HUNGER ACTION MONTHAlthough we may be in the thick of a hot and sweaty Texas summer, Food Bankers are already thinking about fall and not only for the cooler temperatures it will bring. September is Hunger Action Month, and CAFB is gearing up to mobilize our community to donate, advocate, and volunteer to help end hunger in Central Texas.

To accomplish our goals, we will be approaching Hunger Action Month from a number of directions, from transforming our website into a HAM hub to having

IN THIS ISSUE: Letter from Development Director . Four Facts . DIVE . A Big Help . Hunger Action Month

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Food Bank HighlightsA newsletter of the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas

HUNGERHEROESFALL 2011COUNTING THE COST

Food costs are seeing their sharpest rise in 36 years. According to the Economic Research Service, for 2011, the cost of food purchased at the grocery store is expected to increase an average of 3 to 4 percent. How does this affect CAFB clients? Simply put, client dollars, whether in the form of personal income or government assistance like SNAP (food stamps), don’t go as far. Since the food dollar doesn’t buy as much, clients may be enticed to purchase more processed, low-nutrient foods that haven’t risen in cost as much as fruits and vegetables or lean meats and dairy. Lower-income households also spend a greater portion of their income on food than high-income families. But CAFB can help. First, we offer the CHOICES program, which provides meal planning assistance, cooking instruction, and nutrition education to SNAP-eligible clients.Next, as food bank advocates, we can combat the rising costs of food by encouraging such programs across our service area. Agencies or schools that serve SNAP-eligible clients can host a CHOICES class in their facility.

Working in your local community to increase access to local foods through farmer’s markets or community gardens can also help low-income neighbors. Higher food costs can be daunting, but they need not be a barrier to healthy food access.

— Kathy Golson CAFB Senior Director

for Advocacy and Public Policy

The mission of the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger.

@events4good

”“Sharing your passion

for this cause means helping get our message to people we otherwise couldn't reach.

Governor Perry declare September as Hunger Action Month.

This September brings us the opportunity to increase awareness among our friends and neighbors about the level of hunger in Central Texas. Sharing your passion for this cause with your family, coworkers and peers means helping CAFB expand our message to people we wouldn’t otherwise be able to reach. So this month, please consider sending out an e-mail or simply having a conversation about hunger in our community with those you know.

Let your loved ones become inspired by the work that you do with us: bring in a group to volunteer, make a gift in honor of a friend who will be touched by your generosity or take your family out to one of the many restaurants who will benefit CAFB during Austin Food Week. There are many ways to take action in September; please visit austinfoodbank.org to learn more.

Thanks to Hunger Heroes like you, we’re raising awareness of hunger in Central Texas in effective and meaningful ways. Your participation enables us to stay up to speed with the growing food insecurity in our community. Help us reduce the gap between those who need and those who have this September. With your support, we will make this our most successful Hunger Action Month to date. Thank you for being a Hunger Hero.

Follow us to learn more ways you can help and to learn about hunger in our community:

“I’m here to get some food because it’s hard out there. I’ve been sick and I don’t have any money to get any food,” says Buster, as he waits in line at the Food Bank’s St. John Community Food Center. “I came here for some help. I’m a 100 percent disabled veteran, and I’m trying to get all the help I can.

“I watched them re-do this place. It’s a great thing,” he says. “It was way too far to go downtown for food and I would have to walk with bags all the way back here.

Buster also appreciates the accessibility of the For the City Center in the St. John’s neighborhood. “They just really thought it through, and everybody can get to it even if they’re disabled or they have to walk.”

Since retiring from the military after 24 years of service, Buster says he has had a tough time and feels like he often has to fight for help.

“I would like to say thanks to the volunteers at the Food Bank and the people who work there,” he says. “They seem very caring and they understand your problems — and even if they don’t, they at least try to understand you and work with you. That itself is a big help.”

A Big Help

For more ways to get involved with the Food Bank, please call Mark Jackson at 512-684-2529 or email mjackson@austinfoodbank.org.

Dear Hunger Heroes,

As summer draws to a close at CAFB, we begin to reflect upon this important time of the year for our organization. Traditionally in summer our donations decline, but the need for our services remains strong. In fact, the need is increasing so dramatically that in the very near future, with our current facility and infrastructure, CAFB will be unable to serve everyone asking for help.

As a Hunger Hero, you are keenly aware of the incredible scope of our services. Distributing more than 25 million pounds of food to hungry Central Texans in more than 21 counties is no small feat. It takes a vast amount of resources and manpower to effectively impact the lives of so many. Even with the huge strides we’ve made in working towards our goal of eliminating hunger in our community, there is still so much more that can be accomplished. There are still unheard voices asking for a helping hand through the toughest economic conditions they have ever faced. And as we look to projected population growth for our service territory, the number of unanswered voices will continue to grow unless we, as Hunger Heroes, take decisive action to end the hunger line.

We have a plan that we know will make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Central Texans. We will revolutionize our ability to capture, handle, and distribute food. This will include purchasing new trucks, hiring more staff, and operating out of a facility that can handle the massive volume of food needed to serve the projected 450,000 hungry clients CAFB will be serving by 2015. It’s a large-scale operation, but one CAFB knows is a necessity to keep our community well nourished.

It is only with the support of Hunger Heroes like you that we can put the components into place and make a hunger free Central Texas a reality.

Sincerely,

Mark JacksonDevelopment Director

Four Things Every Hunger Hero Should Know About CAFB...

...and you can learn even more about the clients you help by visiting HungerIsUNacceptable.com

DIVE!

Currently 1 in 6 Americans live in households at risk of hunger. Yet it is estimated that more than 40 percent of the food produced for consumption is wasted or thrown away, at an annual cost of $100 billion.

Join us at the Blanton Museum on September 15 at 6:30 p.m., for a special screening of the multi-award winning documentary DIVE!, a film that explores the paradox of wasted food and record-levels of hunger in America. Following the screening, our panel of local experts and the filmmaker will discuss the issues raised in the film and how Austinites can have an active role in solving this problem.

Our panel includes: Elizabeth Engelhardt, UT professor and author of Republic of Barbeque: Stories Beyond the Brisket; Hank Perret, Capital Area Food Bank President and CEO; Ronda Rutledge, City of Austin Sustainable Food Policy Board member; and DIVE! filmmaker Jeremy Seifert. Moderated by GivingCity Austin founding editor, Monica Williams.

For more information or to attend this free screening, visit www.austinfoodbank.org/dive