Feedback - Fall 2016

News from the Central Texas Food Bank

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Grandmother Perseveres with Help of Food Bank Feeding with Impact

New Facility Leads to More Efficient Food Sorting Nourish Lives for Generations to Come

Fall 2016

“The Food Bank has been lifesaving”

Mother, grandmother, and greatgrandmother at 59, Gwendolyn’s job of helping her family is far from over. With a smile on her face, she will do anything within her reach to help them.

She’s the support and encouragement for the younger generations of her family, but she doesn’t do it alone.

“It’s really hard, but we pull together and we put everything we can–as much as we can–into helping support each other,” Gwendolyn said.

As a single mother, she helps take care of her son and grandson along with her greatgrandkids.

Though she works full time, she makes scheduling arrangements at work to make time to babysit her two great-grandkids while their dad works. But his part-time job isn’t enough, and he has been struggling to find a full-time job to be able to better provide for his children.

“Now there’s a lot of single parents and there’s a lack of jobs for the next generation,” she said. “It’s been very difficult for them.”

With Gwendolyn’s monthly paycheck as the main source of income, she feels the pressure from all her family’s expenses, especially at the beginning and end of the month.

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I try to do what I can to give back in every area with my time, my talents and finances.

Most of the money she makes goes to the duplex she rents and her utilities. She hopes that one day she’ll have a place to call her own.

“Everything has gotten so high,” she said.

“The cost of living here in Austin has gotten so extremely high to the point where it’s not affordable anymore, and there’s nothing you can pretty much do but just go with it.”

Having to scrape by to make ends meet, Gwendolyn has to choose between having a roof over her head and having her pantry full.

Food only makes it to fifth or sixth place on the priority list, she said.

When her budget doesn’t stretch any further after paying all her bills, she’s able to put food on the table for her family thanks to the Food Bank.

“The Food Bank has been lifesaving,”

Gwendolyn said. “It truly helps my family and my children, even the staple food, all of it does.”

At the Food Bank’s Partner Agency, The Storehouse, Gwendolyn gets everything from staples, like rice and beans, to meat, fresh produce, eggs, bread, milk and even sweets for her young grandchildren. They’ll eat everything, she said.

The food isn’t the only reason she goes to The Storehouse. Before making her way around the food pantry, Gwendolyn prays in the chapel for a full-time job opportunity for her grandson so he can provide for his children.

To her, the community encouragement and spiritual support she receives from The Storehouse is just as important as the food.

“They’re a good organization and the spiritual support is great here,” she said. “I mainly come

here because of the support for prayers, not only do they bless us with food, but they also give us support in prayers.”

By the end of her trip to the food pantry, Gwendolyn leaves with job leads to pass on to her family.

Unfortunately, she’s not the only one in her family who struggles to put food on the table.

Whenever hard times hit her family, she and her nine siblings unite to help each other.

They’re grateful they can rely on the Food Bank to provide food in their time of need.

“The whole situation is support,” she said.

“It’s family support and the Food Bank has really been a helping hand.”

Any extra food that she has gets packed up to share with her family members who may have hit a rough patch. When they don’t have transportation to pick up the food from her, Gwendolyn will drive to their houses to drop it off. When necessary, she will do more than that, despite suffering from arthritis.

Though Gwendolyn lives in north Austin, she takes her sisters to the Food Bank’s Partner Agency, Abiding Love Lutheran Church, in south Austin to receive assistance.

There they can all get a little extra help to get through the month.

“They provide what they’re able to assist us and all the helpers are great,” she said.

Just as she gets help from the community

when she needs it most, Gwendolyn tries to pay it forward when she can, even if all she can give is her time.

From helping out at her church to giving a couple of dollars to a homeless person when she has the means, Gwendolyn loves giving back.

“Charity has always been my forte,” she said.

“I try to do what I can to give back in every area with my time, my talents and finances.”

With the Food Bank having a large impact on her life, she takes advantage of the ways her employer, the Texas Department of Public Safety, makes it possible to give back to the community.

Through their annual State Employee Charitable Campaign in the fall, Gwendolyn chooses to support the Food Bank. The amount she wishes to donate is then deducted from her paycheck and makes its way to the Food Bank to help other families like hers who are struggling to make ends meet.

She and her siblings take it upon themselves to instill in their younger family members their selfless spirit of giving back to the community and helping each other as a family.

“It’s our generation that has to take care of our children,” she said. “We have picked that baton up and now we’re trying to encourage them in education and in work to make sure that they give back and take care of their families.”

It’s really hard, but we pull together and we put everything we can–as much as we can–into helping support each other.

Feeding with Impact

By Kathy Green, Senior Director of Advocacy and Public Policy When food banks first organized more than 30 years ago, their mission was simple: getting food out to those who were most in need. Food banks didn’t focus on innovative programs or initiatives to decrease food insecurity, and didn’t prioritize healthier food over other food.

As food banking has evolved to tackle more of the issues surrounding food insecurity, so has its focus on health. We recognize the very clear link between hunger and health, knowing that food insecurity often brings with it chronic health conditions like diabetes and heart disease.

We also know that many of our food bank clients face challenges in accessing healthy food, whether it is a lack of money, a lack of healthier grocery stores, or both.

To address these challenges, food banks are sourcing more and more produce while providing health interventions to clients.

One way food banks can do this is through the Surplus Agricultural Grant Program.

This program helps Texas food banks acquire fresh produce from Texas growers seeking an outlet for surplus or unsellable products. The funding offsets the costs of harvesting, packing, and transportation.

For the upcoming 2017 legislative session, Texas food banks are requesting $22 million for the Surplus Agricultural Grant Program. Were the program funded at the requested amount, more than 350 million pounds of surplus produce could be sourced from Texas growers. This increased produce distribution could then be combined with health interventions like nutrition education or revamping pantries to promote healthier food choices, a partnership called “Feeding with Impact.”

Texas legislators will have many competing interests to fund during the session, but few have the return on investment that Feeding with Impact does.

This program builds on food banks’ already efficient logistics and purchasing power to support a healthier population and lowered health care costs for the state, a win for everyone. Join us this session in advocating for the Surplus Agricultural Grant program, and ensuring a more well-fed Texas.

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THANK YOU FOR HELPING FIGHT HUNGER!

UPCOMING EVENTS September is Hunger Action Month Join us around town as we spread the word about hunger in our community!

Learn more at centraltexasfoodbank.org/ham2016 Shake Shack Donation Day September 6 from 11:00 A.M. - 10:00 P.M. Shake Shack South Lamar 1100 S. Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704 The Food Bank will receive 15 percent of sales from the South Lamar Shake Shack on Tuesday, September 6 from 11 A.M. - 10 P.M.

1,15. Round Rock Express Strike Out Hunger The Round Rock Express gives free lawn tickets for Wednesday home games to any attendees who bring in two H-E-B branded canned food items to the Dell Diamond on game day. This season, we received more than 1,500 pounds in food donations.

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Geeks Who Drink Quiz for a Cause September 7 at 8:00 P.M. The Highball 1120 S. Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704 Quiz For a Cause joins up with Geeks Who Drink for a night of fundraising and community outreach. In order to participate in Quiz for a Cause, individuals pay a recommended $5 entry fee, collected by the Food Bank to help fight hunger.

Hunger Action Day September 8 at the Central Texas Food Bank Help us spread awareness about Hunger Action Month by volunteering at the Food Bank during our morning, afternoon or evening shift. Sign up to volunteer at: www.centraltexasfoodbank.org/volunteer

3. 24th Annual Stamp Out Hunger This national campaign by the National Association of Letter Carriers and local USPS employees raised more than 175,000 pounds of nutritious food across Central Texas, allowing us to provide more than 146,000 meals. Individuals were asked to leave donations in the brown bag delivered to their mailbox which was then picked up by local letter carriers.

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6,11,14. Keep Austin Weird Festival This annual festival celebrated all things weird with sideshow attractions, a costume contest, live music by local bands, and the “slowest 5k ever” that included fun stops like a slip and slide and Amy’s Ice Cream. The Food Bank received $1 from every festival pass sold, helping us provide thousands of meals to our community.

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Keller Williams Annual Food Drive September 17 from 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. Riverbend Church 4214 N. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin, TX 78746 On Saturday, September 17, from 9 A.M. - 1 P.M., Keller Williams will be stationed at Riverbend Church to collect food donations for their annual food drive. Last year, this food drive provided 12,844 meals and this year Keller Williams has set a goal of 16,000 meals.

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4,9. Bacon and Beer Fest The third annual Bacon and Beer Festival was presented by Edible Austin and Eat Boston.

Boasting many varieties of bacon and beer treats, the festival ended up raising 24,916 meals for Central Texans in need.

5. BOB FM & Kendra Scott Give Back Kendra Scott and BOB FM partnered to help raise meals for the Food Bank’s Summer Meals That Matter campaign by donating 20 percent of proceeds during a special shopping event at their North Lamar store.

Fresh Food Drive at SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown September 10 from 8:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown (Republic Square Park) 422 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX 78701 During the farmers’ market, customers can buy fresh produce from their favorite vendors and then bring the produce to the Central Texas Food Bank tent as a donation to the Food Bank.

Ten Thousand Villages Benefit Shopping Night September 14 from 5:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. 4803 Burnet Rd., Austin, TX 78756 The Food Bank will receive a percentage of sales made from 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. on Wednesday, September 14 at Ten Thousand Villages.

Percentages donated will be determined based on the number of total sales made.

2. Round Rock Express Specialty Jersey ‘90s Night In June, the Food Bank benefited from ‘90s Night at the Dell Diamond. The Round Rock Express players wore Saved by the Bell Bayside Bears Jerseys that were auctioned off during the game, raising more than 6,600 meals for the Food Bank.

7. BuildASign’s CANville Austin-grown company BuildASign hosted its annual CANville food drive, which brings together more than 15 local start-ups and technology companies to build Austin monuments and structures out of canned food items. The cans were donated to the Food Bank, raising more than 150,000 meals.

8,13. Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival Now in its 26th year, the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival is the world’s largest hot sauce festival, boasting more than 300 varieties of hot sauce. The festival is free with a suggested donation of nonperishable food items to the Food Bank, bringing in thousands of pounds of food every year.

10,12,16. Summer Volunteers Thousands of volunteers came to our new facility to help us break in our new Product Recovery space and get food out to their Central Texas neighbors.

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New Facility Leads to More Efficient Food Sorting Pallets and pallets of cans, meat, drinks and any other food that gets donated to the Food Bank needs to be inspected before being distributed to the community to make sure only the best food makes it to families’ tables.

The sound of a loud buzz marks the start of a product recovery shift. It begins.

Volunteers dressed in t-shirts and wearing closed toe shoes inspect, clean, and place the food on the conveyor belt to be sorted and placed in boxes for Central Texans in need.

Though the general product recovery process is the same in the new Food Bank as it was in our former facility, the results don’t even compare.

The new 135,000 square-foot building includes improvements that will help us reach the more than 471,000 food-insecure individuals in our 21-county service territory.

Among the upgrades is a second product recovery area for a combined 11,692 square -foot food sorting area as compared to the single 5,263 square-foot area in our former facility that could only accommodate 80 volunteers.

While the first 7,292 square-foot product recovery area has a capacity to accommodate 120 volunteers, the second 4,400 square-foot area can accommodate 75 more volunteers.

The increased space is already yielding results.

Though we have only been in operation for a little more than two months, with the larger space we’re processing an average of 5,000 pounds of food per volunteer shift compared to only 3,000 pounds in our previous facility.

Changes in the layout and process have also contributed to the increased efficiency.

With the new equipment, the conveyor belt

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“We’re processing more food, we’re processing more pounds out, which equals more meals out to our clients.” and roller bars are connected in a straight line, compared to the previous layout where the conveyor belt and roller bars made a horseshoe shape. The new layout makes it easier for volunteers to move around to process food.

“It’s more efficient, we’ve got more room to work, it’s a lot smoother and we get out more product,” Volunteer Leader Ron said.

The increased productivity and space also mean that the volunteers are no longer waiting around for certain tasks to be completed, like having more pallets of food brought in for sorting, in order to continue their work.

After evaluating the process in the previous facility, some steps in the operation were removed to save time. Now, once sorters have separated items into boxes of different food categories and met a specific weight, they will place a label in the box and send it to the palletizers with a lid on it instead of having the box get weighed twice and spend time looking for a lid as it was before.

“I feel great about the new space,” Product Recovery Manager Gabe Ornelas said. “We’re

processing more food, we’re processing more pounds out, which equals more meals out to our clients.”

Learning from other food banks’ best practices to save time, our staff has implemented pre-printing pallet labels for major food categories instead of having volunteers write a complete label during the production line.

As volunteers adapt to the new space and system, they’re also helping refine the process.

When a volunteer noticed that separating the lids from the boxes was causing mix-ups, he suggested placing the lids behind the boxes to keep them together to avoid confusion.

Though there’s still some trial and error, our volunteers and staff have already hit a record of processing 13,000 pounds of food in one three-hour shift, or creating 10,833 meals for families at risk of hunger. And this is only the beginning.

It’s exciting to see the efficiency of the new space, but it also means we need more volunteers to fill our product recovery areas to make the most of the increased productivity.

Our small staff cannot do it alone and we rely on our volunteers to keep food on families’ tables. When you sign up to volunteer for a single shift, you help us provide an additional 276 meals for our neighbors.

“I enjoy [volunteering] so much and giving back to the community and helping feed people,” Ron said.

Sign Up To Volunteer Today centraltexasfoodbank.org/volunteer

Donor recognition sign at the new Central Texas Food Bank

Nourish Lives for Generations to Come You’ve likely heard that this past summer the Food Bank moved into a new 135,000 square-foot facility to increase our capacity to serve people facing hunger throughout Central Texas. Your support is what continues to make the work the Food Bank does possible day after day, year after year.

At the new Food Bank facility we now have seven times more fridge and freezer space than before. That’s room for seven times the fresh nourishing food that we can provide to the community we serve. We hope that by the end of our fifth year in the new facility, half of the food we distribute will be healthy produce – what our clients need access to most.

The scale of the space we have available to us is almost overwhelming upon first glance. It’s going to take our whole community coming together to help fill it. We know that thanks to your generosity and our increased capacity, it’s possible to serve every family and individual in need of a helping hand. Summer put a strain on the Food Bank’s resources – donations are low and the need is at its highest. When you give a donation today, you’ll help us fill our new warehouse’s empty shelves before the holiday season begins. Don’t wait, families in Central Texas need our help right now.

Plus! For a limited time, you can make hunger relief a part of your lasting legacy. When you make a gift to the Food Bank’s Capital Campaign, you will be recognized on the canstruction wall in the main hallway of our new facility (seen above). The structure reminds us that we’re not only filling tummies, we’re nourishing lives as we work towards our mission of ending hunger in Central Texas. Cans are still available for reservation. For a gift of $500-$999 have your name put on a small can and for $1,500+ you can have your name on a large can.

To schedule a tour so you can see the can wall in person, or for more information, contact Amelia Long, Donor Relations Manager at (512) 684-2558 or along@centraltexasfoodbank.org.

YOUR NAME HERE

YOUR NAME HERE

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Heidi Baschnagel, Chair National Instruments Corporation

Hon. Jeff Rose Texas Third Court of Appeals

Joyce Mullen, Vice Chair Dell, Inc.

John Sanchez Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

Terry G. Knighton, Secretary Luminex Corporation

Clint Scott CLS Partners

Kevin J. Koch, Treasurer McLane Company, Inc.

Sheldy Starkes, MBA, PMP Booker, Starkes & Patodia, Inc.

Jen Alessandra SolarWinds

Leslie Sweet HEB Grocery Company, LP

Melissa Anthony Sinn anthonyBarnum Public Relations

Anneliese Tanner Austin Independent School District

Kenneth Gladish, Ph.D. Seton Foundations

Jason Thurman PlainsCapital Bank

Hari Jayaram Applied Materials

Michael G. Watkins, MD, FACC Seton Heart Institute

Timothy M. Lee thinc.small, LLC

Scott Weatherford Jackson Walker LLP

Pat Massey IBM Corporation

Mark J. Williams

Stephen Portner

Barrett Wood WoodGen, LLC

FEEDBACK? Questions, comments or change of address?

Email: communications@centraltexasfoodbank.org Read it online Download and subscribe to Food Bank publications at centraltexasfoodbank.org

THANK YOU HUNGER ACTION MONTH SPONSORS

MESSAGE from the PRESIDENT & CEO The past few months have been amazing for the Food Bank and our supporters, partners and clients. After a very smooth transition into our new 135,000 square-foot facility on Metropolis Drive in mid-June, we began operations on June 20 and officially dedicated the new Central Texas Food Bank in an exciting grand opening ceremony on July 7.

The mood that day was electric as elected officials, donors and friends gathered to inaugurate the new facility and see the ceremonial first boxes of food loaded onto a truck for delivery to each of the 21 counties we serve.

I can’t thank you enough for your support in making your new Central Texas Food Bank a reality. It’s an accomplishment we can all be proud of, an accomplishment that’s truly worthy of Central Texas.

But the excitement about the new Food Bank and all that it can do is tempered by the knowledge that this is not the end of our fight against hunger here in Central Texas, but just the next step in creating a hungerfree community for clients like Gwendolyn, featured in this issue.

As the need—and our ability to address it—grows, your continuing support is more vital than ever to helping us fulfill our mission.

Since we started the campaign to build the new Food Bank we’ve used the phrase “not enough space to meet demand” a lot in regard to our need for greater capacity. That’s a nice way of saying people in our community face the real prospect of hunger every day. The person next to us at a traffic light. The kid on the playground. Our neighbors.

The new Food Bank can distribute more than 60 million pounds of food every year. We can now host more than 150,000 volunteer hours each year, compared to the roughly 85,000 hours last year.

We’ve always had the will and now we have the capacity to get food to the people who need it the most. But we need your help in filling our shelves with nutritious food and volunteering to help us get that food to our neighbors in need.

September is national Hunger Action Month. What better time to join us in renewing your commitment to ending hunger in Central Texas.

Thank you.

Hank Perret President & CEO

Our mission: To nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger.

6500 Metropolis Dr., Austin, TX 78744 | 512.282.2111 formerly Capital Area Food Bank /CentralTexasFoodBank

A member of

@CTXFoodBank