Food Pantry to Open in Hopkins

Hopkins Christian Church and Hopkins Community Club have formed a partnership with Second Harvest Community Food Bank to open a food pantry at 102 South 5th Street, Hopkins, Missouri.  This pantry is available to anyone that needs assistance with groceries once each month.  Items you might receive include dry goods, produce, protein, and more. Doors will open for the first time on April 25 from 2 pm-5:30 pm.  On this first day of opening, we will survey you asking if another day is needed.  If the current time is suitable to most clients, we will keep it on the third or fourth Thursday of each month depending on when our food is delivered to the pantry.  If more hours are needed for our clients, we will set an additional time and day each month.  For more information please don’t hesitate to reach out to Judy Crane at judycrane@yahoo.com.  

Food Insecurity Skyrockets in Worth County

Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, released their annual “Map the Meal Gap” study. The most recent release is based on data from 2018. The findings of this study identified over 45,000 individuals, seniors and children who suffered from food insecurity in 2018 throughout the Second Harvest Community Food Bank 19-county service area.

“We use this data to best align our services to meet the need in every county we serve. We work to insure adequate and equitable food distribution throughout our service territory and Map the Meal Gap data drives our strategy.’ Chad Higdon, Chief Executive Officer for Second Harvest Community Food Bank said. “In response to COVID-19 we are utilizing a companion study released by Feeding America that projects the impact of the pandemic on local food insecurity in 2020.”

Hunger is defined as a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat. The current crisis, according to Feeding America projections, indicates that more than 54 million people including 18 million children may experience food insecurity due to COVID-19.

Second Harvest is combating hunger within Worth County, MO, through direct services and programs. Last fiscal year, Second Harvest distributed 75,929 pounds food (63,274 meals) to those in need within Worth County, MO. Even with last year’s distribution numbers, Second Harvest continues to evaluate data monthly and make adjustments to serve those in need within Worth County.

“We have to continue to evaluate data and adjust to what we are seeing within each county,’ Blake Haynes, Communications Coordinator for Second Harvest Community Food Bank said. “In doing so, we are striding towards our vision of a hunger-free Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas.”

Map the Meal Gap Food Insecurity Information for Worth County, MO showed:

• An overall food insecurity rate for Worth County, MO: 12.8%. - Projected 2020: 18.4%.

• A childhood food insecurity rate for Worth County, MO: 16.8% - Projected 2020: 26.8%.

For more information about this study, please contact 816.364.3663 or email info@shcfb.org.

Second Harvest Delivers 8,000 Pounds of Food to Sheridan

Second Harvest delivered 8,000 pounds of food to Sheridan last Tuesday afternoon. They serviced 127 households, including 244 adults and 92 children. The program to serve communities not served by a food pantry was made possible by a grant from Mosaic; food was distributed to towns in all 15 northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas counties served by Second Harvest. The plan is to make these food drops more than annual.

Second Harvest Holds Sheridan Food Drive

A food drive was held in Sheridan yesterday. It was held by Second Harvest, which supplies the Worth County Food Pantry. Volunteers from Second Harvest, the Sheridan Christian Church, and the Food Pantry all helped in the effort. It was open to anyone regardless of income.

The effort was made possible by a grant from Mosaic. Second Harvest will hold similar drives in all 15 northwest Missouri counties that they serve along with the four northeast Kansas counties that they serve. The goal is to have these food drives more often in the future.

The drive attracted a lot of interest, with traffic in Sheridan being backed up to the water tower at one point.

Opinion: Proposed Changes to Food Stamps will Harm Children, Seniors, Families and Communities

by David Davenport
CEO, 2nd Harvest Food Bank

There are a lot of myths circulating about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and the people who receive assistance. It’s bad enough that these tall-tales further stigmatize the program, but now they are being used as justification for dangerous policy changes and funding cuts that would make it harder for struggling families to put food on the table.

The House budget that was recently passed proposes to convert SNAP to a block grant and cut its funding nearly 20 percent, cutting support for millions of low-income families. What is their justification for this?  That the program has grown too much in recent years and that many participants don’t really need the benefits?

It’s true SNAP has grown significantly in recent years. But it is only shocking that food stamp participation grew by 70% from 2006 to 2011. If you fail to mention that the ranks of the unemployed grew by 94% over the same period.

Supporters of block granting food stamps argue that this is a good thing for states, that a block grant gives more flexibility and that states know best how to solve their problems. What they don’t tell you is that a block grant is just Washington-speak for cutting funding and limiting federal responsibility – states have to solve the same problem, but with less resources. Some states would be able to meet the need, but many would not. Families would be subjected to a game of chance, not knowing if assistance will be there if they fall on hard times.

Food insecurity is a national problem that needs a national solution, and that starts with a strong federal commitment to SNAP.  SNAP responded quickly and effectively during the recession, working as it was designed by growing in response to growing need to ensure families, children, and seniors have enough to eat.

Food stamps are targeted at our most vulnerable: 76% of households receiving nutrition assistance included a child, elderly person, or disabled person, and 85% of food stamp households have gross income at or below 100% of the poverty line. And despite what you might hear, benefits are not overly generous—the average participant gets a monthly benefit of only $134, or less than $1.50 per meal.

At Second Harvest Community Food Bank, we serve families who have too much in income or assets to qualify for food stamps, as well as those families enrolled in food stamps but whose benefits do not last them through the month. At Second Harvest, we have seen a 60% increase in the demand for food assistance from 2009-2012. Without SNAP in place to respond to growing need in the recession, the increased demand on organizations like ours would have been crippling.

While you’re more likely to hear sensational stories of program abuse, the fact of the matter is that these bad actors are outliers. For every one allegation of fraud or trafficking, there are a hundred stories of heartbreaking need. Unfortunately, those are the stories you don’t hear – stories of close friends and supporters of Second Harvest that because of job loss now find themselves in the hunger line they once donated time and money to support.

I understand the importance of getting our nation’s fiscal house in order, and strongly believe that a good paying job is the best solution to the crippling challenge of hunger. But until we restore opportunity and mobility, our nation cannot walk back on our moral commitment to caring for our neighbors in need.

Taking care of our neighbors is an American value, and feeding our neighbors is a shared responsibility. None of us want to see our friends, neighbors or children go hungry. Food banks like Second Harvest see this every day reflected in the generous support of our volunteers and donors. This core belief is also reflected in our federal budget through important anti-hunger programs like food stamps.

We strongly urge our nation’s leaders to protect anti-hunger programs like food stamps and come together to find real solutions to tough problems. We also ask them and you to look at the food stamp program with fresh eyes and an open heart. If you have any doubt that families are struggling, please visit us at Second Harvest and meet the people whose lives are affected by this important program.

Worth County has 23.3% Food Insecurity Rate

Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief organization, released the "Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2012" study showing that child food insecurity has decreased by 4 percent in Second Harvest Community Food Bank's 19 county service area.
"This important study shines a light on the challenge of hunger and in particular its impact on children," David Davenport, Second Harvest Community Food Bank, CEO said. "It also shows us that these challenges are solvable if we commit as a community with passion and the courage to take bold and aggressive steps."
The study shows child food insecurity in Second Harvest's service area ranges from a low of 18.2 percent in Andrew County to a high of 27.2 percent in Livingston County. The study also revealed the following statistics.
*   Nearly 17,700 children (1 in 5) in Second Harvest's service area are food insecure.
*   In Worth County, 23.3 percent or 100 children under 18 are considered food insecure.
*   In the state of Missouri, 316,450 or 22.7 percent of the population under 18 are considered food insecure.
Despite the drop locally, the study revealed that child food insecurity still exists in every county in the United States. That equals nearly 16 million children across the nation being food insecure.
Being food insecure is defined as the lack of access at times to enough food for an active and healthy life; limited or uncertain unavailability of nutritionally adequate food. The term hunger is defined as the uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food.

Second Harvest Says Recent Legislation Would Gut Aid Programs

by Second Harvest

After nearly 20 years of bipartisan commitment to ensure funding for critical nutrition assistance to our country's most vulnerable, the House of Representatives voted last week to gut funding for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in a move that seeks to deny nutrition assistance to as many as 350,000 newborns, very young children and mothers in HB 2112.

WIC provides funding for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Additionally, the same piece of legislation dramatically cut funding to the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Commodity Food Supplemental Program (CSFP). CSFP is a Federally funded program, which has had success improving the health of low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, other new mothers up to one year postpartum, infants, children up to age six, and elderly people at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA commodity foods. TEFAP supplements the diets of low-income needy persons, including elderly people, by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance.

TEFAP and CSFP programs provide more than half of the food distributed by Second Harvest Community Food Bank across our 19 county service territory. Second Harvest will be re-evaluating how to feed the local needy due to these cuts.

Recently Second Harvest joined food banks from around the country in releasing the results of a nationwide study of food access. That study concluded that low income residents of Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas are missing 8.7 million meals annually. If enacted as written, this bill would remove access to an estimated 500,000 additional meals exploding our local meal gap to 9.2 million.

“To put that number in perspective, imagine your child or your parent ending a day having missed a meal because their house or apartment was completely devoid of food. Then consider that single occurrence happening 9.2 million times a year mostly in the lives of young children and the elderly,” says Second Harvest Executive Director David Davenport. “This is the worst kind of public policy - it's ideology over common sense, it's poor bashing to satisfy the worst kind of political behavior. Low income Americans don't have much of a political voice, they cannot hire lobbyists and they do not make contributions to political campaigns. The poor just try to survive.”

Summer 2011 has Second Harvest partnering with Brittany Village Apartments in a pilot program to provide supplemental food boxes for 150 low income families. They can expect 25 pounds of dry and canned goods and additional produce to be delivered in June, July and August. According to program director Linda Laderoute, “We hope that this will enable us to support hungry families this summer and expand to meet the greater need next summer.”

Summer is rough on many of our children. Often times, hungry kids can't wait to get back to school so they can have at least two balanced meals a day. They exist on minimal resources during the summer and research indicates that even mild under-nutrition during critical periods of growth impacts the behavior of our kids, their school performance, and their overall cognitive development. For more on Summer Hunger visit the Harvest Blog: http://www.ourcommunityfoodbank.org/blog_site

With the measures taken this month to cut critical nutrition assistance to families with children, summertime for our nation's children will likely continue to be a time of great need in this country. To see how your State Representative voted and voice your concern regarding HB 2112, see the following links: http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/bills/112/hr2112
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll459.xml)

Editor's note -- Congressman Sam Graves voted for this legislation.

To make a donation to Second Harvest follow this link: http://www.ourcommunityfoodbank.org/give_money

SECOND HARVEST ASSISTS ATCHISON COUNTY FLOOD VICTIMS

Second Harvest Community Food Bank is preparing to help those affected by the flooding in Atchison County, Missouri. The Atchison County commissioners have recommended residents at the Missouri River Bottom evacuate because the water is predicted to go over the levy within the next week. The evacuation warning includes all areas of Atchison County west of I-29.

Second Harvest will provide food and personal hygiene items to anyone displaced due to the flooding. Those seeking assistance will need to present identification from the Atchison County area. Second Harvest has over 100 agencies in Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri. All of these agencies will also assistant those affected by the flooding. For a complete list of agencies, visit http://ourcommunityfoodbank.org/get_help.

For more information, call Second Harvest at 816-364-3663.

116 Killed in Joplin Tornado; 2nd Harvest Reaches Out

At least 116 people were killed in Joplin Sunday as that city took a direct hit. At its worst, the tornado was 3/4 of a mile wide and 6 miles long. One of the hospitals took a direct hit from the twister and most people had less than 20 minutes warning before the storm hit. Debris was flying through the air and trucks overturned on the interstate. The Joplin Globe somehow printed only one hour late as nearly all of their employees showed up for work and 81 out of their 91 carriers showed up to deliver the papers despite the fact that many of them had lost their homes.


Second Harvest Community Food Bank of St. Joseph is preparing to help those affected by the devastating tornado that hit Joplin on May 22nd. Second Harvest will provide food and personal hygiene items to anyone displaced due to the disaster. Those seeking assistance will only need to present identification from the Joplin area in order to receive food. Second Harvest has over 100 agencies in Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri. All of these agencies will also assistant those displaced by Sunday’s deadly tornadoes.

Second Harvest is asking the public to donate specific items that will be sent to the Joplin area to aid those in need. The following food items are currently needed:

1. Diapers
2. Canned food with pop tops that can be eaten without being cooked
3. Personal hygiene items
4. Crackers and snack items for children

People can also make financial donations restricted for disaster relief by going to http://www.ourcommunityfoodbank.org/give_money. Financial donations can also be brought to the Second Harvest office located at 915 Douglas. If you have any questions, please call Second Harvest at 364-FOOD.

The area has been declared a disaster area with Governor Nixon activating the National Guard. Electric and highway crews from all over the state including Northwest Missouri will go down to help the city rebuild.

To donate to the Red Cross, send donations to:

Southwest Missouri Bank
Red Cross Joplin Tornado Fund
110 N. Neosho Blvd.
Neosho, Missouri
64850

Northwest Missouri FCA is also helping with relief efforts. At least four coaches for the Missouri Southern football team lost everything in the storm and FCA is taking donations to help them rebuild. For more information: http://www.nwmofca.org/benevolence-fund

A Facebook page, Joplin Tornado Info, has been established for people to exchange information about the storm. There are still people missing.

The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) continues to work with Missouri state and local agencies to provide all necessary response resources to Joplin, following Sunday’s deadly tornado

Responders are being coordinated through established regional mutual aid agreements and requests filed with SEMA for state and federal resources.

Missourians interested in volunteering to assist should first call (800) 427-4626 or 2-1-1, instead of reporting directly to a command post or the disaster area. Those with medical skills interested in volunteering should go to: https://www.showmeresponse.org/.

Missourians wishing to make donations to help with the relief effort can go to http://www.sema.dps.mo.gov/recover/donations.asp or call (800) 427-4626 or 2-1-1.

Residents affected by the tornado who wish to notify their friends and family that they are safe should go to: https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php. Friends and family who would like to check on their loved ones in the affected area can use the same site.

Missourians who need disaster information, shelter information or referrals are urged to call

2-1-1. The United Way’s 211 service number is now available for most areas in Missouri. In areas where the 211 number is not operational, citizens can call 800-427-4626.

Northwest Missouri Cellular customers can text JOPLIN to 864833 (Salvation Army) or REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. The amount will be added to your bill.

ACOT/Second Harvest Partnership

Know someone who is hungry? Know someone who is hungry for knowledge?

Anyone who lives in the 19 county-area served by Second Harvest can nourish a body and nominate a mind by donating to Second Harvest Community Food Bank and by nominating a person for an American College of Technology scholarship for an associate’s degree program in one of the most-in-demand careers of the industry.

For each nomination, there should be a $10 donation or 10 cans of food to Second Harvest. Money or food always will be welcome even if there is no nomination.

This partnership of ACOT and Second Harvest will supply food for the hungry and provide an education and knowledge to feed an individual for life. To nominate someone who is hungry for knowledge stop by American College of Technology at 2300 Frederick Avenue in St. Joseph or call 816-279-7000, or visit http://www.acot.edu. A person can nominate on paper or online.

The ACOT associate’s degree scholarship will cover all costs for a 60 credit hour program in the field of internet technology, business, health, or criminal justice. ACOT is dedicated to delivering high quality, affordable, and accessible educational opportunities and services that focus on skills and career building for students to become valued and productive members of society.

Second Harvest Community Food Bank, located in St. Joseph but covering 19 counties in northwest Missouri, is dedicated to providing food to all needy individuals.

American College of Technology is a totally online college which offers associate’s degrees and diplomas in the fields of internet technology, business, health, and criminal justice. The institution was begun in 2001 by Sam Atieh, who has published two books on distance learning through online education.

CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY, LOCAL FOOD BANK AND LETTER CARRIERS TEAM UP TO HELP STAMP OUT HUNGER IN NATIONWIDE FOOD DRIVE MAY 14

On Saturday, May 14th, Second Harvest Community Food Bank and Campbell Soup Company will join forces with the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) to provide assistance to millions of families struggling to put food on their tables every day. Last year the Stamp Out Hunger food drive collected a record 77.1 million pounds of food donations nationally, pushing the 18-year total to more than one billion pounds of food.

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive, held annually on the second Saturday in May, has become the nation’s largest single-day food drive. This year letter carriers representing nearly 1,500 local branches of the postal union will collect food donations along their postal routes. These donations will be used to replenish food banks and pantries in more than 10,000 communities.

NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said the 300,000-member union is “incredibly proud of the partnership with Campbell Soup Company to support the Stamp Out Hunger food drive that has helped so many millions of families over the years.

“As letter carriers, we see people on our routes six days a week that must rely on the generosity and assistance of others to help provide something as basic as a meal. We’re proud to have established a program that truly provides assistance in every community across the country,” said Rolando.

In addition to producing more than 80 million postcards to be delivered to homes across America to remind everyone to participate in the drive, Campbell will again donate one pound of food (up to one million pounds) to the Feeding America food bank network for every person who joins the Stamp Out Hunger Cause on Facebook. Americans can trigger a donation by visiting www.Facebook.com/StampOutHunger.

Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer said, “Campbell is committed to the success of the Stamp Out Hunger food drive and we will do all we can to remind Americans to contribute on Saturday, May 14th.

“Hunger continues to be a critical issue for our nation," Morrison added. "At a time when we are experiencing challenging economic conditions, it remains unacceptable that millions of Americans, especially our children, continue to go hungry in our country. That’s why we’re proud to be a part of this drive, which not only demonstrates the generosity of our neighbors, but also benefits community members in need.”

The need for food assistance across America has never been greater. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual study measuring food security in the United States, the number of Americans living in a food insecure home surpassed 50 million in 2009 (the most recent year that such data is available). Perhaps most alarming is that approximately one-third of those at risk of hunger are children (17.2 million).

To participate in the Stamp Out Hunger food drive, Americans are encouraged to leave a sturdy bag containing non-perishable food items, such as canned soup, canned vegetables, canned fish or meats, pasta, rice or cereal next to their mailbox prior to their regular mail delivery time on Saturday, May 14. In St. Joseph, specially marked Stamp Out Hunger sacks will be left in mailboxes prior to the event that can be used on the 14th. The nation’s 230,000 active letter carriers, along with tens of thousands of rural letter carriers, will collect these food donations as they deliver the mail and take them to a local food bank pantry or shelter, including hundreds affiliated with the Feeding America food banks that serve the more than 10,000 communities where food is being collected. Second Harvest will be one of the food banks benefiting from this food drive.

Feeding America, a national partner in the drive, is the nation’s leading domestic-hunger-relief organization, providing assistance to more than 37 million Americans every year. Today, one in eight Americans relies on the organization for food and groceries. In a recent survey conducted by Feeding America, nearly half (46 percent) of all households the organization serves reported having to choose between paying for utilities or food.

Also supporting the drive as national partners are the U.S. Postal Service, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, Valpak, the AFL-CIO, United Way, and Uncle Bob's Self Storage.

For more information about the Stamp Out Hunger food drive in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the District of Columbia, ask a letter carrier, contact a local post office, or visit www.helpstampouthunger.com, www.facebook.com/StampOutHunger, or www.twitter.com/StampOutHunger.

52,000 plus residents in Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri identified as food insecure

Second Harvest Community Food Bank and Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, today released a landmark study, “Map the Meal Gap,” providing the first detailed look at the food budget needed by families struggling with hunger here in Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas each year – an estimated $21.1 million.

The study takes a look at ‘meals’ in a whole new way, using county-level data on food costs from the Nielsen Company to break down the food budget shortfall of our residents into an approximation of the meals missing from the tables of people at risk of hunger in Second Harvest ‘s service area each year.

According to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey data analyzed as part of “Map the Meal Gap,” people struggling with hunger estimate they would need about $56 more each month on average during the months that they are food insecure to address the shortages in their food budget. On a county by county level, “Map the Meal Gap” shows that this shortfall locally represents an estimated 8.7 million meals on an annual basis.

“Map the Meal Gap” also provides critical information that has never been previously available -- food insecurity rates for Congressional District. Previously, food insecurity data was only available at the state level in the USDA’s annual report. The study further analyzes each district’s food insecure population to determine their income eligibility for federal nutrition assistance. This data has the potential to redefine the way service providers and policy makers address areas of need.

“This report confirms the scope and magnitude of the challenge faced by the many communities served by Second Harvest Community Food Bank,” said David Davenport, Executive Director, Second Harvest Community Food Bank. “Collectively, we must embrace the core belief that hunger, especially in the life of a child, is socially, economically and morally unacceptable and act on the belief as an advocate, donor and volunteer. In doing so, we take the first step towards closing the meal gap and improving the quality of life of all our neighbors, especially those most in need.”

‘“Map the Meal Gap” was also able to compare food costs across counties, showing for example Mercer County, MO to have among the highest food costs in Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas.

Although “Map the Meal Gap” showed that Livingston County, MO has some of the lowest food costs in the region, food insecurity was still among the highest.

Map the Meal Gap provides the following data for Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas in an interactive map format:

• The percentage of our local population who is food insecure.

• The percentage of the food insecure population in our area who qualify based on income for SNAP (Foods Stamps) and other federal nutrition programs.

• The percentage of the food insecure population in who do NOT qualify for federal nutrition programs and often must rely on charitable food assistance programs and who also need better wages and employment opportunities to help them meet their basic needs.

• The average price per meal in our area based on new research by the Nielsen Company.

The findings of “Map the Meal Gap” are based on statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Census Bureau, and food price data from the Nielsen Company. The study was supported by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Nielsen.

A summary of the findings, an interactive map of the United States, and the full report are available on Second Harvest's NEW blog site: http://www.ourcommunityfoodbank.org/blog_site. Statewide data can also be found at feedingmissouri.org.