Because of the efforts of so many advocates, including my co-workers here at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas and the Texas Food Bank Network, we won a brief, but important victory.  The U.S. House of Representatives delayed a vote on a child nutrition bill that would have taken SNAP (food stamp) benefits away from low-income people, many of whom raise children who require the benefits of both programs.

Our work is not done.  Congress will return for a lame-duck session in mid-November.  It’s imperative we sustain our efforts to persuade our members of Congress they must pass a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill without raiding SNAP funds.

I have to come clean — A selfish benefit about blogging about these issues is the opportunity to vent.  I need to do it, you probably need to do it, and my family certainly appreciates it.

I also treasure opportunities to celebrate, whether it’s birthdays, anniversaries, and the accomplishments of my friends and colleagues.  And, I celebrate legislative victories, too.   I suspect many of you out there do the same thing, as evidenced by today’s good news.

Thanks to all who participated in this process. I’ll conclude with a wonderful quote by Jim Weill of the Food Research and Action Center:

“If people fight back, it’s not inevitable.”

Today, at our annual “Hunger Heroes” appreciation luncheon at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, we celebrated with special guests our accomplishments in providing an unprecedented 17.2 million meals to nearly 300,000 hungry Central Texans. It was also an opportunity to honor  Mr. Eddie Garcia of H-E-B for his inspirational leadership of H-E-B programs in support of our mission and his dedication to ending hunger. Eddie was responsible for important public affairs and community programs including:

• Establishing the H-E-B Food Bank assistance program which supports 17 Texas food banks.  Thanks to this program, more than 2 million pounds of product was donated to CAFB this past year.
• Developing H-E-B’s “Help End Hunger” annual store campaign which raised more than $75,000 this past year for the Food Bank.
• Creating and developing the “Feast of Sharing” free community dinners in December and November.
• Leading efforts to establish the first food bank in Mexico.

Left to right: Dana Shelton (CAFB), Eddie Garcia (H-E-B), David Davenport (CAFB)

In spite of retirement, Eddie’s relationship with us and the Food Banking community continues in his current role as the H-E-B Food Bank Assistance Program consultant.

Eddie, and our Hunger Heroes, are shining examples of how one person can change many lives. Thank you, Central Texans! View photos of our Hunger Heroes.

Top row: Michelle Walker-Moak (Applied Materials) and Amanda Webster (National Instruments). Bottom row: Karin Dicks (AMD) and Kristi Fontenot (AMD).

To see how your support made a difference this past year, please view our annual report published today.

We’ve heard from clients about a desire to grow and eat fresh, local vegetables, but that it’s sometimes difficult to do. Community gardens may be unavailable in their area, or have a long waiting list.  Apartment life can limit the variety of vegetables and herbs that can be successfully grown.  We’re proud of our success with the Teaching Garden program to help our Partner Agencies provide fresh local produce to their clients.

Check out what Catholic Charities of Central Texas has been able to do with its Angels of Hope Food Pantry Garden:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4c_pjc9u90]

Our teaching garden looks great, thanks to the many volunteers who help us with its care and feeding.  This weekend, volunteers kicked off the spring growing season by weeding, cleaning and planting.

We think you should join us and plant a garden of your own.  Or better yet, volunteer with your local agency to help plant and maintain a garden.

Visit our website to download a  garden packet, and take the Grow and Give pledge to donate a portion of your harvest to the Food Bank.

What are your garden plans this season?

Check Out Our  iPhone App,  iPheedANeed

We’re excited to announce our latest resource to help our community help end hunger – the iPheedANeed iPhone app.  It’s not just our website on a phone.  You’ll also get kid-friendly, healthy, low-cost recipes, a fun game featuring healthy, non-perishable food items (the stuff we love for you to donate) and an easy resource for all CAFB news. We think you’ll have a lot of fun with this app, and we encourage you to tell us what we can do to make it even more fun and useful.

To download it for free, visit the website at http://www.ipheedaneed.com or simply download it now from iTunes.

Frank Ellison, CAFB client at the Rosewood-Zaragosa Neighborhood Center, shares while he waits in line at a Fresh Food for Families distribution:

“There’s a lot of poor people that ain’t got nothing. Ain’t got nowhere to sleep. You can see them on a lot of street corners. This [food pantry] helps a lot of people. They don’t get but a little social security and they need something else to help out.  If you’re on a fixed income you have to find some kind of place where you can get some help on your light bills. It’s rough.”

Learn more about hunger in Central Texas, and what you can do about it at HungerisUNacceptable.com

We want to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to our volunteers — you guys rock!

Each month, our volunteers contribute more than 5,000 hours combined to support our mission through sorting food in Product Recovery, at special events, teaching classes, as ambassadors, and a variety of other opportunities.

Watch the video –

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5nT3iSKhs8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Thank you for all your time and energy in helping us nourish hungry Central Texans. Like what you see? Click here to volunteer.

Alese Colehour
Communications VISTA

Why is Hunger Unacceptable?

Everyone has a story. Every month, I speak with dozens of clients face-to-face who receive food assistance from a CAFB supported food pantry. With each new person I meet, I’m more and more awed by the incredible strength of the human spirit. Some live in unimaginable hardship, and yet I see glimmers of optimism and hope in their eyes. Even people who must sacrifice dignity and pride in order to feed their children, still dream about a brighter future. This is why I believe hunger is unacceptable: because a loaf of bread or a bag of apples is a small cost for giving someone hope.

Listen to what the CAFB community says about hunger:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLtTXfdwLic&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Tell us: Why is hunger unacceptable to YOU?

Food Bank staff are serious about ending hunger. And when it comes to celebrating Halloween, well, we’re serious about that, too. From Poison Ivy (pictured here) to Roller Girl, CAFB staff dressed for the occasion, making this a fun Friday.

If you’re headed out this weekend, enjoy the festivities, and have a Happy Halloween!

Photo by Charles Bogel

On Monday, The LBJ Future Forum kicked-off the fall with a program on sustainable food. Panelists included David Davenport, CAFB President and CEO; Max Elliott, Urban Roots; and Ronda Rutledge, Executive Director of the Sustainable Food Center. Adrienne Longenecker, CAFB VP Community Relations served as the moderator.

Key topics:

• The general sustainability of our food system in Central Texas, Texas, nationally and globally
• Whether or not the food needs in our community are being met
• Current and local programs/organizations addressing food issues, and our successes and opportunities

Photo by Charles Bogel

“The event was a great discussion of the challenges, and also of the hopes that we are seeing some real changes being made.”  – Catherine Robb, founder and chairman, LBJ Library Future Forum and lawyer with the Austin office of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, LLP.

“I was proud to serve on the Future Forum panel discussing Sustainable Food Systems,” said Davenport. “The movement toward a more sustainable and hunger-free community gained a great deal of momentum at this event. Our community needs more opportunities to discuss challenges we will face and opportunities we can collectively embrace as our food systems continue to change.”

Karla Cantu
Agency Relations Director

On Wednesday, we served 221 households/908 individuals at CAFB East Austin Service Center (EASC). The line was long, which gave me some time to talk with the clients waiting patiently to receive food. Here’s a glimpse into what some of our neighbors in Austin are experiencing:

• Linda relies on STS (Capital Metro’s Special Transit Service) to get to the food pantry. Due to limited service, she takes the 5:30 a.m. bus to come to the food pantry (which opens at 8 a.m.).  She was given a cab voucher to get a ride home.
• Mary’s been looking for a job since February. She has one child and says she is thankful school started because her daughter gets free breakfast and lunch at school. When I asked how they made it through the summer with the extra food expense, she simply said they ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly.
• Juanita, a senior living on a fixed income, experienced a hard summer. Although she has no additional money coming in, she’s been helping her daughter financially who is on medical (maternity) leave.  As of today, they have six diapers left with no money available until next month’s pension check.  Juanita said her check is usually gone by the second week of the month.
• Jack walks three miles to get to the food pantry because he doesn’t have transportation. (Side note – you can call United Way’s First Call for Help (211) to find out which agencies offer bus vouchers.)
• Brenda’s a widow raising her 12, 9 and 3-year-old grandchildren, plus her 10-year-old daughter. She takes 10 city buses a day getting the children to-and-from school. The total cost for weekly transportation is $42. Brenda says she hopes the children will receive monthly student bus passes from CAFB Partner Agency, Communities in Schools .   

Wow, what a day, and these are only five stories out of the 221 households served today. 

Click here to volunteer at EASC.