Ending Hunger in Crawford, Erie, Huron and Lorain Counties Volume X • Issue IIII • Winter 2011

THE IMPACT Through the Ohio Agriculture Clearance Program, Second Harvest hosted 99 Farmer’s Markets in our region from July through October bringing 1.26 Million pounds of fresh produce to over 17,500 families at-risk for hunger.

MESSAGE FROM THE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

........................ PAGE 2

DONOR SPOTLIGHT:

ADRIENNE’S GOURMET

FOODS

......................... PAGE 4

CONAGRA FOODS: SCHOOLS

FIGHT HUNGER CAMPAIGN

......................... PAGE 5

SPITZER HELPING TO BRING

1 MILLION MEALS TO

FAMILIES

......................... PAGE 6

In November, The Brookings Institute released a report on The Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty, which highlighted the trend of neighborhoods with extreme-poverty. According to the study, in Lorain County, pockets of households living in poverty and extreme poverty, specifically in the cities of Lorain and Elyria, have grown larger in the last 10 years.

The findings are based on data from the 2005-2009 American Community Surveys and found from 2000 to 2005-2009 that after declining in the 1990’s, the population in extreme poverty neighborhoods – where at least 40 percent of individuals live below the poverty line – rose by one-third. The report also highlighted the move of poor individuals to neighborhoods of extreme high poverty due to the recession of the late 2000’s.

The report also found that those same areas had at least an 8 percentage point increase in the growth of poverty-stricken neighborhoods, putting the census tract that includes parts of Elyria and Lorain as

the fourth fastest growing poverty tract in the country.

The findings in the report mirror the experience of Second Harvest, which has seen a sharp increase in those needing assistance and has experienced record-breaking distribution over the past five years. In the past year alone distribution of food and grocery products is up 26 percent.

However, many of the areas of extreme poverty in our region are lacking food pantry and hot meal programs to serve those at-risk for hunger. Second Harvest is currently working with existing agencies and seeking out new partners to establish additional food pantry programs to bring resources to these under-served areas.

- Report & statistics courtesy of The Brookings Institute, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. The complete report can be found at tinyurl.com/3ucrqr2

Poverty Gains Ground in Region Brookings Institute Report: The Re-Emergence of Concentrated Poverty

Page 2

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Goodman, President Goodman Advisors / Larmick Corp

Stephen Lucas, Vice-President Huntington Bank

Patricia O’Brien, Secretary The Stocker Foundation

Tim McNeill, Treasurer Bettcher Industries

Brian Sooy, At-Large Sooy + Co.

Edwin Garcia LMHA

Adele Kozar Catholic Charities

Cynthia McCabe Lorain County Community College

Deborah Miller D.S. Miller & Associates, LLC

Mel Miller Janotta & Herner, Inc.

Elizabeth Newman Community Representative

John Pluta Invacare Corp.

Gayle Reeves Gayle A. Reeves, L.P.A.

Donna Williams Lorain County Labor Agency

STAFF

Juliana Chase-Morefield Executive Director

Saberina Burkhammer Director of Resources

Becky Bardsley Donor Services Assistant

Susan Bartosch Community Engagement Coordinator

Julie Cruz-Blair Volunteer Relations Coordinator

Joseph Hrinda Agency Relations Coordinator

Beverly Lizanich Agency Relations Manager

Rod McGuire Food Resource Coordinator

Jeannine Niedzwicki Volunteer Relations Assistant

Kacy Porter Administrative Assistant

Kristin Pullin Nutrition Education Coordinator

Scott Ciaston Director of Operations

Dawn Kinsley Customer Service Coordinator

Phil Simulcik Warehouse Manager

Bernie Naber Jim Krugman Operations Staff

Bill Belcher Martin Digby Mike Harmon Dick Schrenkel Floyd Walker Drivers

Message from our Executive Director Although we are no longer technically in a recession, in our region few are untouched by the reality of our economy and many know a friend, neighbor or family member who’s struggling.

While it is hard not to become mired down by news, which is so often negative, there are far more reasons to have hope. More than ever, when faced with these challenging times, our community has shown they will roll up their sleeves and give their time, food and funds to help their neighbors.

Through the Paper Plate Project (paperplateproject.org) we learned about the need in our community but more importantly about the compassion of our agencies. Cli-ents at local food pantries were given the pa-per plates and the opportunity to tell what their local food pantry means to them and their family.

It’s nice to know that you do have a place to go for help. Not looking down on you but giving you a smile along with understanding that you have fallen into some hard times. So I say thank you so much for helping my fam-ily and others. - Valerie C.

I am a veteran disabled by diabetes and it takes most of the veteran’s check to pay other bills and doesn’t leave much for food and the food pan-try is what I depend on for food. It has been a life saver for me. – Thank You, Franklin S.

You are a blessing from God helping me and my family every month. It’s very hard with my husband out of work and with the help from you with food and toiletries and cold medicine is a huge help. Thank you and God bless you! – The Patterson Family

As more people have turned to food pantries and soup kitchens for help what they have found are stocked shelves or a hot meal. Second Harvest is proud to be a part of pro-viding food to families who need a helping hand. While the need is great, the food is there.

In partnership with 110 dedicated member hunger-relief agencies we have made an im-pact in many lives. Each week more than 1,500 children are now receiving a food-

filled pack through the BackPack Program on Fridays for over the weekend. Through our Farmer’s Market Program, we hosted nearly 100 markets with our agencies throughout the region providing fresh produce to 17,500 families. Overall our distribution of food and grocery products has hit an all-time high and is currently 26% higher than 2010.

As I have said many times, without the sup-port from the community Second Harvest would not exist. It is humbling to continue to see our generous donors who dedicate their time to sorting food donations, bring us the food to distribute and donate, the funds to keep our warehouse humming and trucks on the road.

On a personal note, I want to extend my sin-cere thanks to the dedicated staff and board of Second Harvest who have an unwavering belief in our mission and are a true privilege to work with every day.

Together, we have brought a small measure of peace and comfort to families in need and hope for the future.

Sincerely,

Juliana Chase-Morefield , Executive Director

Cucumbers at a Farmer’s Market in Willard

In February 2011, Second Harvest began a new partnership with BJ’s Wholesale Club in Avon, through their Feeding Communities Program.

Second Harvest was one of a handful of food banks to participate in this pilot program, which expanded BJ’s donations to products beyond the bakery. In just the first few months, BJ’s has donated over 15,000 lbs of groceries, meats, produce and deli items—providing over 11,500 meals to indi-viduals at-risk for hunger in our service area.

BJ’s Wholesale club, based in Boston, is currently rolling out their Feeding Communi-ties Program across larger portions of the country, and will be increasing their catego-ries of items acceptable for donation.

As an added part of their commitment, BJ's Charitable Foundation has committed a $150,000 donation to Feeding America for food bank transportation costs.

Each new “Like” or “Share Results” on their BJ’s Wholesale Club Facebook page will bring in an additional $1 donation to Feed-ing America, up to $250,000.

For more information, please visit our web-site at:

www.secondharvestfoodbank.org

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BJ’s Wholesale Club: Feeding Communities

Volunteer Spotlight: Mondays are Family Night

“Family Night” at Second Harvest Food Bank is specifi-cally designed for families who want to engage with their community. These Mom, Dad and child-friendly nights are on Monday night from 6:00 PM until 7:30 PM.

Family activities don't have to be elaborate, expensive, planned out ideas. Sometimes, simple is better. Kids are looking for your time and attention, so don't forget the simple things in life.

Volunteering at the food bank is a great way to spend time with your family while giving back. It’s also a great in-structional tool to help grow community awareness.

Join us for an evening, and help those at-risk for hunger in our community as well as spending quality time with your family.

Want to Join Us for Family Night on Mondays at Second Harvest? Contact Volunteer Relations Coordinator Julie Cruz Blair at:

440-960-2265 Ext. 231 or jcruzblair@secondharvestfoodbank.org

Page 4

In September 2011, Second Harvest had

the exciting opportunity to begin a

new partnership with Adrienne’s Gour-

met Foods, located in Sandusky.

Adrienne’s Gourmet Foods, is a family-

owned company based in Santa Barbara,

California where they have been bringing

gourmet taste and healthy nutrition to

their customers for 23 years.

Adrienne’s opened their new production

and packing facility in Sandusky in early

2011. Adrienne’s produces a number of

different crackers and cookies under their

own label and as a private-label

manufacturer. Their products are unique in

that they are made with whole grains, are

organic, and provide a healthy snack option

for consumers.

The products donated by Adrienne’s in Sep-tember were multi-grain crackers, flatbread snacks, and other whole wheat items.

These items provided Second Harvest with the opportunity to not only provide much needed food items, but to also offer more nutritional snack products to its network of

member agencies.

Pepperidge Farms Employees Step Up During the last week in October, the Pepperidge Farms em-

ployees in Willard joined with fellow Campbell’s Soup em-

ployees across the country in the Campbell’s Soup Make a Difference Week Hourly Employee Volunteer Event to focus on hunger relief.

The local employees bought and filled 150 back-

packs with grocery items for distribution to local

centers. On November 2nd, a formal presentation

was made of the filled backpacks to two local Sec-

ond Harvest agencies who operate BackPack Pro-

grams in Huron County: Willard Hope Center and

Plymouth Shiloh Food Pantry.

Employees helped load the Second Harvest truck

with the food filled backpacks which were trans-

ported to the programs to be distributed to chil-

dren on Friday to ensure they have enough food

over the weekend.

Jeremy Jones, project organizer at Pepperidge Farms in Willard, praised his co-workers who joined over 1,000 of their fellow employees nation-wide to offer creative volunteer efforts in hunger relief. “This was such a rewarding thing to do.

We feel good that we were able to help 150 kids and their families locally.” said Jones.

Donor Spotlight: Adrienne’s Gourmet Foods

Pepperidge Farm employees with the 150 food-filled backpacks for children.

ConAgra Foods is partnering with Feeding America and Schools Fight Hunger and several schools in Lorain, Erie, Huron and Crawford counties to join the fight to end child hunger.

By collecting UPC codes and hosting food drives, school children, their families and

ConAgra Foods are donating meals to children and families facing hunger this school year.

Any school wishing to participate can order their FREE kit by visiting www.ChildHungerEndsHere.com/schools, which offers everything they need to make their program a success. One meal will be donated for every UPC code collected up to 2 million meals. Food drive donations will

be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio.

According to recent data, in our 4 county region, 33,970 children under 18 are food insecure, meaning they do not always have enough to eat. The child food insecurity rates by county: Crawford—32.8%; Erie—26.7%; Huron—35.2% and Lorain—27.3%.

Page 5

Con Agra Foods: Schools Fight Hunger

Holiday Cheer will run this year from November 22 through December 24 with a goal to help provide 11,000 local families with food for the holidays.

In conjunction with Burger King, WOBL, WDLW and the Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, families will receive much-needed help through 28 Lorain County food pantries throughout December.

"It takes a lot of coordination and effort from everyone involved in the campaign, from the people behind the counter at Burger King to the restaurant managers to the radio personalities to the people behind the scenes, but it's a great way to end the year”, said Doug Wilber, president and general manager, WOBL and WDLW. “When you see the total of the dollars raised and realize how many meals we help provide it makes you feel good to know you made a difference."

The Holiday Cheer campaign began in 1983 as an effort to help families struggling to make ends meet during a recession that took its toll on the local economy. Through the dedication of Burger King, WOBL 1320AM and WDLW 1380AM, Holiday Cheer has raised over $720,000 and helped countless families over the years.

“When the need is so great in our area, we’re proud to do what we can to give back to a community who have supported us for so many years”, said Sully Renuart, president, Midwest R Corporation dba Burger King.

Visit a participating Burger King location to

support Holiday Cheer:

519 Avon Beldon Road, Avon Lake

616 West Broad Street, Elyria

1508 West River Road North, Elyria

390 Chestnut Commons Drive, Elyria

2210 Fairless Drive, Lorain

2224 Leavitt Road, Lorain

1900 Cooper Foster Park Road, Lorain

3451 Colorado Avenue, Lorain

4855 Liberty Avenue, Vermilion

823 North Main Street, Wellington

Non-Profit

U.S. Postage

PAID

Mailed From

Zip Code 44001

Permit No. 111

Return Service Requested

7445 Deer Trail Lane • Lorain, Ohio 44053-1982

440.960.2265 • www.secondharvestfoodbank.org

www.SpitzerCares.org Spitzer Cares: One Million Meals a Year

Spitzer Auto World recently launched Spitzer Cares, a campaign with Second Harvest and 3 other regional food banks in North Central and Northeast Ohio to provide nutritious meals to families in need in our community.

The goal is to raise enough food and funds to provide 2 million meals in the region through the end of 2012.

Alison Spitzer, VP of Marketing for Spitzer noted, “This is an important issue for us. If we can help to bring hope and resources to

fight hunger in our area with the Spitzer Cares initiative, then we can feel like we’ve really made a difference in the community that has supported us through the years.”

Spitzer employees have taken a very active role in raising awareness and dollars with various fundraisers and interagency competitions.

The campaign is open to the public. If you would like to contribute go online to www.spitzercares.org and click on the Lorain tab or stop in at any of the area Spitzer dealerships:

Spitzer AutoWorld Sheffield—4850 Transportation Drive in Sheffield Lake

Spitzer Volkswagen Amherst—160 N. Leavitt Road in Amherst

Spitzer AutoWorld Amherst—200 N. Leavitt Road in Amherst