Second Harvest North Florida Volume 11 • Issue 3 • August 2010 www.WeNourishHope.org
Happenings
a newsletter for member agencies
Fresh food procurement program delivers more than one million pounds of food to member partners
As many of you know, Second Harvest is working harder than ever to find and bring in fresh produce. Through our new fresh food procurement program, we have seen a tremendous growth in the volume of fresh food that we are making available to our agency partners. From January through July of 2009, we distributed 34,240 lbs. of fruits and vegetables. This year during the same time period we have distributed 1,002,578 lbs.! That incredible growth has only been possible because our network of agencies has worked hard to develop new ways of getting fresh food to people who need it most. One great example of this is Produce for the Hood run by HOME Inc. located in Springfield, North Jacksonville. Every week day, fresh produce is set out on tables for members of the community to come by and pick up. The program, which started in April of this year, has distributed 80,000 lbs. during this year. The Rev. Eric Lockett, who runs the program, recently shared with Second Harvest his 50 Block Vision. He said, “The reason we did this is because in our 50-block area there is only one grocery store.” In Springfield, fast food restaurants and corner stores
Mon.-Thurs.............7:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Fridays............................7:15 a.m.-noon
Agency Conference sets new agenda Thank you to everyone who came to this year’s annual Member Agency Conference that was graciously hosted by Household of Faith.This month’s newsletter addresses some of the key items from the agenda. Second Harvest volunteers give watermelons to people living in the neighborhood served by Household of Faith, another example of fresh food distributions.
selling only a few highly processed food items are often the primary source for families to purchase food. “A lot of people are raising their children on fast food and we want them to have collard greens, zucchinis, squash, watermelons and tomatoes. Second Harvest helped make this possible, and it is our hope that if people are eating better, they will start making better decisions,” Pastor Lockett said. Thank you all for all the hard work all of you do, day-in and day-out to creatively and diligently get food to those who need it most.
Second Harvest kicks off purchased food program to stretch dollars, supplement surplus food Beginning Sept. 15, Second Harvest North Florida will launch a new purchase program, SHNF Plus+, available to all our member agencies. We know the growing demand for food and the increasingly limited supply of shelf stable donations have forced agencies to use their limited funds to round out their mix of products at retail prices. SHNF Plus+ will include a selection of key staple dry grocery items at cost plus transportation. By buying in bulk (truckload quantities), we are able to get significantly lower pricing than what is available at local retailers.
Second Harvest Hours of Operation
SHNF Plus+ is not a money making venture; it is a program exclusively designed to provide an additional supply of food for times when donated items are not available. The program’s goal is to enable member partners to stretch limited dollars and feed more hungry people. Orders can be made either in person with a special order form or via the Internet by clicking on Member Login at the bottom of www.WeNourishHope.org. Before Sept. 15, each member partner will receive an e-mail including Login information.
Member agency signed annual contracts due Sept. 1 In the last two years, Second Harvest has realized a number of staffing changes in the midst of a rapid increase in pounds distributed — by the end of this year we anticipate that we will have doubled our distribution from 7.6 million pounds (’08) to 16 million pounds (‘10). To accommodate this growth, we have updated our facilities and refined how we do business, specifically in terms of information management. Some of our agency files are 30 years old. Policies as well as contracts have changed. To ensure an even playing field and consistency and fairness in how we treat agencies, we are revising some of our key policies. By now, all of you should have received new agency packets. Please complete them and return them promptly. The new terms of the contract will go into effect on Sept. 1, 2010. Please address any questions about the new contract and policies to Jim Chynoweth, Director of Agencies & Distribution, 904.517.5553, jchynoweth@WeNourishHope.org.
WE STRUGGLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET. I TRY TO FE M Y KIDS FIRST AND ME LAST.” “I WORK WITH CLIEN WHO DO NOT ALWAYS HAVE ENOUGH FOOD TO EAT. THEY ARE CHILDREN AND MANY TIMES THEY CAN NOT CONCENTRATE ON THEIR STUDIES, BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH FOOD HE HOME.” “IT DOESN’T HAPPEN OFTEN [THAT WE HAVE TO USE THE FOOD BANK], ONLY WHEN WORK SLOWS DOWN. WE DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO AVOID IT.” “WE STRUGGLE TO MAKE ENDS MEE
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Second Harvest North Florida 1502 Jessie Street Jacksonville, FL 32206 www.WeNourishHope.org
Gathering resources. Sharing food. Serving people in need. WeNourishHope.org
The mission of Second Harvest North Florida is to distribute food and grocery products to hungry people and to educate the public about the causes and possible solutions to problems of domestic hunger.
CONTACT US
1502 Jessie Street Jacksonville, FL 32206 Main: 904.353.3663 (FOOD)
Member Agency Information: Jim Chynoweth Agency Relations Director 904.353.3663, fax 904.358.4281 jchynoweth@WeNourishHope.org
Volunteer Information: Leah Bezares, Office Manager 904.353.3663 lbezares@WeNourishHope.org
To Make Financial Donations: Karen Rieley, VP for Advancement 904.730.8281 krieley@WeNourishHope.org
uTo learn more, see http:// www.WeNourishHope.org/ how-to-help.
FROM SECOND HARVEST’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: I was very excited to meet with so many partner agencies at our second annual conference held recently. It was so good to be with you, sharing ideas and talking about how we can better serve our clients. It is always gratifying on some level to see that you are not the only one in the boat! Many of us are paddling as hard as we can. The passion I felt at the conference leads me to feel all the more strongly that we can reach the point where hunger is not a problem in our communities, even though much remains for all of us to do to solve the hunger crisis. When I was interviewed for this position, I was told that there is enough food in the United States to feed everyone. It’s just a matter of spreading it around a bit more. A few points from the conference are key takeaways for all of us as we move forward in the next year. Regarding fresh food, in the first six months of 2009, we distributed a little over 30,000 pounds of fresh food to our member agencies. In the first six months of this year, that number is
over 1 million pounds! If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to start planning for how your agency can use fresh food. While fresh food will be less available during the next 60 days, the typical non-growing season for Florida, expect availability to ramp back up in September. Regarding food availability, many of our agencies are creating terrific solutions for food distribution. Increasingly, we will need to push food to people needing food rather than pull them to us to pick up the food. Gone are the days when we can just keep our pantry stocked. The goal is to get as much food to folks, as quickly and efficiently as we can, by going out and finding them. If you can keep these two items in mind as you move throughout 2010 and 2011, you will be well positioned to serve many more hungry folks in our community. As always, thanks for all you are doing. Thomas Mantz Executive Director
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