Art Molay

By Ed Nicholson

I'm continually impressed by the way the folks at Capital Area Food Bank of Texas communicate the issue of hunger.  E.D., David Davenport, along with Lisa Goddard, Kerri Qunell and the rest of the communications team are not just good adminstrators, fundraisers and communicators--they're passionate about and authentically committed to the issue, and understand that in order for there to be sustainable progress in the fight against hunger, there will need to be informed and engaged stakeholders.

Their latest online project, Hunger is UNacceptable, does a tremendous job of putting a face on hunger. It's hard-hitting, while remaining respectful of its subjects.  Compelling without being pitiful.  Great production with a ton of room to grow the concept.  It provides the opportunity to act, either by advocating, donating or volunteering, without coming across an unabashed vehicle created to promote that action. 

To use a popular phrase, it adds value.  Good job, folks.

By Ed Nicholson

Today I had the distinct honor to join a lot of folks, including Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe (who, along with First Lady Ginger Beebe, deserves enormous kudos for a keen awareness of and commmitment to the issue of hunger), Feeding America CEO, Vicki Escarra, and many others in honoring Erma Smith as a Tyson Hunger All-Star (see the entry below). 

Erma is truly one of those folks who understands hunger from the neck down, and has devoted her life to the service of those less fortunte. 

If you ever start feeling proud of how you're helping the world out, go spend a little time around someone like Erma.  It'll humble you.  Listen to what she has to say in the attached video about not judging people by how they look. 

Thank you, Erma.

(And thanks to Phyllis, Karen, Sarah, and all the folks at the Arkansas Food Bank Network, who put together a marvelous event to honor Erma!)

 

Erma Smith

Erma Smith is more than a tireless advocate for the hungry.  She’s also an inspiration and a role model in her determination to feed her neighbors. For 25 years, she has been active in fighting hunger, making her a natural to be named our newest Tyson Foods Hunger All-Star of the Month.
Erma began as a volunteer with the Southwest Arkansas Foodbank and then served as its executive director for many years. While there, she helped provide food regularly to 100 food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and other organizations. Each year, she distributed about 1.5 million pounds of food and grocery products to the hungry. She personally secured much of the food provided, relying on the  Arkansas Foodbank Network and other groups. Her food bank also distributed clothing, school supplies, household items, toys and personal care products through a program called Gifts in Kind. 
Erma and her team of dedicated volunteers prepared gift baskets for those in need and also as a “thank you” to volunteer food pantry operators. Her handmade gift baskets were the most sought-after door prize at the group’s annual gathering. She retired in May of this year, reluctantly, and only because her doctor insisted.  She continues, however, to make the gift baskets herself-- a labor of love.
Connie Bledsoe, agency relations director for the Arkansas Foodbank Network, says Erma still comes to the agency to volunteer.
“Erma is just a kind and giving person who shares her love with everyone,” Bledsoe says.
Recently, Erma was honored by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance at a breakfast at the Governor’s Mansion. In her remarks, she noted the importance of “service for the Lord” -- words that have inspired an admirable life’s work.
Bledsoe adds, “That’s her mission- serving others. I don’t think she’ll ever stop. You can depend on Erma for anything.”

Erma was given her award on October 28, 2009 at a ceremony at the Arkansas Food Bank Network, attended by Arkansas Governor, Mike Beebe, and Vicki Escarra, CEO of Feeding America.  In honor of Erma's being named Hunger All-Star of the Month, Tyson will donated a truckload of food (app. 30,000 pounds) to the Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock.   

 

By Ed Nicholson

I know cash is king. Money talks...screams...and everything else whispers.. After all, you gotta pay the light bill.  But sometimes money's not available. 

And remember a couple of things:

• Your in-kind donors can always--always--find other things to do with the resources they're donating.  Look at what their competitors are doing as an indicator.
• There's always someone in that donor organization who's advocating for the donation to you.  And there's someone who's advocating for other uses. Don't give the second guy ammunition.
• Times are cyclical.  What goes around, comes around.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Just sayin'.

Photo HdO ~ Helene  Creative Commons 

By Ed Nicholson

I was at BlogWorld last week and had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Mark Horvath, advocate for the homeless and creator of invisiblepeople.tv   It was humbling.  Powerful.  Inspiring.

Mark's one of those people who's walking the talk. He goes out into the world and documents the stories of the homeless, posting them online in a number of different channels (see below).

 As the folks at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas have done with their Hunger is Unacceptable site, Mark has not shied away from showing clients--people who are affected by the issue, and who would benefit from engagement. The stories hit you in the heart.

I'm going to try to catch up with Mark later to interview him, but meanwhile, you should check out some of the stuff he puts online.

invisiblepeople.tv
invisiblepeople.tv.twitter
invisiblepeople.tv.facebook
invisiblepeople.tv.flickr
invisiblepeople.tv.myspace
invisiblepeople.tv.youtube
invisiblepeople.tv.pressrelease

This video, shot and produced by Tyson's own Jeff Peak is worth the watch.  It's highlights from the October 17 Honor Flight from Northwest Arkansas, that took 90 WWII vets to DC to visit the WWII Memorial and other sites of interest. 

I know it digresses from the theme of the blog a bit.  But a lot of people (including me) believe that were it not for the sacrifices of this generation of men and women, there would be a lot more hungry people in the world.

by Ed Nicholson

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned AgChat, the excellent Twitter discussion about food production  that occurs every Tuesday evening from 8-10 Eastern.  Once a month, the group uses the hashtag #foodchat to broaden the discussion beyond agriculture. 

This week's #Foodchat topic will be Food Insecurity.  If you're involved in hunger relief, your perspective is critical to this discussion.

This is a great opportunity for hunger advocates to communicate with a diversity of those interested in how our food is produced.  Past participants have included farmers of all kinds (dairy, meat, vegetable, fiber, local/organic, larger farms), advocates, corporate types, and more.   Most of us have a dog in the hunt. That's what makes it interesting.  It's a moderated discussion, so respect of fellow participants is demanded. 

The best way to join the discussion is to sign in to your Twitter account via a Webchat tool such as Tweetchat or Twubs.  When you sign in, use the hashtag #foodchat.  (If you've never used one of these tools, it's easy and safe; just go to the link and sign in)

Hope to see you there.

 

By Ed Nicholson

Posted only as a disclaimer.   As context for what I post elsewhere.

The opinions expressed herein, are not necessarily those of my employer, Tyson Foods, Inc.     Having been involved in creating social media content for a few years, I feel the need to disclose:

I'm biased. 

So is everybody else. Yes, you are.   We're all influenced by a multitude of dynamic forces, including what we've experienced in our lives, what we see and do each day, who pays the bills, who's waiting at home, where we live--and the list goes on.

As is fond of being said in the South, I have a dog in the hunt.  

Just to take it down to a finer point (and if you even care by now) here's what influences me (subject to addendum):

I grew up in a small town in the South.  Better parents than I ever deserved. On a farm. A small one. Beef cattle (polled Hereford). 
Adolescent jobs (away from the farm) included: Working on a dairy farm (ocassionally), working for a hay contractor (2 summers), stocking groceries, and working for an asphalt contractor (2 days).  The kind of work I did for some of these folks, OSHA and DOL would probably cite my (current) employer for with enormous fines. But I thank God I had the experience.
I was a child of the 60's, and really bought into all of that counterculture stuff. More than you'll ever know.  I thought we were going to change the world. We kinda did.
I spent the very first part of my career out of college as a musician. Semi-successful. Jazz, rock and country.  It was GREAT! (I still play paying gigs on the weekends). The experience taught me more about diversity than any of the several diversity classes I've taken with my current employer. 
I worked in the ad industry for 7 years in creative departments.
The next 7 years were spent as an owner of a small business.  It was really fun, but health insurance was a b*tch, and I always seemed to be behind with the IRS.
My Dad's a WWI I combat vet. A personal hero.
I have 3 kids and  a great wife. Been married for 26 years. That'll affect your worldview.
I went to work for Tyson 14 years ago. Never, ever thought I'd work for a big company, but a friend showed me some things that changed my perspective drastically.  I'm a middle-management person. I don't get the big bucks, but I've not worried about the health insurance in 14 years.  I don't owe my soul to the company, but I do owe it a whole lot. It's a great  company.  It's made up of a bunch of really, really good people, who truly believe they're doing the right thing in making and selling food.  Every once in a while I run into someone I don't like in the company, but hey--it's 104,000 people. What do you expect?
Thanks to a lot of good, passionate people--and the willingness of my employer to be complicit--I've been shown a lot of things about hunger that have truly affected my perspective of the issue.

Mark Twain published a marvelous little essay entitled Corn Pone Opinions, in which he reckoned we’re all heavily influenced by forces outside of ourselves.  I reckon we are, too.

Just so you know where I'm comin' from.

photo by Meagan--Creative Commons

 

By Ed Nicholson

A lot of people know the statistics about hunger.  They sincerely believe something should be done.
They know it in their heads. A lot of people know enough to talk about it.  But they're not doing anything about it.
They just need to know it from the neck down  to really be motivated to do something.
The people who know the most about how hunger are those who know it in their stomachs.  The people who have actually experienced it in their lifetime. I can't lay claim to this experience, but some of the most inspiring people I've ever met can.
Then there are those who know it in their hearts. They've been touched by what they've seen up close and personal.  All the statistics, even well-told poignant stories don't deliver this experience.
Finally there are those who know it in their feet.  They walk the talk.  They get out and do. Most often they're the quiet, unsung heroes we refer to as Hunger All-Stars.
The solution to end hunger needs people who think and talk.  But it more desperately needs people who feel and walk.  

How can we more effectively move knowledge of hunger from peoples' heads into their hearts?
 

Photo:  LollyKnit--Creative Commons

By Ed Nicholson

I was privileged to be at a meeting last week with some of the best, brightest and most passionate people in hunger relief: NGOs, government  folks and highly-engaged corporate types.   It was inspiring and energizing. 
In a Q&A session with NGOs (Feeding America, Share Our Strength, Meals on Wheels and FRAC), I related the story about how many of our managers were in denial of  hunger being a significant challenge in their own communities.  I asked them if there was statistically valid research indicating peoples' awareness of the issue. 
The general consensus was that research indicated people are aware of hunger and that everybody believes something should be done.    
OK. But here's where it falls short with me:  I still don't believe a critical mass of people understand just how close to home hunger hits with them. They don't understand that almost anywhere and everywhere, there are kids going to school with their kids who go to bed hungry at night.  They don't know that there are senior citizens who have to make choices between medicine and food.  If they knew, they'd care. And if they cared, they'd be motivated to action.  We've seen great evidence of this.  

It's not that people are uncaring.  It's just they don't know enough to care. 

And that's a big reason there's hunger in a land of abundance.