The Florida Times-Union
September 3, 2008
Even food bank short on food
By DEIRDRE CONNER,
Calling its empty shelves an unprecedented shortage, North Florida's regional food bank put out a plea Tuesday for donations.
With the economy slumping, available supplies from the Second Harvest Food Bank plummeted more than 40 percent between July and August, and 36 percent versus this time last year. Some of the 18 agencies that receive help from the food bank have been forced to shut down temporarily or turn away people seeking help.
Just as donations dropped and federal food aid was cut, demand for the most basic of assistance was up. The economy - with paychecks and job growth shrinking as the price of food and fuel rise - has been a major cause.
That's what pastor Theodore Taylor of Greater Love Pentecostal Holiness Church has found. He was one of those scouring the food bank warehouse's nearly bare shelves Tuesday for rations to take to the needy.
Taylor visits the food bank every day or every other day to supplement the church's feeding program, which helps the homeless and the unemployed. Layoffs have affected people who once donated, too.
"Some of our own parishioners are in need," Taylor said. Turning people down for assistance is the hardest. "We need to be praying ... the way the economy is right now, it's been pretty sad," he said.
Leigh Johnson has been coming every day to find supplies for Riverside Tradition House, which is a ministry of Riverside Presbyterian Church. He used to be able to stock up once a week but is finding supplies so low that he must come daily for a smaller ration and has to supplement it with purchases at retail stores. The food bank shelves have never been so empty, Johnson said.
The food bank is partnering with local businesses and asking the community to pitch in with donations and food drives, said Wayne Rieley, interim director of the food bank and president and chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, which sponsors the Second Harvest Food Bank.
Winn-Dixie stores donated $41,000 worth of food and have opened barrels for donations at all of their stores in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. VyStar Credit Union branches and three Curves locations also are donation centers.
The crisis comes just as the agency, which is part of a national food bank network and operates under the umbrella of Lutheran Social Services, is rolling out a hunger awareness campaign.
The campaign is, by the agency's own admission, likely to be controversial.
Advertisements feature idyllic scenes on the beach and golf course juxtaposed with the image of a skeletal child dressed in rags and presumably from an African nation.
The tagline: "Jacksonville's hunger problem isn't this obvious. Does it have to be?"
The goal of the campaign is to make people aware that hunger isn't merely a problem in a far-off place, Rieley said.
"Right here in our community ... people are living with food insecurity, which means they don't know how they are going to feed their family," Rieley said. "This is something that people you know are struggling with."
[email protected] (904) 359-4504
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-onlin...26878832.shtml.
September 3, 2008
Even food bank short on food
By DEIRDRE CONNER,
Calling its empty shelves an unprecedented shortage, North Florida's regional food bank put out a plea Tuesday for donations.
With the economy slumping, available supplies from the Second Harvest Food Bank plummeted more than 40 percent between July and August, and 36 percent versus this time last year. Some of the 18 agencies that receive help from the food bank have been forced to shut down temporarily or turn away people seeking help.
Just as donations dropped and federal food aid was cut, demand for the most basic of assistance was up. The economy - with paychecks and job growth shrinking as the price of food and fuel rise - has been a major cause.
That's what pastor Theodore Taylor of Greater Love Pentecostal Holiness Church has found. He was one of those scouring the food bank warehouse's nearly bare shelves Tuesday for rations to take to the needy.
Taylor visits the food bank every day or every other day to supplement the church's feeding program, which helps the homeless and the unemployed. Layoffs have affected people who once donated, too.
"Some of our own parishioners are in need," Taylor said. Turning people down for assistance is the hardest. "We need to be praying ... the way the economy is right now, it's been pretty sad," he said.
Leigh Johnson has been coming every day to find supplies for Riverside Tradition House, which is a ministry of Riverside Presbyterian Church. He used to be able to stock up once a week but is finding supplies so low that he must come daily for a smaller ration and has to supplement it with purchases at retail stores. The food bank shelves have never been so empty, Johnson said.
The food bank is partnering with local businesses and asking the community to pitch in with donations and food drives, said Wayne Rieley, interim director of the food bank and president and chief executive officer of Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, which sponsors the Second Harvest Food Bank.
Winn-Dixie stores donated $41,000 worth of food and have opened barrels for donations at all of their stores in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. VyStar Credit Union branches and three Curves locations also are donation centers.
The crisis comes just as the agency, which is part of a national food bank network and operates under the umbrella of Lutheran Social Services, is rolling out a hunger awareness campaign.
The campaign is, by the agency's own admission, likely to be controversial.
Advertisements feature idyllic scenes on the beach and golf course juxtaposed with the image of a skeletal child dressed in rags and presumably from an African nation.
The tagline: "Jacksonville's hunger problem isn't this obvious. Does it have to be?"
The goal of the campaign is to make people aware that hunger isn't merely a problem in a far-off place, Rieley said.
"Right here in our community ... people are living with food insecurity, which means they don't know how they are going to feed their family," Rieley said. "This is something that people you know are struggling with."
[email protected] (904) 359-4504
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-onlin...26878832.shtml.