Full Text:

Connecticut Food Bank Helps Local Agencies Fight Hunger

(with photos & sidebar [included in this file])

BY JAN HOWARD

Hunger affects more than 300,000 Connecticut residents daily, including as

many as 114,000 children.

To help in the fight against hunger, the Connecticut Food Bank (CFB) was

founded in 1982. It is a private, non-profit organization that serves

emergency feeding agencies in six of Connecticut's eight counties, including

soup kitchens, food pantries such as Newtown's FAITH Pantry and the Salvation

Army pantry, and adult and children's day care centers.

It provides food annually for an estimated 250,000 people in need. In 1998, it

distributed over 6.5 million pounds of food; since 1982, it has distributed

over 58 million pounds of food.

"It is just an astounding fact that in a state with a high per capita income

and a good economy that there are neighbors in need of food help," CFB

Executive Director Nancy Carrington said.

"The troubling reality is that nearly one-third of the households served by

CFB agencies are members of the `working poor,' with at least one working

adult," she said. "In spite of this, these residents struggle to make ends

meet and must frequently make choices between paying the rent or buying food."

Ms Carrington said it is important to alert people to the need and to

encourage them to donate food products to local feeding agencies.

Also, according to a CFB pamphlet, despite the strong state and national

economy and low unemployment, many emergency food recipients have limited

incomes and job security.

CFB is funded privately, supported by a broad base of individuals, businesses,

foundations, and community organizations.

According to CFB Board of Directors member Jane Sharpe of Sandy Hook, "Stop &

Shop is a big supplier. It contributes money and food to the CFB." On a local

level, Stop & Shop and its employees also contribute food and financial

donations to FAITH Pantry in Newtown and the Monroe pantry.

CFB works in partnership with corporations, the Second Harvest National Food

Bank Network, social service and community organizations, and individuals to

solicit, transport, warehouse and redistribute food to local charitable

feeding organizations. It also recruits more member agencies, develops more

food sources, and creates new programs.

According to Mrs Sharpe, in addition to supplying food, CFB also helps local

agencies with volunteers and other issues.

Mrs Sharpe said CFB supports special initiatives, such as supplying fresh

produce from area farms directly to an agency within 24 hours, and the client

choice program, which urges food pantries to change from pre-bagged to

client-chosen food. "Food pantries now let people shop. It's better for self

esteem," she said.

A Network Of Help

Ms Carrington said a 1998 study, Hunger: The Faces & Facts , "illustrates the

extent of the problem of hunger in America, and breaks the stereotypical image

of who is using charitable food programs in Connecticut and the nation."

She said the Connecticut Food Bank often has a need for high protein canned

goods, such as hearty soups, beef stew, and corned beef hash. It will also

accept frozen and refrigerated goods.

Ms Carrington said it takes a network of people to fight hunger.

She said residents can help local pantries through helping with storage of

food if pantry freezers have reached their capacity, or through donation of a

freezer they may no longer need if the pantry has room for it.

Ms Carrington said the food bank recycles food, things that can't be sold in

stores but are good food. "There may be cosmetic damage to a box of spaghetti.

They can't sell it, but we will take it."

She cited a case of paper towels that had been made for export to China. The

order was canceled, but the towels were very usable.

Mrs Sharpe said Ms Carrington is dynamic as the leader of the CFB. "She

manages a statewide operation and warehouses with a limited staff and modest

budget. She finds unique solutions to getting more food, such as farmers who

donate food for Free Fridays," when food is given away free of charge.

CFB often has excesses of certain foods and will offer agencies recipes to

help residents use the food, she said.

CFB donates or sells food at 12 cents a pound to pantries and other feeding

agencies to cover the cost of transporting and storing the food. Mrs Sharpe

urged local residents to donate cash to the local food pantry to offset that

minimal cost. "It is a real plus to get some cash to supplement what they need

to add to the food that is donated locally," she said.

Mrs Sharpe said she has volunteered in one of the CFB warehouses where

volunteers for local agencies, such as FAITH Pantry, come to shop to replenish

food supplies.

"They are giant, clean facilities with refrigeration," she said. "There are

enormous skids loaded with food, such as breakfast cereals and canned goods."

She said the warehouse facilities are carefully and economically used. "One

board room has metal tables and chairs," she said. "They are no frills." The

CFB only recently put in a computer, and a planned capital project will

increase refrigerator space at the East Haven facility, she noted.

Nothing is ever wasted, she said. If CFB receives more turkeys at Thanksgiving

than needed, they are frozen for distribution during Christmas. These are

mostly given away, she said.

Mrs Sharpe said while volunteering in Waterbury around Thanksgiving, she

watched as people dropped off turkeys as people from the food pantries and

other agencies were coming in to pick up food. She said companies often donate

turkeys if they have an overage.

"It is absolutely fascinating to see the excitement and caring," Mrs Sharpe

said.

Caring is what it's all about, volunteers at FAITH Pantry will attest.

Pantry volunteer Doris Bulmer pointed to the many contributions from the

community, including the postal workers' annual food drive. "They did a great

job for us," she said.

Local stores, churches, civic groups, and residents are also very generous,

she noted. "They are very good to us."

Local Pantry Has Needs

Though the pantry is well stocked right now, Mrs Bulmer said it can always use

donations of paper goods and personal items, such as shampoo and toothpaste,

and baby food and diapers. At this time, FAITH Pantry is also short on frozen

orange juice, she said.

Paper goods are always needed by CFB and the local pantries, Mrs Sharpe said.

"It's wonderful when they are donated."

Mrs Bulmer said FAITH Pantry volunteers shop at the Food Bank four times a

year to supplement area contributions. At 12 cents a pound for food, "It might

cost us only $50 for hundreds of pounds of food," she said. "We are very

careful how we spend our money."

Locally, FAITH Pantry distributes approximately 1,900 meals a month. The

Salvation Army averages 3,000 meals a month in Newtown, according to Mrs

Sharpe.

Participants must complete a modest amount of paperwork to be eligible to use

the pantry, Mrs Bulmer said. The number of people using it varies monthly, but

averages about 100.

FAITH pantry offers canned goods, pasta, peanut butter and jelly, canned

fruits, cereals, baking products, tea and coffee, breakfast goods, and jello,

among other items. Its two freezers are filled with margarine, hamburg

patties, hot dogs, and chicken, as well as bread and other items donated by

supermarkets.

Of FAITH Pantry, Mrs Bulmer said, "It's a very rewarding volunteer job."

FAITH Pantry is open to residents on Tuesday from 10 am to noon and Thursday

from 6 to 7:30 pm. It is located in the basement of St John's Episcopal Church

in Sandy Hook.

Mrs Sharpe has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Food

Bank for four years. "They called and asked me to be a board member. I was

known through corporate communications, and they felt I could add something to

the strategies on the issue of hunger and the need for food," she said.

A retired vice president of corporate communications for People's Bank, Mrs

Sharpe is the managing partner/owner of Design Ltd, a communications agency.

She is active in numerous organizations, including America's Promise,

Connecticut Zoological Society, Business and Professional Women (BPW) Clubs,

International Association of Business Communicators, Public Relations Society

of America, Gamma Phi Beta Alumni Association, and a director of the Council

of Churches.

She and her husband, Don, have lived in Newtown for 33 years. They have two

children, Kim and Mark. "Newtown is a fabulous town. There are so many good

things here," Mrs Sharpe said.

The CFB is currently seeking volunteers to serve on its board of directors and

planning committees. "Three to five new board members are needed," Mrs Sharpe

said.

The 18-member board provides direction to CFB on policy and programs. Board

and planning committee members are also an integral part of annual events,

such as the Walk Against Hunger and Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation.

Board members serve a two-year term and are required to attend six board

meetings a year. Planning committee members attend as many as 12 meetings a

year.

Board members help with strategic planning and provide counsel in the area of

their expertise, Mrs Sharpe said. Other volunteers help with public relations,

food sorting, and marketing efforts.

The CFB offices and its primary warehouse are in East Haven with branch

warehouses in Waterbury and Fairfield. Distribution sites are located in

Norwich, Stamford and Norfolk.

Individuals interested in volunteering should send a resume to Jane Sharpe,

nominating committee chairwoman, Connecticut Food Bank, Box 8686, New Haven,

CT 06531.

For more information, contact Nancy Carrington, executive director, at

203/469-5000.

SIDEBAR: The Faces And Facts Of Hunger

The Connecticut Food Bank (CFB) is a certified affiliate of the Second Harvest

National Food Bank Network of nearly 200 food banks. Second Harvest is the

nation's largest domestic hunger relief charity.

A comprehensive study, Hunger: The Faces & Facts , was prepared for Second

Harvest in 1998 and revealed that nearly 26 million Americans made

unduplicated visits to the Second Harvest network's charitable food program in

1997. Of that number, 21,440,079 are emergency food clients. Sixty-two percent

are female and 38 percent are male.

In Connecticut, the CFB provides food to 163 agencies. Forty percent of

clients are male, 60 percent are female. Twenty-five percent are 17 years of

age or younger, while 10 percent are 65 or over. White clients predominate at

52 percent, followed by African Americans at 38 percent.

Sixty-seven percent of client households in Connecticut have an annual

household income of less than $10,000. A four-person household living at the

federal poverty level has an annual income of $16,050. Sixty-eight percent of

households served by CFB have an annual income of under $15,500.

Forty-seven percent of all households served by CFB are single-parent

households. Thirty-nine percent of clients live alone.

On a national level, thirty-eight percent of all clients are children under

18, and 16 percent are seniors age 65 and older. Fifty-four percent of

families with children seeking emergency food assistance are single-parent

households. Forty-seven percent are white, 32 percent are black, 15 percent

are Hispanic, and three percent are Native Americans.

Sixty-seven percent of emergency client households have a yearly income of

$10,000 or less.