doing an outstanding job of fighting hunger in their community, but they are now working to help a neighboring county start a pantry that can duplicate their success. Ms. Estelle and Colquitt UMC are hunger-fighting all-stars here in Southwest Georgia!

Our nominee, Shelia Johnson, has worked tirelessly to help promote Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennesee programs that serve children in rural Northeast Tennessee. Shelia started at the Food Bank as a VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) receiving a small stipend for her service. She served as a VISTA at the Food Bank for a total of four years. Her VISTA term expired in September, 2007. At that time we offered her a full-time job but she preferred to continue to serve the food bank volunteering over 24 hours per week coordinating our Food for Kids backpack program. The Food for Kids program provides healthy snacks and easily prepared meal items for children in need to take home from school twice a month so they can have healthy food to eat after school and on weekends when they may have little or no food at home. Shelia knew that many children needed this program based on the fact that over 50% of children in our region are on their school’s free and reduced lunch programs. Shelia worked tirelessly to build the program, placing orders for food, pulling orders in the warehouse, delivering orders and working with volunteers. Through Shelia’s work the Food for Kids program grew from serving 400 children in 2005 to over 1,400 children during 2007. Shelia was a single parent who lived on limited resources while raising two successful sons. She retires from her service to the Food Bank on May 30. Shelia leaves behind a strong program that is providing food for needy children in Northeast Tennessee. The program will continue for the next school year due to Shelia’s tireless efforts and the groundwork that was put into place through her volunteer service and commitment to Second Harvest Food Bank and the children in need in Northeast Tennessee. Shelia is our "Hunger Hero"!

Virginia has set up an all volunteer emergency food bank serving the Little Elm, Texas area. Through her efforts countless families have walked in and received the food they needed on the spot. She also provided assistance during Hurricane Katrina. She is an example to us all. As a young single mother she went through a period when she needed the services of a food bank (years before there was one) and today she fights to make sure the food bank remains an emergency resource for local families that are having temporary set backs (i.e. construction workers that were out of work during heavy rains last year)

Christy and her team at Hidden Harvest are always thinking outside of the box. In an effort to feed more people and give them more nutritious choices, Christy has helped local neighbors glean fresh vegetables that most likely go to waste. In a time where purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables can break a budget, Christy worked on a strategy to not only put the vegetables in the hands of the end consumers, but also help provide financial assistance to help harvest the produce. As it becomes harder for families to provide wholesome and healthy meals to their families, people are looking for ways to work in partnership; and this is shining example of how everyone can play a role and have a win-win attitude. Christy and her team were also recently honored in People Magazine on May 5th.

AnaRose Hebein is a 12 year old girl who for her 10th and 11th birthday asked her friends to donate money to host a mobile food pantry for her birthday in lieu of giving her birthday presents.

AnaRose was ten when she attended a farmers market style food pantry with her mother, Jacqui Hebein who works for Northern Illinois Food Bank on April 16, 2006 where she helped pass out grapes to individuals coming to the food panty. When leaving she was so moved by the experience of helping people, she told Jacqui she needed to do something else and asked if she could have her friends do that for her birthday. Jacqui explained that the food pantries share the maintenence of the food and the fee for a Northern Illinois Food Banks Mobile Food Pantry Truck is $650 and their family could not afford that. So AnaRose sat in the backseat of the car and figured out that if she invited 30 of her classmates and friends to her 11th birthday, they could make a donation instead of bringing her gifts and the kids that attended could help pass out the food to the needy families. Ana then sent out letters to the parents of her classmates asking if they would support her idea, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

On August 4, 2006 AnaRose hosted the first birthday mobile food pantry with Open Arms Mission at Community Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Villa, Illinois where 130 food insecure families were given groceries from the Northern Illinois Food Banks Mobile Food Pantry truck.

On August 8, 2007 for her 12th birthday, AnaRose repeated her efforts again. This time over 200 familes were served by the Northern Illinois Food Banks Mobile Food Pantry at Community Church of Holy Spirit in Lake Villa, IL. AnaRose decided it was better to give than receive and has decided to continue her selfless act of giving up birthday gifts in exchange for food for low income families. Her plan is to continue giving her birthday for families in need. She has proven that children can see answers when adults put obstacles in their way.

AnaRose also wrote the following poem that was used by the Northern Illinois Food Bank for Hunger Awareness Day activities in June of 2007.

"The Face of Hunger"

The face of hunger has many disguises,br>Such as families of various sizes
Homeless people living on the street,
And everyday neighbors that you may meet.
Children at school; children at play
Who go hungry every day.
Parents, teens and babies too,
Also need food from me and you.
Isn't it great that there is a day, that helps these people in some way?
So pull out some of your extra pay
And give a donation for Hunger Awareness Day!

Kay Kirchner’s work as a Community Relations professional for hi-tech company Applied Materials is unparalleled. Recently, when a Food Bank board member approached Kay for a donation to the Food Bank’s annual golf tournament, Kay turned him down. Applied Materials already donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Food Bank each year, she explained. Applied Materials’ corporate giving policy focuses on providing direct support to programs which benefit our community. However, Kay didn’t stop there. Instead, because she is truly a hunger hero and dedicated to the mission of the Food Bank, she made a suggestion to the board member. Perhaps, she suggested, we could leverage the giving potential of all hi-tech companies in Austin, while using technology. And from her idea, Hunger Bytes was born. Austin-area technology companies are invited to join the "Hunger Bytes" campaign and take a leadership role in ending hunger. This is the first online, collaborative virtual food drive campaign in Central Texas. The challenge: Provide 3.75 million meals to hungry Central Texans in 2008. Kay led a group of 10 hi-tech company representatives through the idea and implementation phase. Because of her, we are helping to end hunger in Central Texas.

Hester Weigand is a stellar example of selflessness. For the past 11 years, she has voluntarily coordinated all aspects of the Austin Empty Bowl Project, a fundraiser for the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB). The Austin Empty Bowl Project is part of an international effort on the part of potters to raise money for and awareness of the fight against hunger in their local community. The proceeds from the event go directly to the CAFB to fund a Kids Cafe. For 10 months out of every year, Hester tirelessly prepares for the Empty Bowl Project. She solicits in-kind donations of hand crafted and decorated bowls from well over 200 potters throughout Central Texas. She is a “foodie” of the highest degree well respected by the 30 restaurants and bakeries that donate soup and bread for the Austin Empty Bowl Project. Because Austin is the “live music capital of the world”, she makes sure four to five musicians and/or musical groups donate playing time to entertain attendees both while waiting in line and while eating their soup. Hester is integral in the recruitment and training of the more than 100 people who volunteer to work the day of the event. About 1500 people attended the 2007 Austin Empty Bowl Project, helping to provide 179,655 meals. Thanks to Hester’s commitment, the Austin Empty Bowl Project has helped to raise more than $300,000 or the equivalent of over 1.75 million meals since its inception in 1996! The AEBP is an established event in Austin (this will be the 12th annual) with a loyal following of over 1200 attendees and 100 volunteers. Potters donate handmade bowls, restaurants donate soup and bread, and attendees are invited to purchase a handmade, hand decorated, one-of-a-kind bowl. The bowls are filled with soup, which is enjoyed while listening to live music. Attendees keep the bowl as a reminder of those whose bowls are empty.

Sharon G. Kosek is a well know name in our community. I met her after my factory job of 30 years went to China and I had to be retrained for the job market. She was not only my teacher but informed all of us of the services that were available to us while we were making our transitions. She helped me turn my anger into a postitive. While attending her class, we were encouraged to have a food drive for a local program called Backpack Buddies, that helped feed children over the weekend that might otherwise be hungry over the weekend. In our community, we have 56% of our elementary children on free or reduced lunch. Sharon Kosek wanted to help those children and she did with her time, donations of food and funds and coordinated other groups to help the cause. Sharon Kosek has always found time to voulunteer her time to help feed the people in our home town, young and old alike. Her campassion for helping those less fortunate is seen often. She encouraged me to take an intern job at our local Food Bank. Second Harvest of Greater St. Joseph hired me for the development department and this is where I am working to this day. I work with a small staff that gets the food from our warehouse to the people that need it. I still see Sharon Kosek even though she has retired from teaching. Her work feeding children through our Backpack Buddies program is still very important to her. I believe Sharon Kosek should be a Hunger All-Star for all the years work she has dedicated to feeding school children through the Backpack Buddies program here at Second Harvest of Greater St. Joseph.

Bill and Bob Boyer have been volunteering at West Ohio Food Bank for over 2 years. They first learned about the food bank through their church, Shawnee United Methodist, and the churches annual, "Harvest for the Hungry" campaign they so generously head up in the community each year to earn funds to help support the operation of the food bank. Bob and his wife Phyllis adopted Bill and his sister when they were only babies. Bill was born both mentally and physically disabled but that doesn't stop him from helping any way he can. Bill is wheelchair bound and relies on a cage lift that was donated to our food bank as a means of transporting both him and his father to our upstairs Mezzanine area where they help weekly packing CSFP (commodity supplemental food program) boxes. These boxes help to supplement 1,203 qualified seniors located within our service area with a box of good nutritious food each month. Bob is also active during our distribution of these boxes at our organization. Whether he is helping to load vehicles or gets out and helps sign the seniors in so they can receive their box, he always plays a part in the distribution. If you don't find them upstairs packing boxes, you will find them in our reclamation room sorting through food donations and checking expiration dates, sorting food into groups, weighing boxes, even repackaging bulk foods into user friendly sized packs. They have also become good friends with workers and other volunteers. Bob has even went as far as to give other volunteers a ride home if there is inclement weather so they won't have to walk in it. You will also often hear other volunteers or workers asking, "Are Bill and Bob here today?" This year Bob just celebrated his 80th birthday but you would never know that he was that old. Although he is retired, Bob still continues to farm the land that he has had since he was young. He brings Bill in with him 3 days a week or more if needed to volunteer. He assists Bill with getting in and out of the car using his wheelchair and helps him get to where they need to be for the day. Between the both of them for the 2007 year, 1,080 hours of service was provided by these two individuals. This of course isn't counting the events held at the food bank that they attend and help at if asked. Needless to say their loyalty has saved the food bank several dollars by their donation of time to help forward our mission. While not only are these two gentlemen wonderful volunteers and assist with any task needing done at the food bank, they have also instilled their superior volunteerism to others in their family. Many times Bob's wife Phyllis will join them both at teh food bank and help pack the boxes or sort donations. There have even been times when he has had many other family members come in to volunteer just to show their support of West Ohio Food Bank or groups at his church come to help make sure the seniors have their boxes ready each month. Their generosity doesn't stop with only volunteering. The Boyer's are also great financial supporters of the food bank. When Bob realized there was a need for a card board bailer to cut down on trash removal cost he suggest to our Maintenance Manager that he should get bids on the price of this piece of equipment. When a bailer was found in Michigan, WOFB staff began to wonder how we were going to be able to afford it. Bob so graciously stepped forward and stated that they would like to be the ones to donate the money to make this purchase. He had but one request in doing so, that we hang a plaque by the bailer dedicating it to his son, Bill. We were so blessed to have such a generous family whole-heartedly support our mission. But it didn't stop there. It was Bob's wife Phyllis who reminded Bob that the baler would need electrical wiring work done so it could be hooked up. She insisited that their family donate the money for that also. By doing this, The Boyer family not only saved the West Ohio Food Bank a major expense by donating the funds for a bailer and its' installation, they have helped cut down on the trash removal cost as well. Another benefit having the bailer installed has been to WOFB is the ongoing extra funds that we earn by recycling the cardboard and helping keep a healthy, friendly environment. The Boyer's are also major supporters in WOFB's major gift campaign. They have supported our ongoing efforts in obtaining funds to purchase our current distribution center and call it home. They also continuously give whenever they see a need or it's just as simple as a direct mailing that they may receive in the mail. WOFB is privilaged and honored to have the Boyer's loyal, trusted, and very much appreciated services so willingly given to our organization. They are a blessing and truly heroic and think of others before themselves. It is with this loyalty that we consider them a Hunger All Star and value their partnership with our agency's fight against hunger.

At 77, a time in her life when most of her peers are long retired, Ann Bumgardner comes to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle on a daily basis to “work the Market.” Ann was one of the first volunteers when the Food Shuttle was in its infancy, over 15 years ago, and her dedication to this huner-relief organization is inspiring. In 2007 the Food Shuttle recovered 5.3 million pounds of food & provided it free of charge to soup kitchens, church pantries, shelters and other human service organizations. Our single largest food donor by far is the North Carolina State Farmers Market—providing 1.5 million pounds of perishable food annually—and nearly all of that food is directly attributable to the hard work of Ann Bumgardner. Ten years ago she became the Food Shuttle’s Market Specialist, and even drove one of the Shuttle’s trucks to the Market daily. Eventually the organization and the donations grew to such an extent that a larger truck and a professional driver were needed to attend to the Market Route. Still, rain or shine, in the heat of the Carolina summer, or the chill of winter, Miss Ann continues to walk the Farmer’s Market on our behalf. The relationships she has built with the farmers, wholesalers, and truckers benefit hundreds of needy people every day. She charms and persuades, finesses and cajoles. She earns everyone’s affection and respect as she tirelessly works to ensure that nutritious fresh produce finds its way onto the plates of disadvantaged individuals and families rather than into the landfill. It is Ann’s hard work, her energy and dedication that make her a true Hunger All-Star.

Charlotte Stengel is beloved by all at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, and in her community of Cairo, NY where she has been working to feed the poor and hungry since 1947. Charlotte is 88 years old, and has been a tireless advocate and servant to her community for over 60 years, starting with a food pantry in her home and in later years it was moved to Resurrection Lutheran Church to meet the growing need. Charlotte has had an amazing life, growing up in a circus family in Germany, pre-World War II. She won a gold medal in weightlifting in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. When the War started, Charlotte's family was pressed into service entertaining German troops on the Russian front. During the war, her mother was wounded. Charlotte carried her mother through the woods for four days until they reached safety, eventually ending up in Poland. After the War, while performing for American troops, Charlotte met her husband, George, and in 1947 they came to America and Charlotte started her food pantry. Today, Charlotte serves 3,000 people each year out of her food pantry. Charlotte has touched many more thousands of lives over her 60 years, and is truly deserving of being recognized as a "Hunger All-Star".  Charlotte was recognized in the national Elks Club magazine in May of 1999 as a Citizen of the Year.  ". Cairo-Durham, NY, Lodge named Charlotte Stengel as its citizen of the year recently. Since 1947 Stengel has been actively involved in providing for the less fortunate of the community, and in recent years she has helped the Cairo Food Pantry. The Lodge held a dinner in Stengel's honor to thank her for her dedication and also donated $1,000 to the food pantry for which she works.

For numerous years this volunteer has given at least 4 complete mornings each week to our food bankbyassisting our customers/agencies in our open shopping area. Any time one of our agencies chooses to come in to our food bank to pick up their food order they are eligible to "OPEN SHOP". This is an area in our distribution center that houses donated product that we offer to our agencies daily. It is fully manned by Tom along with 2 other volunteers. He continuously goes out of his way to help our agencies by seeing to they get what is needed and with the utmost courteous spirit come rain shine sleet or snow. Here at our food bank we now have over 200 active agencies and some of them come in to pick-up at least once every other week. He keeps up with them all by name and greets them each visit. He bends ove backwords to assist in their needs. We would very much like for him to recieve this honor.

For the past 17 years Mr. Lewis has volunteered at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank in the warehouse. He is instrumental in assuring the trucks are loaded properly in order for over 120 agencies to receive their allocations. Mr. Lewis volunteers each day from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. During Katrina and Rita storms in 2005 Mr. Lewis volunteered in excess of 40 hours per week until the crisis was over. For the past 8 years he has been the recipient of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank Volunteer of the Year Award logging in more than 1,000 hours per year. Mr. Lewis received the Leagion of Merit Award in 1996, Capital Asset Award in 2006, Service Matters Award in 2006 and the Points of Light Volunteer of the Day Award for January 1, 2007. He also volunteers at the annual Slice of Life Golf tournament where proceeds benefit the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.

I have worked with Jane for just over six months and continue to be amazed by her energy and selflessness as she strives to provide basic food items to more than 7,000 seniors in the San Antonio Area. I am privileged to work along someone who is dedicated to the hunger fight. Jane is a "Hunger All-Star" in every since of the word. Here is her story: Project H.O.P. E started in May of 2003, under a contract between the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Food Bank. It was designed to provide free groceries to seniors 60 years or older who fell into the 185% poverty rate. Studies had indicated that seniors who were being fed lunches at the Nutrition Sites were for the most part subsisting on only that one meager meal. To this day, Jane is troubled by that fact. Jane was not searching for a job at the time and was going through a long recovery after having a brain aneurysm. For some reason that Monday she picked up the Sunday paper to practice her reading. Reading was one of the abilities Jane lost after her optic nerve had been damaged. The San Antonio Food Bank was searching for volunteers to start a new senior program. H.O.P.E. was a new program and within week she would became the solo coordinator for this ground breaking program. Day after day Jane would sort through 100’s of pallets of assorted product so that each senior would get a variety of nutritious food items. The project started with 12 distribution sites which steadily increased enrollment and distribution sites. By the end of the first year the program exceeded the contract expectations of enrollment and was providing 50 lbs of food to over 4,449 seniors. A second person had to be brought on to help coordinate the program that is currently distributing to 78 sites. The challenges have not ended, but Jane continues to remain positive. Funding has come through for four of the outlying sites through the county but the program has been forced to reduce the poundage to seniors to 25 lbs a month due to the high enrollment. Jane provides the most nutritious food available and it is her hope that this year funding will increase so that she may reach more seniors. Jane's mantra is that “We must never forget the people who survived the depression, who fought our wars to help keep our country free. These are a proud people who are having a hard time making ends meet.” As I watch Jane work I am convinced that to many seniors Project H.O.P.E. and Jane are a God send. She stands on the side of HOPE fighting HUNGER.

Ms. Bolger activly feeds hundreds of families a month ,she never stops. Ms. Bolger is a volunteer running a non profit food pantry. Although she recives some government issued items, it is not enough. One year she went to every grocer in the neighborhood to purchase turkeys at a discount from her own pocket...This lady turns no one away and that includes me...Many years ago my children and I were alone, limited income and no food, there she was, my angel..even to this day I am on a fixed income and she always wants to help..Ms Bolger could truly use your help please help her . I am trying to pay back by finding her the extra donations of monies and food she needs, my husband helps unload donations to help out. Ms. Bolger has many things to deal with in her own personal life but the food pantry is open all year round. A food donation would be so greatly appreciated and or a monetary. Ms Bolger supplies bags filled with non perishable items but familes need meat once in a while. Please do not get me wrong people are so appreciative and no one ever complains. Any help you can give her is greatly appreciated and I will in turn continue in my effort to help find more food and funding. Thank you so much fot the time you have taken in reading my request.

Students from West High School who operate the on-site coffee shop (JAVA West) made a check presentation for $350.00 to Tyson Waterloo’s “Powering the Sprit” campaign on Monday, March 24th. Students are entirely in charge of this coffee shop from all business perspectives. It is part of vocational training and community living classes for students at West High School, most of whom will enter the work force directly upon graduation. It’s not the tasks that these students do in the coffee shop that make them hunger heroes, but it’s the passion of helping others. One visit to the coffee shop and you will see, feel and understand the passion these students have to help others. That’s helping others as their customers and helping others to make a difference in the community. Trever, a 9th grader at West High stated, “I know what it is like to need. My dad skipped out on my mom and I when I was young and we needed to use the food bank. Things are better for us now, but I want to help those who need the help today because I know what it’s like to need.” Other students were quick to comment about the reasons, they choose hunger relief and comments flew around the room about helping others, giving to kids who are hungry, and helping people who don’t have enough. These students are truly hunger heroes as they find ways to be part of the solution of ending hunger in our community. This donation of profits from the café is their first to the community. Students in photo (L-R): Willie, Blaine, Alen, Kenny, Trever and Kayla. Not pictured: Ashley, Cassie and John

At Lighthouse Mission Thrift Store, we are a local non for profit mission selling clothing, furnature, bedding...basically anything for a home. All our items are donated from the public, and the procedes from our sales are turned back to the community through projects we do. Claire started, years ago, doing food baskets for people in the community who needed one at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It started out with her going to the grocery and loading up her station wagon with the items needed to fill a bag with the same type of food that she would want to sit down with at a Holiday meal. Things have quickly changed over the years. This past year at Thanksgiving and Christmas we prepared 1508 baskets (608 at Thanksgiving and 900 at Christmas) totalling $33,417.44 worth of food. Many local organizations and generous people donate money to help in paying for this endevour, and the money generated from our sales from the store are used. We are gearing up for our Easter baskets, and with the closing of a big local factory, Gen Corp, there are sure to be many signing up for a meal. At Easter we get Tyson bonless chicken breast bags and give each family a bag along with a grocery bag full of other items to prepare their Easter meal. We are preparing for 500 families at this point, and would love for your company to consider joining in our campaign to feed the hungry in Wabash County. Claire has brought our store to the point it is, and truely puts her heart and soul into it. She gives God the glory for all that He does to provide for our projects and needs for the store. We pack our Easter Baskets on March 20th where now we have a local semi who goes to pick up our food, and many people from 3 year olds to high school clubs, to boy scouts earning their patches. come to join in. Claire has come a long way from her grocery cart and station wagon, and we'd like to bless her even more by a Tyson Semi pulling up! Thanks you for considering our project as we start our process of ordering food very soon!

This food pantry began with $500 dollars and a dream. The idea of the Bremen Food & Clothing Bank was conceived by Linda Ware when she found herself in need of food assistance. She learned of a local food pantry and went there for help. After receiving assistance she began to volunteer there. While that food pantry helped many, she saw the need for something more. In May of 1991 the Bremen Food & Clothing Bank became a reality thanks to the work of Linda, and her daughter Angela Taylor.. The first week in operation 78 families were served. Currently, we serve well over 400 families each week on site. We are also able to help hundreds of other families each week through our Partner Agency Program.

Now 84 years old, Ruth Wade has made helping people in her community a life’s work. Her community involvement began in the 1950’s through the United Planning Organization in Washington, DC where she taught people in need how to cook surplus food. Her commitment to volunteer service continued for the next 50 years as she helped to feed the homeless at a neighborhood soup kitchen and participated in her church’s monthly emergency food distribution. In 1996 Ruth took over as coordinator of the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church food program, which currently feeds between 100-120 people each month and involves over 10 volunteers. In the same year, Ruth co-founded Hope Manor Incorporated, a nonprofit devoted to “Helping Others to Prosper Economically” in Ward 7 of Washington, DC, an area of the city with some of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment. Operating for the next decade, Hope Manner Inc. offered the community an array of services including emergency food, clothing, GED prep, and a summer camp for at-risk youth. She has carried many of these services over to Mt. Vernon’s food program, and added others such as pro bono legal counsel and classroom supplies for kids returning to school. Beyond food, Ruth says that her program helps to meet a tremendous social need amongst people in crisis. “Sometimes they come just for the hug, just for the love.” While maintaining a ready supply of food and other resources may be a constant challenge for Ruth Wade, her contagious smile is always in abundant supply. With the energy of someone half her age, Ruth shows little sign of giving up and instead looks forward to serving the next hungry person who may walk through Mt. Vernon’s doors.

Argelia Cabrera Langley Park, Maryland Positions: Alcance Program Coordinator Langley Park Elementary School Parent Liaison Argelia Cabrera can wear you out just talking about her daily schedule. Working full time as a parent liaison at Langley Park Elementary School, Argelia helps to ensure that immigrant children of Hispanic descent and their parents can successfully navigate the school system. On top of this position, Argelia plays an active role in Alcance, an outreach program of her church that provides food, counseling, rental assistance, computer classes, English lessons and other client services to immigrants in her community. Through Alcance, Argelia provides food packages to up to 25 families per week. This past Thanksgiving this number jumped to 160 families. In 2002, drawing together her school and outreach commitments, Argelia helped to establish a food distribution at Langley Park Elementary School. She realized that the elementary school provided a natural point where she could reach out to immigrant families in need. In partnership with the Capital Area Food Bank, the Langley Park site distributes food to over 100 families each month who are at risk of hunger. Ask how she got where she is now and why she has devoted her life to helping others, and she’ll respond to both questions with the same answer, “Because others have helped me.” Emigrating from El Salvador nearly 30 years ago, Argelia and her husband started in America with nothing to their name. Through years of hard work and people’s generosity at a number of key points in her life, Argelia is now in a position where she helps hundreds of people in her community to attain the American dream.

Students of The Alternative Program (TAP) of Wayzata High School (serving 13 school districts), have volunteered weekly at the Food Bank for nine years, helping repack product. The 11th and 12th grade TAP students are at-risk, and they gain skills that help them as they enter the work world, so it's a win-win siutation for all involved.

St. Joseph's parish of Lino Lakes, MN coordinates volunteers at the Second Harvest Heartland Maplewood location. The Summer Stretch Youth program packs boxes for income-eligible seniors and mothers and children. Parish families volunteer at our Minneapolis location. The children and adults now have an understanding about the causes of hunger and they are formed in their faith to understand that service to others is a main part of leading a religious life.

Michael has been a "computer guru," supporting the Volunteer Manager of the Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank with his advanced computer skills and leadership abilities to manager the volunteer database. Michael's expertise has increased the database's accuracy and enhanced the ease of access to this data. His help has been immeasurable.

Pastor Thomas has been very active in his community in an all-star effort making sure that every family that he know in his community as well as outside of his community has something to eat. He has given so much of himself that he has fed the hungry from his own home which inspired him to start the Rankin Chapel Food Pantry. He currently feeds 128 families every month. That's why I nominate Rev. Thomas as a Hunger All-Star.

Nine years ago Dan McClosky noticed an article in the paper about turkey shortages at local food banks and decided to do something about it. He called a few friends, raised some money and bought 55 turkeys. The next year he discussed the idea with the Temple Sinai Brotherhood and with their help, he raised $13,000. Every year since then new synagogues and organizations signed on to what is now called the annual Holiday Dinner Drive. Now 16 groups are participating and the 2007 drive brought in $46,000 for the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Due to Dan’s efforts, the Food Bank has received a grand total of $293,000 over the past nine years. “It bothers me that people in this country, with all its wealth, can go hungry,” says Dan. “I don’t like to see food banks not be able to meet those needs. There’s not a lot I can do on the street to help people, so this is my way to say I’m doing something.” Dan is a Tyson Hunger All Star whose collaborative spirit and tireless energy helps feed the 40,000 people the Food Bank serves each week.

You know it’s Monday afternoon at Food Bank of the Rockies when you hear the laughter echoing in the warehouse. After over 7 years, that laughter has become a staple around FBR. Along with the contagious laughter come 2 hands that work tirelessly in order to serve those who are less fortunate. Her name is Ruby. And she defines volunteer dedication, a vital component of the daily operations at Food Bank of the Rockies. Aside from volunteering over 1,500 hours every Monday at FBR over the past 7 years, Ruby also operates an emergency food box program for the Montbello, CO area. She saw that there wasn't an active food pantry in her area and explains that since God has been so good to her, she vowed to repay him by helping others. Ruby and her husband make themelves available 24 hours a day to serve those in need. In addition, Ruby cooks and serves dinner at her church once per month and organizes celebrations through her church. Ruby and her husband both have health issues they battle, but they still continue to help others each day, including raising grandchildren. Ruby has a selfless, caring spirit and is truly worthy of being recognized for her dedication to fighting hunger through countless avenues. Food Bank of the Rockies considers her to be a vital component to our mission of fighting hunger and feeding hope to over 312,000 people served through our agencies.

Debbie had a resale shop about five years ago just for suppliing gas for her food distrubution service. Now she has a warehouse in Tonitown, Arkansas.  Debbie has been running a distribution center for food banks. she picks up bread and meat beans rice ect.. and takes it to surronding communities and i think Oklahoma and Missorri she would be a great candidate for any kind of help.

At the young age of 11, Jonathan Crider was already showing signs of what it means to be a hunger all star. After hearing a public service announcement on his local radio station in Marlow, Oklahoma – he was shocked to learn that there were kids his age, living near his hometown, who were going hungry. Many of these kids had little or nothing to eat after their free lunch at school on Friday until their free breakfast at school on Monday. How, he thought, could he not know about this?

Fortunately, Jonathan also heard some encouraging words in that PSA. The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food 4 Kids program was providing backpacks of nutritious food to these same kids every Friday throughout the entire school year.

After telling his parents that he wanted to find a way to help these kids, Jonathon met with the Deputy Superintendent of Lawton Public Schools, Dr. Linda Dzialo, who is also the chairperson of the Lawton Food 4 Kids program. With Dr. Dzialo’s support, Jonathon decided to set a goal of raising $135.00 – the cost to provide a backpack to one child for an entire school year. After organizing a penny drive at his school, mowing lawns and working for his dad, he raised more than $700! He then decided it was time to start telling others in his community about this problem and how they could help. He accompanied Dr. Dzialo and spoke to civic organizations and the local media telling people about Food 4 Kids and what they could do to help. He challenged everyone in the community to sponsor just one backpack for one child for one year. He even stood before the local Rotary Club and told them “I’ve raised $135 to provide a backpack for a kid for a whole year…what are you going to do?” The members couldn’t pull out their checkbooks fast enough!

In 2006, Jonathan spent three months of his own time organizing the first ever “Rock-A-Thon” at Central Mall in Lawton. His idea was to get sponsors to pledge money for each hour that a participant could rock in a rocking chair. He and Dr. Dzialo recruited the rockers and he generated publicity by giving interviews with the local newspaper and radio stations, including live remotes on the day of the event. He asked the manager of Central Mall to provide the venue; partnered with food vendors and Coca-Cola to provide food and drinks to participants; recruited and organized the dozens of volunteers needed to help with the event; spoke with local merchants and asked them to donate door prizes and goodie bags for the Rockers; and secured a pizza party for the group that raised the most money. When the event was over, Jonathan and his army of more than 100 volunteers raised $15,000! Finally, he personally wrote thank you notes to all the vendors, volunteers, Rockers, and donors that helped make the Rock-A-Thon a success. The best part for Jonathan was having the pizza party at one of the schools receiving backpacks. The principle, Dr. Polk, introduced him to some of the students he had helped and allowed him to hand the backpacks to them.

Two years have passed since Jonathan first heard that PSA, and he is now 13. In that time, he has rallied the community of Lawton to raise over $20,000 for Food 4 Kids, feeding more than 100 children in Lawton Public Schools for an entire school year and changing their lives. Their grades and behavior have improved and their self-esteem has grown. There is no limit to what Jonathan can and will do for the children of Lawton. He is passionate about giving them a future and letting them know they are important. His peers have seen that you don’t have to be an adult to make the world a better place. Jonathan plans to continue the Rock-A-Thon in Lawton. He wants to start a leadership club in his school so that his peers can find out how to become more involved in their community. He plans to produce a video highlighting Food 4 Kids to be shown at City Council meetings, Chamber meetings, and other civic organizations. His influence has already resulted in thousands more dollars being raised to provide food to chronically hungry children.

At 13 years of age, Jonathan has done more to improve the lives of children and families than many adults several years his senior. His parents, friends and all who have come in contact with him, are extremely proud of him and envision even greater things from him in the future. Everyone is looking for and needs a hero in their life. The children of Lawton, OK have found theirs. Jonathan Crider is, indeed, an amazing young man, an exemplary leader and a Tyson Hunger All-Star.

Mr. Triplett works diligently to ensure that the needy in our county are ministered to physically as well as spiritually. He goes out of his way to encourage, comfort, and assist the hungry, homeless and hurting. For over ten years, he traveled between Wilkes County, NC and New York City, working with the Graffiti Ministry in the Lower East Side to feed a provide blankets, warm socks, hats, gloves and underwear to the homeless. Here in Wilkes County, he is constantly looking for ways to distribute food and other necessary supplies to the people who are not able to provide for their families. He most recently headed up the ministry's "Toy Store" which provided Christmas gifts to over 430 children. These are children which are not served through the other ministries in the area such as the Salvation Army, Christmas in Wilkes, etc. Mr. Triplett has a warm, caring heart and truly wants to help others. For this reason, he deserves to be recognized by Tyson as an "All Star".

KTHV Television meteorologist, Tom Brannon promotes the Arkansas Foodbank Network’s mission and events on air throughout the calendar year. Every summer he takes the lead with the THV Summer Cereal Drive (SCD) and dedicates every weekday morning during this ten week period to get the community involved in this worthy cause. During SCD alone, Tom Brannon contributes over 100 hours of his time for planning, execution and publicizing. In 2007, SCD raised almost 139,000 boxes of cereal that were distributed to those in need throughout the state of Arkansas. Since SCD began in 2001, over 345,000 boxes have been distributed. During the first year of the THV Summer Cereal Drive, 23 teams participated and collected 23,405 boxes of cereal. Tom Brannon’s energy and passion alone helped the drive reach 109 teams and 138,568 boxes in 2007. He spends weeks leading up to the event encouraging businesses, organizations and individuals to participate. During the Drive, he voluntarily goes on numerous live remote feeds to be able to interact with community members and challenge them, whether down the street or an hour drive, while still delivering his regular weather reports. His willingness towards the Foodbank truly has no limits. In 2007, Tom Brannon was the master of ceremonies and auctioneer for the Arkansas Foodbank Network’s fifth annual Empty Bowls art auction and charity fundraiser. About a week after the event, he called the Foodbank asking if the 2008 date had been set so he could mark it on his calendar. This is a small example of his initiative and dedication to the organization. He is rarely asked for help because he usually volunteers first.

Each year for the past twelve years Rev. W.R. Casey and the Christian Ministers Alliance have worked to provide food baskets for needy families in the Tulsa area every Thanksgiving. At christmas they provide Toys for children and food for the families. He works tirlessey through out the year raising money for Scholarship and a community outreach center.

David Langston has been a volunteer with FOOD Share since his retirement over 10 years ago. David is one of the most dedicated volunteers to FOOD Share mission of providing food to people in need in Ventura County. He is here in the warehouse four days per week, working tirelessly the entire time he is here. He works in the shipping/receiving department, driving a forklift, loading and unloading the trucks with food products. He always displays a positive, upbeat, can do attitude. No job is too small or too large for him to tackle and see to completion. FOOD Share fully recognizes that without volunteers we would not be able to operate and serve the community in the manner in which our 30 year esteemed history documents. FOOD Share is very fortunate in having a team of wonderful, outstanding, and committed to the cause volunteers. David exemplifies the best in volunteerism, by selflessly giving of his time and energy to help people in need of food.

Susan Sanford has been executive director of The Food Bank since 1992 and was recently named President and Chief Executive Officer. During her tenure, The Food Bank has grown from a distribution of five million pounds in 1992 to more than 10.4 million in 2006. A tireless champion on behalf of hungry people and a leader in the fight against hunger in America, Sanford served on the board and as vice chairman of America’s Second Harvest—The Nation's Food Bank Network. Locally, she is one of the founding members of the Safety Net Collaborative, a group of nine agencies that provide emergency social services. She also serves on the advisory board of the Mid-South Commission on Aging. She is a past president of the Memphis Rotary Club and former member of the Metro Board of YWCA. Sanford is a former chairman of the board of directors of United Way of Greater Memphis. Prior to joining The Food Bank, she was vice president of the Memphis Arts Council and, prior to that, development director of Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Honors include Volunteer of the Year from the Memphis Volunteer Center, the Commercial Appeal’s Thousand Points of Light Award, Women’s News "50 Women Who Make a Difference" and the Ellida Sadler Fri Award for Leadership from the YWCA of Greater Memphis. Her never ending commitment to ending hunger makes her an ideal Hunger Champion.

The High Plains Food Bank would not be able to distribute one pound of food if it was not for the generosity of George Lankford. As the President and CEO of Affiliated Foods in Amarillo, Texas, George helps the High Plains Food Bank feed those in need on a daily basis. Affiliated Foods donates food and product to the Food Bank on a weekly basis and also assists the Food Bank with costs associated with accessing food. The support of George allows the Food Bank to access food more efficiently and to spend more time on our mission: To Alleviate Hunger in the Texas Panhandle. Affiliated Foods was also instrumental during the expansion of High Plains Food Bank in early 2000 and 2003. By providing funds and support, the Food Bank tripled the size of its warehouse. Today, the Food Bank owes its 51,000 foot facility to George and Affiliated Foods. The High Plains Food Bank greatly appreciates the guidance and support of George throughout the expansion project. By providing unfailing community support, George Lankford is a true example of what it takes to be a Hunger Champion.

Janie has been committed to alleviating hunger in the Texas Panhandle for nearly two decades. Under Janie’s leadership, the High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo, Texas developed a Rural Delivery Service to distribute food to 19 rural communities throughout 28 counties of the Texas Panhandle. The Food Bank’s food distribution has also tripled under Janie. In 2005, the High Plains Food Bank distributed a record-setting 5.7 million pounds of food and product to those in need. Janie was instrumental in establishing the Kids Cafe programs in the local public school system. Through the Kids Cafe, 8,000 meals are provided to hungry children each month. Janie successfully oversaw two expansions of the Food Bank in 2000 and 2003 – tripling the size of the Food Bank’s capacity to distribute food to the Texas Panhandle. Janie has been instrumental in promoting hunger and the Food Bank wherever she goes – the result has been a very high level of visibility of the Food Bank with the general public and a focus on the growing problem of hunger in the Texas Panhandle. Janie is truly a hunger champion because she dedicates everyday to finding a solution to hunger in the Texas Panhandle. Janie is a catalyst to help promote hunger awareness, and she is an example that everyone can help solve the problem of hunger in the United States!

Nancy and Steve Louthan have been leaders in hunger relief at our Waterloo facility for some time. They spend countless weekends and evenings raising money to help end childhood hunger in the Cedar Valley, Iowa...after putting in full time hours at our facility. This year, they both volunteered their own vacation time during RAGBRAI in cooking, serving and greeting riders along the RAGBRAI route. Every rider met one of the Louthan's....either the one behind the grill and scrubbing pans or the one behind the cash box telling people who their money would be spent. They each worked 18-20 hour days for a solid week and helped our campaign raise over $25,000 to help agencies that feed children in Iowa. They did not stop there, they helped set up and clean up every day, never asking for a single thank you. After such a strenuous week, we thought they would have retired for the year. Instead, they were back out in the community cooking for "Tuggin For Kids" and other events keeping the spirit moving and money coming in! Seldom have I met two individuals who have dedicated themselves to being a part of the solution in their community and consistently wearing a smile. They are role models for so many others, and in passing asked if they could still be involved after they retire. We would be blessed to have them as a part of our team for as long as they will have us. I consider the Louthan's more than champions, they are agents of change to solve the issues that plague children across the country. You ask why should they be selected? I would answer that they are the reason we have Hunger Champions!

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has emerged as a leader in the Senate and a leader in the fight against hunger. In 2004, she co-founded the Senate Hunger Caucus, a bi-partisan forum for senators and their staffs to address the issue of national and international hunger and food insecurity. The caucus was formed to help raise awareness about hunger issues and to provide an academic forum for finding solutions to the problem. She co-sponsored a Senate resolution declaring June 7, 2005, as National Hunger Awareness Day and conducted food drives in her home state of Arkansas as well as in Washington, D.C. As a senator, Lincoln works at the legislative level to end hunger by supporting bills and policies that address the issue, but she also recognizes the need for grassroots efforts and encourages her constituents to do their part by volunteering for hunger-relief causes and educating themselves about nutrition and food insecurity.