Wrapping Up Hunger Action Month
Thank you for raising your voice against hunger during our first nationwide Hunger Action Month! The numbers are rolling in and they tell us that Hunger Action Month was a phenomenal success! These are just some of the exciting results we saw during September:
- 4,131 actions were taken by hunger advocates through the Hunger Action Center.
- 451 new advocates joined our fight!
And that’s not all! September was action-packed in communities across the country.
- Jewel-Osco teamed up with FOX Chicago, setting a goal to raise $500,000 in cash donations and 250,000 pounds in food contributions. That’s enough to provide 2.5 million meals!
- Shaw’s stores throughout New England held a variety of activities, including central Massachusetts market area’s 2nd Annual Whiffle Ball Tournament, which benefited the Worcester County Food Bank. Shaw’s also contributed cash donations of $10,000 each to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for emergency food assistance for families in need.
- Philabundance, Philadelphia’s largest hunger relief agency, invited Pennsylvanians to participate in a Food Stamp Challenge. Participants lived on a food stamp budget of $21 per person per week in order to raise hunger awareness. Philabundance also encouraged participants to donate their remaining regular weekly food budget to help fill the food warehouse.
- “Dine Out Against Hunger” was the theme when The Huntington West Virginia Area Food Bank and several local restaurants joined up to fight against hunger. Restaurant patrons received donation cards for the food bank in a mock-menu format with donation amounts from $1 to $50. “Dine Out Against Hunger” generated [ ] to support the efforts of the Huntington Area Food Bank, which assists 17 counties in the Tri-State Area.
Let’s keep the ball rolling! In these economic hard times, we need everyone’s help. Visit the Hunger Action Center today to find out how you can help feed America throughout the rest of 2008!
Sunday Night Football Cooks Up Recipes
for Feeding America
What’s better than family, food, and football on a Sunday night? The Sunday Night Football Cookbook from NBC will help you get cooking on Sunday nights—or any night! The cookbook features recipes from prominent chefs like Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse, who represent their favorite NFL teams, NFL stars, and NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew. There are special introductions by Faith Hill and John Madden, who also provide some of their favorite recipes. The book even has a section on Super Bowl parties, just in time for the next Super Bowl on NBC.
The Sunday Night Football Cookbook is published by Time Inc.—and it’s now available at www.SundayNightFootballCookbook.com. Order your copy today! Proceeds will be used to support food banks across the country through Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest). You can help too! Your business or organization can create special customized covers, promotional versions of the cookbook, or discount programs for local food banks. Interested? Contact Lindsay Fitz at www.tasteofthenfl.com.
The NFL’s support for hunger-relief efforts doesn’t end there. Taste of the NFL is the premier food and wine event at the Super Bowl. This “party with a purpose” raises awareness and funds for hunger-relief organizations, including Feeding America and its affiliates nationwide. Each year, top chefs from every NFL city contribute an original, signature dish to the Taste event. Since 1992, Taste of the NFL has donated more than $10 million to local and national hunger-relief organizations.
Thanks to NBC, the NFL, and our favorite chefs for their continued support of Feeding America!
October’s Hunger Challenge
Advocacy and Elections: Letting Your Voice Be Heard
The 2008 election is going to be historic. With 35 million Americans, including more than 12 million children, living on the brink of hunger, decisions that voters like you make at the polls can pave the way for a brighter future for hungry Americans, and they will impact hunger policy at the state and federal levels well into the next decade.
Take the October Hunger Challenge: Let Your Voice Be Heard as an Advocate for Hunger!
Challenge 1: Sign up at www.voteagainsthunger.org. This is a great place to learn more about your local and national candidates and where they stand on hunger issues. Most importantly, you can write to your Members of Congress, and to candidates running for office, encouraging them to make hunger-relief an important priority. Everything you need to prepare for the upcoming election is right here!
Challenge 2: Spread the word about hunger advocacy at www.hungeractioncenter.org. Here you can invite your neighbors, friends, and family to become hunger advocates. At the Hunger Action Center, we are mobilizing more and more people who are deeply passionate about solving hunger problems in America. Encourage your friends to be part of this exciting and worthwhile effort for hunger-relief!
Take the Hunger Challenge today!
As you’re considering who to vote for, be sure to ask critical questions, like:
- What is the candidate’s position on issues like poverty or funding for important anti-hunger programs?
- Has the candidate come out with a clear plan for fighting hunger at any of its sources?
- Does the candidate support policies and programs that help to end hunger in America?
As a hunger advocate, election season is a great time to let your voice be heard.
- Find out where each candidate stands on hunger issues and make your vote count for hunger relief! Get out and vote—and when you do, vote for leaders who will make fighting hunger in America a top priority.
- Spread the word to friends and family about hunger issues. Encourage them to learn about their candidates and vote for those who will support hunger relief.
- Let your newly elected officials know where you stand on hunger issues. Write or call your Members of Congress in support of funding for anti-hunger legislation.
- Invite your friends and family to become hunger advocates by joining the Hunger Action Center, where they too can speak out against hunger.
Remember, on November 4, you’ll have the opportunity to make a difference in the fight against hunger in America. Please make your vote a vote against hunger. Visit www.voteagainsthunger.org today.
Feeding America Provides Disaster Relief
Disaster response and cleanup efforts continue throughout the Gulf Coast states in the wake of several major hurricanes, and the food bank members of the Feeding America network have dramatically increased their operations to deliver emergency food assistance to those who need it most. Many residents of the affected region are now struggling to rebuild their lives, and they are in urgent need of our support. Reports from Feeding America disaster staff on the ground in Texas indicate that the initial phase of disaster recovery will last for several weeks, but longer term assistance needs are of greater concern.
Feeding America estimates that it will need up to 16.5 million pounds—over 430 truckloads—of food and grocery products to help families over the next several weeks of disaster recovery. Disaster expenses are expected to be at least $5 million for this hurricane season, in addition to restocking pre-positioned supplies for upcoming disasters.
“Not only do we need supplies for our network members in Texas and Louisiana, we need to replenish our inventories of disaster response food rations for future storms,” said Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America, who recently visited Texas to meet with food bank staff and local clients affected by the storm. “In these rough economic times, it will be even harder for families to recover from disaster. I’m asking individuals and companies to consider a financial gift to Feeding America. Our interest in these communities is not fleeting; we’ll be with them for the long haul well after the cameras have departed and the media coverage fades. Hunger is a disaster that millions of people deal with everyday.”
Your contribution is desperately needed. We urge you to visit the Hunger Action Center today to make your donation in support of all those who have been devastated by hurricanes this season.
The Face of Rural Hunger
Rural America—where farmers grow crops, raise livestock, and provide resources to help feed our country and the world. Rural America—with its “amber waves of grain” in such abundance that there should be enough for all. And yet, in small towns and farming communities across America, there are an estimated 2.3 million households that are food insecure, with children and families who go hungry everyday.
This is the touching story of Rebecca Douglas, who, as a child, saw the startling effects of hunger first-hand.
“I used to go to a one-room country school in southeast Michigan. Our family had moved up north from Tennessee a few years previously, and one of the ways I coped with being from a different culture was to be very quiet and just observe. I think it was due to my ability to remain very still and unobtrusive that I was allowed to stay in when most of the kids went outside for recess or after lunch. Further, many days in winter were very cold. I was usually not dressed appropriately for the weather and my teacher was very kind.
“One day, when I was allowed to stay in and read at my seat, another child was also kept in. As we sat inside, the teacher ate her lunch. At one point I looked up—only to be mesmerized by the look on the face of the boy who stayed in. He sat completely still, his eyes following the path her spoon took as she slowly ate her grapefruit. Watching this, I realized that he was hungry.
“I felt like I was observing something very intimate, and almost shameful. As Southerners, we had been taught to hide our discomfort, to keep our problems to ourselves, and not let anyone else know if we were needy. Yet what moved me almost to tears was the knowledge that he, too, was poor and would probably never know the wonderful taste of a grapefruit.
“I don't think I had ever tasted grapefruit—and yet, I was able to connect it to oranges. Oranges were (and still remain) the most wonderful things I had ever tasted. My one positive Christmas memory is of the oranges that would appear in our stockings. It was the only time we ever got oranges to eat.
“So I really related to the look on his face, the hunger in his eyes. Though we rarely had meat, we grew many vegetables in the summer, and my mom and dad canned so that we had food in the winter.
“To this day I find it difficult to volunteer in a soup kitchen because of the look in the eyes of the people who so desperately depend on this service. No matter how little we had to eat—and we had a large family—if a wanderer knocked on our door and asked for food, Mama always found a way to share what we had with them. To me, this is the epitome of humanity. If we lose this, we don't have to worry about the Middle East or Russia—we will destroy ourselves from within.”
Let’s join Rebecca Douglas, her mother, and so many others whose personal efforts help conquer hunger in rural America. Visit the Hunger Action Center today to find out how you can make a difference in the life of a hungry child.
Legislative Update
Feeding America is constantly working with Congress to pass legislation that enhances our network of food banks’ ability to serve their communities. Recently, we have been working to persuade Congress to extend a tax deduction for the donation of food. This important legislation allows restaurants, small businesses, farmers, and ranchers that donate food to deduct the cost of producing the food and up to one-half of the product’s fair market value from their taxes.
Many ranchers, farmers, restaurants and small businesses are counting on Congress to make the food donation deduction applicable to their 2008 taxes. Small businesses have already donated food to food banks and are anticipating that the tax deduction will be available when they file their 2008 taxes. This food is critical to our food banks, especially at a time when food and transportation costs are up, along with demand.
On October 1, the Senate included this tax deduction in the financial rescue legislation, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and it passed with an overwhelming majority. The House passed the same bill on October 3, and the President is expected to sign the Stabilization Act and tax deduction into law. Throughout this process, Feeding America worked to mobilize our member food banks and our grassroots supporters to explain to legislators how this tax deduction is important to our network and to our mission. Continue to check the Hunger Action Center for the latest developments on Capitol Hill and on our efforts to develop new and innovative public policy solutions to the issue of hunger in America.