Tony and Dolly Ellis

 

 By Ed Nicholson

Those who follow this blog know that we've been devoting Fridays to reminding people of the fact that there are millions of children across the country whose primary source of nutrition is the school lunch program.  For many of these kids the gap between lunch Friday and lunch Monday is a long 72 hours with no assurance of a meal.

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah Owen, CEO of Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc. in Fort Myers Florida, guest posted here about this sad fact.  Now, CCMI, has challenged their stakeholders to join them in discovering just what it might be like to live for a weekend with no food.  Beginning at noon today, those who take the NoFood4You Challenge won't be eating until noon Monday. 

The campaign will raise awareness and funds for CCMI's School Backpack Program.  Follow Sarah and CCMI's Judy Chiappini as they document their experience via Twitter throughout the weekend.  Thanks to their efforts, there will be some kids in the Fort Meyers area who won't be going hungry for that 72 hours.

By Ed Nicholson

One of our goals with this site is to be a positive force in helping bring the discussion of hunger online, creating awareness for the issue and those instrumental in the fight against hunger.
When we came to the issue nine years ago, we found a lively discussion already occurring among a passionate community of those involved in hunger relief.  
We believe there's still enormous upside potential to bring that discussion online via social networking tools, and to expand the community of decidated hunger fighters well beyond where it is today.
Fortunately, there are some hunger relief communicators blazing the trail. They're using the tools, and most importantly, they're engaging in two-way conversations, not simply broadcasting their messages.   If you're involved in the issue, these are people and groups you'll probably want to follow, if you aren't already.

Share Our Strength
Billy Shore, Founder and CEO of Share Our Strength, has always been a tremendous communicator.  Share Our Strength now has Jeff Wiedner doing an exemplary job of heading up online communications, using all of the  popular social networking tools, including a Twitter account   Facebook cause pages,   LinkedIn,  a very nicely-done YouTube channel, and a Flickr account.   In addition to Jeff, who runs the organization's Twitter account  Billy Shore, Eric Herboso, and Suzy Twohig also have Twitter accounts.

Feeding America
Feeding America has a very well-produced YouTube channel, a quickly-growing Twitter account and active Facebook  and MySpace  pages.  Feeding America's existing large and active community, enhanced by strong corporate support ensures that pretty much any tool the organization adopts will rapidly gain an active following.

Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (Austin)
This organization was early to the game and remains a leader in their use of social media.  In addition to authoring for their blog, CEO, David Davenport; VP of Communications Kerri Qunell; Advocacy and Online Marketing Director, Lisa Goddard, and several others from the food bank engage regularly with stakeholders through a number of different channels, including Twitter and Facebook accounts.   YouTube, Facebook page, Flickr.   Definitely some best practices here.

Food Bank for New York City
A relatively new blog shows bright promise as the centerpiece of this leading food bank's social media efforts (they're showing true social media savvy by asking readers to help name their blog )  Additionally the food bank has a Facebook cause page, as well as a YouTube Channel and Twitter Account  Online Communications Manager Daniel Buckley does a good job of coordinating social media efforts and using the tools to engage.

North Texas Food Bank (Dallas)
Another great example of a Feeding America food bank using a variety of social networking tools, including a blog,  a Facebook page, a  MySpace page and a YouTube channel.   Mark Armstrong manages the food bank's Twitter account.

Texas Food Bank Network
A coalition of Feeding America food banks in Texas, this organization runs an advocacy blog , as well as  a Twitter account . 

Community Cooperative Ministeries Incorporated
This Fort Myers, Florida agency is doing a great job of creating hyperlocal awareness, focused on challenges of hunger and poverty in their area. They have a Twitter account and are using new media tools, including  Pitch Engine's social media news release service to create awareness of  their activities, as well as using vimeo to post online video. Their CEO, Sarah Owen (who guest-posted here last week), is also a Twitterer.  Take a look at their campaign designed to raise awareness of kids at risk of hunger over the weekends.

No doubt there are many other great social media efforts occuring among hunger organizations around the country. Let me know what's going on in your community, and we'll feature it here.  The goal is to connect.

It's Friday, when we devote this space to reminding all that the weekends can be tough for the millions of kids around the country who depend on school lunch programs for their nutrition.
Today's guest post comes from Detroit.  Kristie Sawickis publishes the blog,This Side of Eternity, and also helps in distributing food to children to take home to their families for the weekends.

 

I live in a poverty stricken neighborhood in the Metro Detroit area.
And I've come to the realization that the ones affected the most by the
continued plague of poverty are the children.

I know that everyone is concerned over the economy, but lets face it, most of us
have never had to send our kids to bed hungry. We have never had to
tell our kids there is no dinner tonight. And we have never had to
send our kids to school hungry, knowing that the relief would come when
they could walk through the lunch line and receive their free lunch.

I am thankful for programs like the free and reduced lunch program.

But the truth is that it just is not enough.  What about the summer, or vacations when school is out?

Whose responsibility is it that these children not go through their entire
childhood with the constant pangs of hunger reminding them that they
have been overlooked by a nation that is full of wealth? Even in these
tough economic times there is still more than enough to go around.

I began doing a food distribution at the elementary school in my
neighborhood, where over 75% of the kids qualify for free lunch. That's
a lot of kids who rely on the free lunches they get each day when they
come to school. Basically what I do is drive down to the food bank and
pick up 70-100 bags of groceries and then take them to the school and
pass them out on Friday after school. Each bag contains enough food for
one child to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday of the weekend.

When I first began the program I really didn't fully understand the need.
But week after week I hear of more stories that break my heart.

Like the week we had the opportunity to pass out backpacks full of school
supplies and snack foods. Two little girls came and said they didn't
want the backpacks full of stuff--they only wanted the grocery bags with
food in them. These girls valued the food they were getting each week
more than the snacks and supplies that were in the backpacks.

Just last week a teacher told me that one of her students was sharing with
her that there wasn't any food at home and how excited she was that
Friday was coming when she would be able to get her food bag and have
food again.

These are only two examples among dozens.   The situation seems overwhelming.  And it is..... for one person.

But if we could all open our hearts to these children, we could really change the face of hunger.

So, I challenge you. When you are sitting down for dinner tonight, think of
the kids that will spend their evening trying to forget the nagging
reminder that there won't be any more food to eat for three full days. 

You can really make a difference. There are so many ways to
help. I asked the question earlier, whose responsibility is it that
these children be given something so basic as food? And I would say it
is my responsibility. It is your responsibility. It is all of our
responsibility.

There is so much that you can do to help a child not live in a world completely dictated by hunger.

If you have a story about childhood hunger you'd like to share, comment here.

photo by Joe Schlabotnik--Creative Commons

We've been devoting this space on Fridays to reminding people there are many children, dependent on school lunch programs, who are eating their last good meal for the next 72 hours or so. Today's guest post, by Sarah Owen, raises further concerns about these children.

 

I live in paradise—or so the Chamber of Commerce tells me. 

Southwest Florida offers a tropical paradise filled with islands, palm trees, sandy beaches and balmy weather…the perfect location for a spring break and escape from reality.   Thousands of visitors flock here every spring to take a time out  from their everyday lives.

But some of our most vulnerable residents won’t be escaping from their reality of hunger over the spring vacation.  Tens of thousands of school aged children in Southwest Florida receive their only meals through the School District’s free and reduced lunch program.  But if school is out over Spring Break—Where will they eat?  Some of them will be forced to dumpster dive in local parking lots while others simply go without.

The hunger agency I work with is assisting one school over the break, supplying emergency food supplies to the families whose children normally receive our weekly Emergency Food Backpacks.  Today, hundreds of families will gather at the school to receive the much needed food to get them through the week.  But I am haunted by all the families at the other 99 schools in my community who will not receive any assistance.  After lunch this afternoon there will not be another meal available at the school for 11 days!

So as the masses of families descend on our Paradise longing for a break….masses of school children will be crying for a reprieve  from the hunger they live with everyday!   

No matter where you are this spring season, reach out to feed a child in need—they really need a BREAK!

Sarah Owen is the CEO of Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc in Fort Myers Florida.  She is a passionate hungerfighter who is dedicated to getting food into the hands of hungry children.

If you would like to use this space to discuss childhood hunger in your community, drop us a note in the comments.

Photo by nyki_m Creative Commons

By Ed Nicholson

 

Ernie Conduff--Hunger All-Star

Nine years ago, when we started doing this hunger relief stuff at Tyson, we thought we were doing the world a lot of good by donating 3-4 million pounds of food a year.

We were humbled very quickly by a couple of things made clear to us:

First, 3-4 million pounds (these days 10-12 million lbs), while a lot of food, is relatively insignificant when one considers the enormous need that exists every single day.  Being involved gave us some context.

Additionally, as we got to know people throughout the hunger relief community, we heard amazing stories of people devoting their time, talents and treasures--most often at great self-sacrifice--to seeing that those in need had meals.

We wanted to help tell some of those stories, so we created the Hunger All-Star section of this site.  Anyone can nominate a Hunger All-Star here. We put most all nominations online, and each month we select a Hunger All-Star of the Month, and donate a truckoad of food in their honor to their Feeding America member food bank.

Our first Hunger All-Star of the Month was (then) 13 year-old Jonathan Crider from central Oklahoma, who raised more than $20,000 for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

Our most recent is Ernie Conduff, here in northwest Arkansas, whose organization Lifesource gives a hand up to hundreds in need a year.  Today, our team, along with Tyson's own Angela Courage, who nominated Ernie, got to go present him his award.  We then got to give a truckoad of food to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

Ernie's a humble guy himself, quick to defer credit to his staff, his board, his donors; everyone but himself.  But hearing what he does every day is amazing and inspiring.  And quite humbling.

If you know someone who does good work in hunger relief,  honor them by nominating them as a Hunger All-Star here.

 

By Susan Brockway

I pose this question before I even begin, because unlike one or two years ago, things are not as easy, and need a quick solution.  I am a board member of a Feeding America member food bank.  My fellow board members, staff, volunteers and I are constantly looking for ways to bring more food into the pipeline.  We have increased our distribution by 1 million pounds in one year and will most likely see another increase this year.  Some would say “great job”.  I say this is a recipe for trouble and that we need to pay close attention to the trends. 
It is expected that we will see an increase of approximately 40% in the number of agencies and individuals needing food from community food banks.  Is anyone but me questioning why this is a dangerous trend?  While we certainly are working hard at  meeting the needs of growing numbers of families, food banks and agencies were never meant to take the place of retailers, gardens, co-ops and markets in supplying food. 
Some would say that food banks have been forced to become a retailer of sorts, making food choices and purchasing food to keep up with the increasing demand.  When people and organizations who have traditionally been food bank donors are forced by the economy to be food bank recipients, what are  we to do?
Please tell me you are not satisfied with the status quo.  Let’s open some dialogue about why most states are struggling to provide an easier venue for individuals to apply and qualify for food stamps? We are a food rich nation, how are we managing this asset? 

Susan Brockway is Sr. Community Relations Manager at Tyson Foods, deeply involved in the company's hunger relief efforts.  She is also Board President of the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.

photo Creative Commons, Mike Licht