Federal budget would take food off the family dinner table

Many people don't realize what a huge role the federal government plays in hunger relief in the United States. While the days of government cheese are (mostly) over, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) alone provides about a quarter of all food distributed by food banks nationwide. So we're monitoring the budget debate closely on a daily basis.

Wednesday brought grim news. A House committee proposed to cut TEFAP by 20 percent. As Feeding America noted in a statement yesterday, such a cut would be disastrous for food banks, pantries and the people we serve. For the Food Depository, it would mean emptier shelves and fewer foodstuffs just as we face a record need in Cook County.

The Food Depository is reaching out to Cook County's Congressional delegation and Sen. Durbin and Sen. Kirk. You can help too--visit our Advocacy Center and in a few clicks send an email stating that programs like TEFAP must remain full funded in the federal budget.

The budget debate is just the start of what promises to be a vigorous conversation in Washington during the next two years. The Farm Bill, which authorizes most nutrition programs, is up for renewal in 2012. But we must begin to spread the word about the importance of federal nutrition programs now. The well-being of thousands of people in Cook County is at stake.

Getting Social with the Food Depository

You know, this social media thing might catch on. So, the Food Depository has taken up residence in several of the most popular social networks.

After all, just having a Facebook page and Twitter profile aren't going to cut it anymore. You have to be engaged with your fans and provide them with relevant, useful information that is worth sharing with their own network. The Food Depository has a growing audience in both of these places (8,500 fans and 1,700 followers, respectively), but we cannot rest on our laurels and expect people to flock to us just because we exist in the social space. Competing for the attention of more than 500 million active Facebook users is a daunting task. The average user may have 130 friends, but getting them to share a link or even just like a photo is not always easy. (source: Facebook)

That's why we enlist partners to help spread the word about the Food Depository. We're only just scratching the surface, but already we've run a YouTube cooking demo campaign with Sears and LG, where each view of the video meant 50 cents to us.

Currently, we are in the midst of a "Like" campaign with Menuism, a social network for foodies where you can review restaurants and their dishes; it's also the web's largest aggregator of online restaurant menus. Their campaign is simple: just “like” Menuism on Facebook and they’ll donate $1 to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. We're now at about $2,000 raised of a possible $5,000.

It’s these types of campaigns that not only share our mission of providing food for hungry people in Cook County, but also they help us raise funds to continue achieving that mission.

We still have the more traditional communication pathways (mail, e-mail, website), but when Facebook claims that more than 30 billion pieces of content (links, blogs, photos, etc.) are shared each month, it’s hard to ignore the power of social media and how it could help share our mission and raise awareness of hunger relief. Even if we are the slightest fraction of that monthly activity, then we—at least this little corner of the Food Depository—are doing our jobs.

Breakfast in the Classroom

Fulfilling our hunger-relief mission stretches beyond our warehouse on the Southwest Side. One of the chief means for alleviating hunger is through federally funded nutrition programs. The Greater Chicago Food Depository, and the people we serve, must tap all of the resources available if we are to provide food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community. Schools are a key part of the frontline against child hunger. That's why we applaud Chicago Public Schools and the Board of Education for enacting Breakfast in the Classroom for all Chicago elementary schools in January.

Children represent 37 percent of the people served annually by the Food Depository, or 250,000 children under the age of 18. Research shows that proper nutrition and academic performance are inextricably linked. In a recent study conducted by the Food Depository, 45 percent of children missed a main meal in their last 24 hours.

Illinois' school breakfast participation rate is 46th in the nation, according to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). Chicago is ranked 22nd (out of 29 urban school districts) in school breakfast participation; Chicago ranked dead last in school breakfast participation until CPS offered Breakfast in the Classroom. FRAC statistics show that CPS served breakfast to an additional 32,000 low-income students per day as it increased the number of schools participating in Breakfast in the Classroom to 182 in the 2009-2010 school year. Further, in this time of fiscal uncertainty at the city and state level, school breakfast costs are reimbursed by the federal government.

Thank you to CPS for helping children have the fuel they need to learn.

Goya gives

Food donations are the foundation of food banking. But the Greater Chicago Food Depository's recent history shows that food donations are becoming a smaller percentage of our sourcing. In 2006-2007, 62 percent of our food receipts came from food donations. By 2009-2010, 52 percent came from food donations. Food distributors, manufacturers and wholesalers are simply becoming more efficient in a challenging market.

So far the decreases have been off-set by food from the federal government, but federal food may not be as steady a source for much longer. That's why Goya Foods' donation of 75,000 pounds of food on Wednesday was so important. Because of Goya, the Food Depository received two truckloads laden with long grain rice, pink beans, red beans, chick peas, black beans and pinto beans--all high-quality, nutritious, low-sodium products. In coming days and weeks, the food will be distributed to our network of 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters and provided to people in need across Cook County.

Thank you to Goya Foods for its generous donation in honor of its 75th anniversary--donations that totaled 1 million pounds nationwide on Wednesday. And thank you to United Way of Metropolitan Chicago for helping to make it happen. Food donations are an outstanding anniversary gift for Cook County's hunger-relief programs. Photo by Charlie Westerman.

Lobbying for hunger relief in Illinois: Day Two at the Feeding Illinois Conference and Lobby Day in Springfield

Everyone was up bright and early the next morning, excited to meet with legislators and tell the stories of their communities. Participants met in smaller, two- to five-person groups by the legislative district in which their program is located. Groups reviewed their meeting schedule and talking points over breakfast.

In light of the budget crisis in Illinois, lobbyists aimed to raise awareness about legislation that would benefit Illinois’ hungry families without any added financial burden to the state, such as inviting legislators to join the Anti-Hunger Caucus and support a bill that would help divert more eggs—a nutrient rich, but rarely donated, item—to Illinois food banks.

I asked Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry, a member of the Food Depository, if I could tag along with their group for their first meeting of the day with their representative, Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park).

As I sat down with the group, pantry executive director Kathy Russell continued down the list of meetings planned for the day. Kathy and her team had done their homework on each and knew what West Side neighborhoods they represented and how many clients the pantry served from each area. When asked if they had any specific stories from their pantry to share with legislators who had not seen the pantry in action, Michele Zurakowski nodded.

“We stayed open the night of the blizzard,” said Michele, director of operations at the pantry. “We served 15 families that night, including a working mother of five. She was stressed out that schools would be closed for the next two days and her children wouldn’t be able to get school lunches so she had to come up with enough food for 30 meals. It was one of those times where you realize this is why we are here.”

“If people are coming to pantry in a blizzard, they really need the help,” Kathy added.

Lobbying for hunger relief in Illinois: Day One at the Feeding Illinois Conference and Lobby Day in Springfield

Last week, more than 60 Greater Chicago Food Depository staff, volunteers and member agency representatives traveled to Springfield for the two-day Second Annual Feeding Illinois Anti-Hunger Conference and Lobby Day. We were joined by hunger-relief supporters from all eight Feeding Illinois member food banks, as well as other food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters from across Illinois. Our charge was to learn more about legislative issues affecting hunger relief and raise awareness about the thousands of men, woman and children that struggle with hunger every day in our state.

To kick things off, participants gathered at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Hotel and Conference Center for a panel discussion covering the ongoing efforts of federal, state, private and community organizations to fight hunger, and what to expect during meetings with legislators the following day. Panelists included: Sarah Coffer, vice president of United Way of McLean County; Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park); Grace Hou, assistant secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services; Andy Kulczycki, director of Community Service Center of Northern Champaign County; Tracy Smith, state director of Feeding Illinois; and Jason Wetzel, director of public affairs and government relations of Walmart. The keynote was given by Jerry Stermer of the office of the governor and provided background on the state budget deficit and the financial challenges facing the state.

Below are just a few snippets from the panel discussion:

“Our staff was struck by how many clients mentioned how many phone calls, how many contacts they had to go through to get someone to answer their questions [in regards to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program],” Andy Kulczycki, director of the Community Service Center of Northern Champaign County.

“Everyone is absolutely necessary to ending hunger. Community and state agencies can’t do it alone, legislators can’t do it alone, philanthropies can’t do it alone. But we can do it together. The question is whether or not we will,”Grace Hou, assistant secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services.

“There is an ongoing debate on what the overall size and scope of government should be. But if government is not instrumental in ensuring that no one goes to bed hungry, we’re doing it wrong,” Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park).

At the conclusion of the panel, participants chose break-out sessions to attend, each focusing on a specific topic. I stopped by the “Spotlight on Agencies,” led by Bob Koenegstein, director of the Chester Area Christian Food Pantry, a member of the St. Louis Area Foodbank. Bob shared a new initiative of his pantry, a monthly mobile “food fair.” The group, which included several other food pantries and food banks, discussed best practices of their mobile programs and there was a lively discussion on the logistics of allowing clients to choose their own items and bypass food they may not use or need. Several pantries shared that having a choice gave clients dignity and eliminated waste with everyone only taking the food they needed.

Next I joined a session covering SNAP and how agencies can connect their clients with these federal benefits. Pastor Sandra Gillespie of Food Depository member agency Chosen Tabernacle Food Pantry spoke about her experience with the Food Depository SNAP Outreach team that visits the pantry once a month to assist clients with the 11-page application form and to answer questions about the application process.

Pastor Gillespie explained that she decided to learn more about SNAP as a way to help her clients regain a sense of dignity. “[SNAP] is an opportunity [for the client] to do some things on their own. It allows them to go to the store and get what they need,” she said. “It’s about making a difference in the lives of our clients.”

To cap off the day, participants were welcomed to the governor’s mansion to recognize three hunger-relief advocates: the 2011 Legislator of the Year Sen. Harmon; Brenda Hanbury, retiring chief of the Bureau of Homeless Services and Supportive Housing, Illinois Department of Human Services; and Dennis Smith, retiring president and CEO of Northern Illinois Food Bank. Watch their acceptance speeches below.

Weathering the Blizzard of 2011

Many people have asked how the Greater Chicago Food Depository fared during last week's blizzard. The Food Depository was completely closed on Wednesday and closed for shipping on Thursday, though a few hearty staff did make it in that day. Pantries, soup kitchens and shelters were already stocked with orders from the previous week--food shipments generally take place well in advance. On Friday, we shipped 189,000 pounds of food as agencies rescheduled pickups from previous days, and we held volunteer sessions as planned. Above is a photo of our shipping yard on Wednesday morning. Below is a photo of our new snow-fighting vehicle, acquired just this year--and just in time for the Blizzard of 2011.