April 2010
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March 2010
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Bethany Garfield - Food Pantry Coordinator
I run the Mustard Seed Food Pantry at the Community Center of St. Bernard and this will be my first blog post on the FFON site. For those of you who have been following the Community Center, you may already know some of the challenges we face in our efforts to feed families in need. For the newcomers, I’m just going to recap briefly what it is we do at the pantry and how we do it.
Every week,...
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Government Spending on Food
Obama’s administration released last month that just over $107 billion will be allotted towards the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. It’s interesting to see which programs received funding and how much they received. It breaks down like this.
SNAP (food stamps) received the largest chunk of the pie with $68 billion.
Child Nutrition received $19.4 billion to help expand programs like school...
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WatchWhy isn’t this here already?
A food bank in Texas is testing out a new system where they will be able to process food stamp applications at their facility, instead of having to wait for state approval. It’s this type of legislation that makes so much sense its ridiculous. Applying for food stamps is not an easy process, and when someone is in a place where they need food they shouldn’t...
February 2010
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WatchAs part of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign is an initiative to end ‘Food Deserts’ throughout America in 7 years. Food Deserts are basically any community or town across America that doesn’t have easy access to a supermarket, keeping families from buying fresh produce and other healthy foods.
After watching this video I couldn’t help but think about St...
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Food banks see demand increasing, nationwide and... →
Great article about the struggle against hunger in our city. I’m going to try and contact her and let her know about our food drives and this blog. Awareness is the first step in creating a change!
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2010 Hunger Report →
Feeding America, a huge organization that oversees the majority of food banks across america, just released this comprehensive study of the past year. One staggering fact is that 37 million people received food from Feeding America’s food banks. Thats 1 out of every 8 americans.
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February is Canned Food Month
In honor of Canned Food Month, consider donating some canned vegetables to our food pantry at the Community Center of St Bernard! We are very short on vegetables and we want to be able to feed our clients with healthy food. If you don’t live in the Greater New Orleans area, consider donating online: www.ccstb.org
January 2010
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We Need Veggies Now!
Our food pantry coordinator just told me we don’t have any canned vegetables for the next week. Its horrible when we are forced to give out gatorade and honeybuns because thats all we have to give. If you live in the New Orleans or St Bernard area please donate your canned veggies! You can drop off any food here at the Community Center or at a couple different locations in the city listed on...
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WatchThis is an interesting news spot on CNN about $100 million of government stimulus money that has been put towards food stamps, healthier food options at public schools, and towards food banks. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen an increase in canned pork at our food pantry…
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WatchOur Executive Director, Iray Nabatoff, went on ABC to speak about the Community Center and our need for food and increase in clients.
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New Jersey Food Banks Threatened by Budget Cuts →
It seems New Jersey’s Food Banks are also being threatened by budget cuts. When government officials are intent on balancing the budget, I beg them to not sacrifice the funds they allot to food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens. Especially since we are seeing more people than ever before due to the recession. link.
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MoveOn.org spreads awareness about Food Shortage
I was happily surprised when I got an e-mail newsletter from MoveOn.org asking for donations for the organization Feeding America. Feeding America feeds into our local food bank Second Harvest of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana which supplies our food pantry with food. Its great to see such a large and influential organization like MoveOn supporting our nation’s food pantries.
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Billy Brown - Digital Arts Service Corps
I work at the Community Center through a program called the Digital Arts Service Corps, which is basically AmeriCorps but for geeks. Its a year long service position where I try to use technology, social media, and the internet to help further the efforts of a nonprofit. I was placed at the Community Center of St Bernard for my year of service.
There are a lot of really interesting things that...
December 2009
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“We know a lot of children here in the New Orleans area that are at risk for...”
– Second Harvest New Orleans President Natalie Jayroe in an article on WDSU.
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WatchI just found out about Rock and Wrap it up. I wonder if they are active in New Orleans…having access to the leftover food at the Saint’s games would go a long way
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States passing laws to assist food pantries →
Most of these laws are to allow restaurants to donate extra food to soup kitchens. I especially love California’s initiative to create a database of food pantries that need food and restaurants that have extra making it easier for them to connect with each other. It makes so much sense its almost crazy.
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Words from Our Pantry
Our food pantry coordinator sent me an e-mail expressing her concern with our current food shortage. If you read this remember that it is not Second Harvest’s fault that we are working on so little food. Its the LA govt’s fault for cutting their funding by 90%.
“The main problem is getting people enough food, as well as getting them balanced nutrition. Lately we have a serious...
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"Millions of Americans struggle to find food" →
This is a ABC world news video about the increase in families with children looking to get food from pantries in New Orleans. Last month we had 89 new households sign up at our pantry. Also last month, 25% of all households receiving food had a single parent. If you or anyone you know might have surplus food or are willing to run a food drive, please send our food pantry coordinator an e-mail!...
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The NGO issue
So this is my understanding of why we, a food pantry in a small town outside of New Orleans, do not have enough food to adequately provide for families that come to us looking for help.
Second Harvest Nola is a Louisiana food bank that provides food to over 200 different agencies, one being our food pantry. Second Harvest is not a government agency but it does receive funding from the...
November 2009
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“I’ve been doing this for nine years, and I have never seen the food as...”
– Curtis Viator, president of the Shepherd’s Food Pantry’s board of directors
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Cuts hurt local pantry →
Another article about a struggling food pantry in Lafayette Parish due to the huge 4.5 million budget cut to the Louisiana Food Bank Association. Just to compare, the food pantry in this article serves 275 families a month and we serve around 600.
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Charity Leaders Ask Congress to Help on Hunger... →
Great news. The food shortage is really a national issue, and I’m very happy that people are advocating for help. I’m really glad that both United Way and Catholic Charities (they run Second Harvest) are in the mix too. The article also outlines 3 proposals to ease the strain on non-profits, including the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act, which would permanently extend...
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“The number of new users coupled with the growing need of existing clients has...”
– Scott Wolf, a founding member of the Feeding America Entertainment Council
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WatchThis video about the Council on Aging in Jeff Davis Parish in SouthWest Louisiana shows exactly whats happening at our pantry. I didn’t realize this until now, but its a statewide problem. Food pantries all over Louisiana are struggling due to the budget cuts.
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“No matter how much they try to tighten their belts, food banks will have to turn...”
– Natalie Jayroe, President and Chief Executive officer of Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana
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Severe state cuts could leave food banks'... →
This article by the Times-Picayune came out in late July right after the budget cuts were made public. They interview Second Harvest Nola’s President about the cuts, and Second Harvest provides almost 100% of the food for our food pantry. It does a good job of explaining the repercussions on such a large budget cut.
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We need Food!
We run a food pantry in Arabi, Louisiana just east of the Lower 9th Ward and 5 miles from the french quarter. We have recently come upon a crisis. Our pantry is in desperate need of more food. I’m tired of watching families go home with not nearly enough food to feed their families. Our main food provider, Second Harvest, lost half of their funding and our residents are suffering because of it....