Tyson Foods Hunger Relief

Hunger goes back to school

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:14:48 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

Today is the first day of school for many here in our home in Arkansas. I always had mixed emotions about going back to school after summer break. But for many kids, it's a huge relief, since they're fed much better during the school year than in the summer.

I recently had a chance to speak with several school foodservice directors at the annual national conference of the School Nutrition Association. They all--no matter where they serve--get to see child hunger up close. Without exception they're passionate about feeding kids, working with limited resources to make certain no child goes hungry.

Here, Adriane Robles, Director of Nutrition Services for the San Bernadino (CA) City Unified School District discusses child hunger in her district.

Hunger Twitterers

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:41:55 GMT

We started this Twitter list almost two years ago with names of people who have been active (online or offline) in the discussion of hunger. Since then it's grown as more and more people and organizations find Twitter a valid way to bring the community online. From time to time, I'll re-tweet the URL to this post. If you'd like your name added to this list, comment here with your Twittername, send Twitter reply to @TysonFoods, or email me at ed.nicholson@Tyson dot com I probably won't add you unless you ask me, so if you want to be added (some folks would prefer their names not be on the list), just ask!

There's also a comprehensive hunger twitterers list at http://twitter.com/TysonFoods/hunger-communityh to which you can subscribe with one click.

Now. You all go follow each other and talk amongst yourselves.

http://twitter.com/sharestrength SOS primary account
http://twitter.com/FeedingAmerica Feeding America
http://twitter.com/billshore Billy Shore, founder of Share Our Strength
http://twitter.com/dpmichel Dan Michel--social media for Feeding America
http://twitter.com/ellendamaschino Ellen Damaschino SOS OFL Hall of Fame Chef and blogger
http://twitter.com/hungeractions Take Action on Hunger
http://twitter.com/rockforhunger Rock for Hunger
http://twitter.com/FTWM Feed Them With Music
http://twitter.com/AndreaSherwood Andrea Sherwood--Tyson Foods Hunger Relief Team
http://twitter.com/Ddavenport David Davenport, President & CEO, Capital Area Food Bank of Texas (CAFB)
http://twitter.com/lisa_goddard    Lisa Goddard, Online Marketing Director, CAFB
http://twitter.com/Karlacantu Karla Cantu, Senior Director of Agency Relations, CAFB
http://twitter.com/kimberwillis Kim Willis, Communications Manager, CAFB
http://twitter.com/molls2009 Molly Robbins, Community Events Manager, CAFB
http://twitter.com/pastelmagick   Emily Babb, Donor Services Manager, CAFB
http://twitter.com/jelyon John Lyon, Faith-Based Capacity Building-VISTA, CAFB
http://twitter.com/jcdwyer JC Dwyer, Texas Food Bank Network, Statewide Advocacy Director,
http://twitter.com/clarknwark Michael Clark, Mitchell Communications
http://elisemitch Elise Mitchell, Mitchell Communications
http://twitter.com/EricaBenavides San Antonio Food Bank Community Relations Manager
http://twitter.com/EndChildHunger Michael Farver
http://twitter.com/susanapics Susan Adcock Photoblogger
http://twitter.com/ederdn Ed Nicholson, personal account
http://twitter.com/azganjar   A. Zganjar, Share Our Strength
http://twitter.com/SuzyTwohig Suzy Twohig, Share Our Strength
http://twitter.com/TSARedKettle The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign
http://twitter.com/teamlivefeed Tom Robinson, Live Feed (Music for hunger relief, St. Louis)
http://twitter.com/FriendsofWFP Friends of the World Food Program
http://twitter.com/cookingwithamy Cooking With Amy-- Hunger Challenge Blogger
http://twitter.com/egratto Genie Gratto-- Hunger Challenge Blogger
http://twitter.com/marianiles Maria Niles--Hunger Challenge Blogger
http://twitter.com/TexansVsHunger Texas Food Bank Network
http://twitter.com/whatscooking Michelle Stern
http://twitter.com/foodbankccs Food Bank of ContraCosta and Solano Counties
http://twitter.com/pdxmission Portland Rescue Mission, Portland, Oregon
http://twitter.com/ftmyerssoupktch Judy--Ft. Myers Soup Kitchen
http://twitter.com/aafb Association of Arizona Food Banks
http://twitter.com/new_community New Community Mobile Food Pantry, Naperville, IL
http://twitter.com/markarnoldy Mark Arnoldy-focuses on international malnutrition
http://twitter.com/SchoolLunch Healthful meals & nutrition education for children
http://twitter.com/suzannenlee Suzanne Lee, Dir. of Communications & Mktg.   Care & Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado
http://twitter.com/Deca_Dietician DeCA Dietician Ft. Lee, VA
http://twitter.com/homewatchnwa Homewatch Northwest Arkansas
http://twitter.com/CWS_Crop    Church World Service
http://twitter.com/GPCAH Greater Philadephia Coalition Against Hunger
http://twitter.com/SecondHelpings Second Helpings, Indianapolis
http://twitter.com/miriamskitchen Miriam's Kitchen--serving homeless in DC
http://twitter.com/BreadfortheCity Bread for the City, Washington, DC
http://twitter.com/enklings   Tim Blair, hunger activist
http://twitter.com/poppypembroke Poppy Pembroke Communications Mgr.,Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties
http://twitter.com/heifer Heifer International
http://twitter.com/heiferportland Heifer Portland
http://twitter.com/kidsfoodbasket Kids Food Basket. Grand Rapids, Michigan
http://twitter.com/BreadHolly Holly Hight--Bread for the World
http://twitter.com/hungerthon WHY whyhunger.org
http://twitter.com/fighthunger World Food Programme
http://twitter.com/WorldFoodPrize World Food Prize
http://twitter.com/StopHunger MAZON--hunger relief organization
http://twitter.com/EndChildHunger End Child Hunger, Michael Farver
http://twitter.com/firstthebasics First the Basics (helping people find hot meals)
http://twitter.com/URMission Union Rescue Mission, Little Rock
http://twitter.com/walkforhunger Kristin--Project Bread--The Walk for Hunger
http://twitter.com/phxmission Phoenix Rescue Mission
http://twitter.com/creativelyme Sarah Hall
http://twitter.com/FeedINsHungry Emily Bryant
http://twitter.com/WalkandKnock Mary Chant Walk and Knock-annual food drive
http://twitter.com/swong7   Stacy Wong , Greater Boston Food Bank
http://twitter.com/HandsOnHartford    Hands on Hartford
http://twitter.com/ChicagoShares Chicago Shares
http://twitter.com/localfooddude Timothy Cipriano, New Haven School Systems and Local Food Dude
http://twitter.com/MOWFeedMore Meals on Wheels Serving Central Virginia
http://twitter.com/AJoyFULLHoliday A Joyfull Holiday
http://twitter.com/dipaolamomma Lara DiPaola
http://twitter.com/1millionmeals Jeffrey Strain, Penny Experiment
http://twitter.com/foodhunger The Volunteer Way
http://twitter.com/Harvest4Hunger Harvest for Hunger
http://twitter.com/pghfoodbank Pittsburgh Food Bank
http://twitter.com/breadjennifer Jennifer Stapleton, Bread for the World
http://twitter.com/bread4theworld Bread for the World
http://twitter.com/CCSTB Community Center of St. Bernard
http://twitter.com/thelastshow The Last Show--Karen
http://twitter.com/rjtbaum   Robert J. Teitelbaum
http://www.twitter.com/dinnergarden The Dinner Garden
http://twitter.com/HartfordFoodSys Hartford Food System
Feeding America Food Banks
http://twitter.com/2harvest Second Harvest Heartland
http://twitter.com/2harvestCFL Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Orlando
http://twitter.com/2ndharvest 2nd Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties
http://twitter.com/ACFB Atlanta Community Food Bank
http://twitter.com/arfoodbank   Arkansas Foodbank Network
http://twitter.com/BayAreaFoodBank Bay Area Food Bank
http://twitter.com/brfoodbank    Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank
http://twitter.com/CAFB Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, Inc.
http://twitter.com/CareandShareFB Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado
http://twitter.com/CentralILFoodbk   Central IL Foodbank
http://twitter.com/centralpafb Central Pennsylvania Food Bank
http://twitter.com/CFBFresno Community Food Bank, Fresno, CA
http://twitter.com/chattfood Chattanooga Area Food Bank
http://twitter.com/CityHarvest   City Harvest   New York,NY
http://twitter.com/CleveFoodbank Cleveland Foodbank, Inc.
http://twitter.com/CommFoodBankNJ Community Food Bank of New Jersey
http://twitter.com/CTFoodBank Connecticut Food Bank
http://twitter.com/CVFBFeedMore Central Virginia Foodbank, Inc.
http://twitter.com/DailyBread Daily Bread Food Bank, Miami
http://twitter.com/eifoodbank Eastern Illinois Foodbank, Urbana
http://twitter.com/FeedAmericaWI America's Second Harvest of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
http://twitter.com/feedingwestmich Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank
http://twitter.com/FoodBank4NYC Food Bank For New York City
http://twitter.com/foodbankccs Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
http://twitter.com/FoodBankCENC Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, Raleigh
http://twitter.com/FoodBankNENY Regional Food Bank Northeastern New York
http://twitter.com/FoodBankofCC Food Bank of Corpus Christi
http://twitter.com/FoodBankofDE Food Bank of Delaware, Newark
http://twitter.com/foodbankrgv Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley, Inc.
http://twitter.com/foodbankrockies Food Bank of the Rockies, Denver
http://twitter.com/FoodbankSBC Foodbank of Santa Barbara County
http://twitter.com/foodbanksj       Food Bank of South Jersey
http://twitter.com/FoodBankSTier Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Elmira, NY
http://twitter.com/FoodBkNIndiana Food Bank of Northern Indiana
http://twitter.com/FoodDepository Greater Chicago Food Depository
http://twitter.com/FoodLinkNY   Foodlink Food Bank, Rochester, NY
http://twitter.com/FoodShuttle Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Raleigh, NC
http://twitter.com/FreestoreFB Freestore FoodBank, Cincinnati
http://twitter.com/Gleaners Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan
http://twitter.com/GleanersFBIndy Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Inc.
http://twitter.com/Gr8BosFoodBank The Greater Boston Food Bank
http://twitter.com/growthefoodbank Capital Area Food Bank, DC
http://twitter.com/HarvestersORG Harvesters - The Community Food Network, Kansas City
http://twitter.com/HoustonFoodBank Houston Food Bank
http://twitter.com/hpfoodbank High Plains Food Bank, Amarillo
http://twitter.com/lafoodbank Los Angeles Regional Foodbank
http://twitter.com/LCFBFoodFIght Lowcountry Food Bank, Charleston, SC
http://twitter.com/MANNAFoodBank MANNA FoodBank, Ashville NC
http://twitter.com/mfbn Montana Food Bank Network
http://twitter.com/Mid_OHFoodbank Mid-Ohio FoodBank
http://twitter.com/missingmeals Second Harvest Heartland
http://twitter.com/NEILB Northern Illinois Food Bank
http://twitter.com/NNFoodBank Food Bank of Northern Nevada
http://twitter.com/northernlakesfb Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank
http://twitter.com/ntfb North Texas Food Bank
http://twitter.com/nwncfoodbank   Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina
http://twitter.com/onecanonedollar Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina
http://twitter.com/OreFoodBankFA Oregon Food Bank
http://twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest Ozarks Food Harvest, Springfield, MO
http://twitter.com/PghFoodBank Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
http://twitter.com/refb Redwood Empire Food Bank, Santa Rosa, CA
http://twitter.com/rfbo Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (OKC)
http://twitter.com/RIFoodBank Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Providence
http://twitter.com/safoodbank San Antonio Food Bank
http://twitter.com/SecondHarvestOH   Second Harvest Ohio
http://twitter.com/semofoodbank Southeast Missouri Food Bank
http://twitter.com/sffoodbank San Francisco Food Bank
http://twitter.com/SHFBofMidTN Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee
http://twitter.com/SoTxFoodBank South Texas Food Bank, Laredo
http://twitter.com/SPFB South Plains Food Bank, Lubbock
http://twitter.com/stlfoodbank St. Louis Area Foodbank
http://twitter.com/StMarysFoodBank St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, Phoenix
http://twitter.com/TAFoodbank Tarrant Area Food Bank, Ft. Worth
http://twitter.com/threesquareLV Three Square Food Bank, Las Vegas
http://twitter.com/UnitedFoodBank United Food Bank, Mesa AZ
http://twitter.com/utahfoodbank Utah Food Bank Services, Salt Lake City
http://twitter.com/VermontFoodbank Vermont Foodbank, Inc., South Barre
http://twitter.com/WeldFoodBank Weld Food Bank, Greeley, CO
http://twitter.com/WestOhioFB West Ohio Food Bank
http://twitter.com/culinarschmooze Culinary Schmooze
http://twitter.com/schoolsserve The National School Food Drive
http://twitter.com/famtofamily Family to Family
http://twitter.com/AggregateND   The Online Carpool for Produce
http://twitter.com/FoodBanking Global FoodBanking Network
http://twitter.com/IowaFBA Iowa Food Bank Association
http://twitter.com/northernlakesfb Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank, Duluth
http://twitter.com/FeedingMaine Good Shepherd Food Bank, Maine
http://twitter.com/KimDoyleWille Kim Doyle Wille
http://twitter.com/MarlitaH Marlita H
http://twitter.com/angelfrmcanada Robin and Craig
http://twitter.com/MargaretChoSac Jeffrey Goldade
http://www.twitter.com/gransome Gary Ransome
http://www.twitter.com/breadrobin Robin Stephenson, Bread for the World
https://twitter.com/communityserv Community Servings, Massachusetts
https://twitter.com/novusint Jeremy Lutgen, Novis International
https://twitter.com/HeresLife Here's Life Inner City
https://twitter.com/paladinette Paladinette
https://twitter.com/MetroCareRing Metro CareRing, Denver

Twitter Lists--Hunger Relief (one click following)
http://twitter.com/sharestrength/lists Share Our Strength (@ShareStrength) is doing a wonderful job of categorizing and listing its stakeholders involved in hunger relief on the Twitter List tool.
http://twitter.com/TysonFoods/hunger-communityh

Hunger is not a problem in my community

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:10:37 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

We recently spent a week traveling through Iowa with the rolling circus that is RAGBRAI (I still have lots left to talk about there; more later). The bicycle ride features 15,000 registered riders and thousands more who come along for the ride. Practically every state in the union is represented.

One of the things we did as part of that effort is a brief survey among participants to assess what people know about hunger and hunger organizations.

Questions 3 and 4 of the survey were specifically designed to gauge attitudes about how serious a problem people believed hunger to be in their own community.

From the more than 1350 respondents, more than 81% answered that hunger was either a "moderate" "low priority," problem or that there is "little or no hunger in my community."

Only 19% believed hunger is either a critical or serious problem in their community.

53% believed that the majority of people affected by hunger could do something about it if they made adjustments in their lifestyle.

Is it possible our efforts to end hunger are being diluted because many believe it's either not a problem in their own communities, or is a problem of the victims' own making?

A few scenes from RAGBRAI 10--The first three days

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:23:59 GMT

The Faces of Evil????

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:46:46 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

I monitor social media for what gets said about Tyson Foods. Yesterday there was a tweet from someone who said "Can't wait to be done with this bag of [Tyson] chicken so I can move on to something from a company that isn't so evil."

I don't know what prompted the comment (at least it appeared she was going to eat the chicken). But I wish she could have been with me the last three days.

You see, "Tyson Foods" isn't a cloistered few who control the puppet strings of shadowy empire. It's 117,000 people all around the world. And since Sunday, I've been with some of the best in the world. People from Tyson operations in Nebraska and Iowa who've volunteered their time to come out in the Iowa July heat to cook and sell food to riders in the annual RAGBRAI event. And donate the proceeds to hunger relief. Some were up 'til midnight in Storm Lake last night. Others setting up in Varina at 4:00 a.m. today. In the past three days, more than six thousand meals have been fed to RAGBRAI riders.

It's a big healthy dose of Heartland heart and a work ethic that will wear you to the ground if you try to keep pace with it. We try not to make this blog too self-centered, but every once in a while I have to brag on these folks. I'm proud of 'em.

Thanks to the people who've worked the past three days and the ones who''ll work the next five.

You can see their photos below or on Flickr. We'd also be honored if you'd follow Tyson Hunger Relief on Facebook.

Dakota City/ Dakota Dunes

Storm Lake

Dakota City/ Dakota Dunes

Cherokee

Back in Iowa--Look at all those bicycles...!

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:19:18 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

If you've followed this blog for more than a year, you know that this time each year, we have the distinct honor to join team members from our plants in Iowa (and one in Joslin, Illinois) in preparing and selling food along the route of the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). Proceeds from the sale go to hunger relief efforts in the towns along the way, and to Share Our Strength, our great longtime partners who help administer the grants.

With 15,000 registered riders (and many who don't register) from across the country, RAGBRAI is truly a unique event; a study in diversity.

For those of you who subscribe by email, please indulge us just this week. We'll be posting every day, mainly because we believe the more than 200 team members who come out and cheerfully work in the heat deserve the recognition the postings provide.

You can also see photos at our Flickr site and postings on our Facebook page.

We kicked off yesterday at the ride's Expo in Sioux City, with the great help of Team Members from the Tyson Dakota City plant and the Dakota Dunes.

Today we're in Storm Lake. If you happen to be on the ride, stop by and eat a sandwich with us. It goes to a worthy cause.

Hunger goes to school

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:55:14 GMT

Want to know about child hunger? Ask someone who sees it up close: a teacher or school foodservice director. Michael Rosenberger is the foodservice director of the Irving (TX) Independent School District.

Here he speaks passionately and articulately about the kids at risk of hunger he sees every day he goes to work.

Partners in the Fight

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:24:05 GMT

LULAC National President Rosa Rosales; Bob Jilbert, Roadrunner Food Bank; Tyson Team Members; LULAC Board Members

Four years ago, Tyson Foods and Feeding America formed an innovative partnership with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), in which we committed to collaboratively donating one million pounds of food into communities with significant Hispanic populations and strong LULAC Councils. That milestone has long been surpassed. To see some of the communities into which this food has gone, see this Google map.

Yesterday, we began our fifth year of this partnership by donating a truckload of Tyson products (31K lbs.) at the National LULAC Conference to Roadrunner Food Bank of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

We plan on keeping going. As important as the food donated, bringing more people into the fight against hunger is what is going to create long-term impact from partnerships like this.

It's a great honor to have great partners. Working together, we know we make a difference.

The 25 communities with the most food hardship

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 16:43:07 GMT

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has a very informative piece of research in Food Hardship: A Closer Look at Hunger--Data for the Nation, States, 100 MSAs, and Every Congressional District.

Here in order are the metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) with the highest rates of food hardship in 2008-2009

1. Memphis; Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas
2. Bakersfield, California
3. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania
4. Fresno, California
5. Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida
6. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California
7. Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama
8. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, Louisiana
9. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada
10. Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina
11. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida
12. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
13. Toledo, Ohio
13. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
15. Charleston-N Charleston-Summerville, South Carolina
15. Columbia, South Carolina
15. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California
18. Little Rock-N Little Rock-Conway, Arkansas
19. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, North Carolina, South Carolina
19. Jacksonville, Florida
21. Baton Rouge, Florida
21. Knoxville, Tennessee
21. Tulsa, Oklahoma
24. Columbus, Ohio
24. Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana

Up in smoke, or up to some good

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:46:38 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

We're coming up on a great American holiday, where those of us in the U.S. celebrate the freedoms we've been so amply given.

Lots of us have popped off lots of fireworks in those celebrations.

Here's an idea: This year, save some (or all!) of the money your family might spend on fireworks, send it to your local food bank or hunger relief organization, and take your family on an outing to the local "spectacular" fireworks display in your community (every community seems to have one), instead.

You'll have fun and some hungry kid will have a meal instead of your money going up in smoke.

Thanks to my lovely wife Ginger for this idea. (and for putting up with me)

Image: besighyawn: Creative Commons

No kid should dread the weekend

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:48:45 GMT

by Ed Nicholson

As I post this on Friday afternoon, tens of thousands of kids at risk of hunger around the country are being sent home from school with backpacks full of food thanks to innovative programs such as the one Janet Kniffin, Chief Development Officer for the Connecticut Foodbank, describes in the video above. Were it not for these programs, many would go hungry over the weekend, since school lunches are their primary source of nutrition.

Soon school will be out for the summer. What happens then? Many communities have solutions. Many don't.

Do your local schools have backpack programs? If so, what happens during the summer?

Another young superstar

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:27:53 GMT

7 year-old Cody Mitchell, from the Phoenix area decided he'd have a book sale and food drive. He raised $878 and 716 pounds of food for St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance.
Elizabeth Wunsch created a video about Cody and entered it in the Tyson Foods/ Tongal.com "Make a Movie, Feed Your Community" contest. Because it was a winning video, a truckload of Tyson products were donated today to St. Mary's Food Bank.

A school "lunch lady" with a huge heart

Wed, 26 May 2010 10:37:42 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

Tim Cipriano calls himself a "lunch lady." That's simplifying things a bit. Actually, he directs one of the most progressive school lunch programs in the country, for New Haven (CT) Public Schools, which prepares more than 17,000 lunches and 11,000 breakfasts a day for schools across the district. It's a tremendous program, that focuses on quality, nutritious food, prepared from scratch, where possible.

Tim is a passionate, articulate and tireless advocate for hunger relief. In his job, he sees directly the effects of hunger on children. He knows the scope and the depth of the problem.

In addition to effectively managing a daunting day job, Tim also has a leadership role in Taste of the Nation New Haven, and has volunteered his time to lobby state legislatures on behalf of child nutrition appropriation.

We caught up with Tim last week, when we made the WeCanEndThis donation in New Haven (for which he was largely responsible).

He's an inspiring guy. It's a privilege to know him

"It surprises some people to hear about hunger in Connecticut."

Tue, 25 May 2010 13:44:39 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

The second stop of my mini-tour last week was in Bloomfield, Connecticut, where Scott Henderson and I visited Foodshare foodbank to help fulfill the donation brought about by lots of Connecticut people engaging in the WeCanEndThis.com digital can drive. We were also privileged to see Darryl Ohrt, whose company Humongo played a big role in the success of WeCanEnd This.

As I've mentioned before, visiting foodbanks is always inspiring, especially when the leadership takes the time to visit with us, as Foodshare President and CEO, Gloria McAdam did. Here's a bit of an interview I did with Gloria in which she describes the landscape of the issue of hunger in her area, plus the work of the foodbank.

"I don't want you to think I'm a bad mother."

Fri, 21 May 2010 15:54:33 GMT

By Ed Nicholson

Just getting back from a great trip to Connecticut, where we made WeCanEndThis donations to the Connecticut Food Bank and to Hartford's Foodshare.

It was a great trip in many ways: Traveling with my friend Scott Henderson; getting to see Tim Cipriano, passionate hunger fighter and Share Our Strength supporter, who also runs what might be the most progressive school lunch program in the nation for the New Haven School District; meeting great folks like Nancy Carrington, Gladys Alcedo and all the folks at CFB, and Gloria McAdam, Amanda Renna and all the folks at Foodshare; going to Wednesday evening's Taste of the Nation New Haven event at Yale's Woolsey Hall (wow!).

One of the most inspiring things about visiting foodbanks is meeting and talking with the people who make it happen every day for hunger in their communities. I try to get interviews with foodbank E.D./CEOs when I go out. Which brings me to the title of this post.

Nancy Carrington, who's been with the Connecticut Food Bank for 26 years, was particularly articulate about the work of the food bank, hunger in her community and misplaced stereotypes of hungry people. She related a story about a single mom she'd met at a soup kitchen, who provides a great example for us of how hunger is affecting people in our own neighborhoods. The story starts right before the 3 minute mark in the video above.

Do you have any stories like this? I'd like to hear them.