Feeding America Donated Food Value

How Technology Transformation Can Help

With the leadership of Feeding Americas first-ever CIO Maryann Byrdak and the support of Slalom, Feeding America is undertaking a multiyear transformation that will position data and technology as a true strategic partner in the fight against hunger and food insecurity. At FANO and across the network, Feeding America will be able to leverage its size in new ways, increase collaboration between food banks, improve data sharing, optimize food collection and distribution, learn more about the nature of hunger, and deliver even better services to neighbors.

For Byrdaks teams, this effort represents major investments and the ability to say yes more often to member food banks. Byrdak says its about opening the door. Were serious about revamping our portfolio. Were serious about building the right solutions that provide the most value, and were building a team to sustain them.

If you want to solve hunger, the goal is to do it at a size and scale that can only be achieved and enhanced through technology, says Alex Zinicola, a delivery leadership director at Slalom Chicago who heads up the Slalom project team. The mission of technology is the mission of the business. Those two are the same.

What Is The Difference Between A Food Bank And A Food Pantry

Unlike a food pantry, a food bank has the space and capacity to handle large donations from the food industry. For example, a food bank has room for a donation of thousands of pounds of frozen, bulk carrots in one of its coolers and can safely process that donation into family-sized portions in its reclamation department. Food banks and food pantries work together to fill neighbors plates. The food bank sources, processes and temporarily stores large quantities of various foods. Then, food pantries choose the items and quantities they need to do their work.

In The Us 1 In 6 Children Are Facing Hunger

Sit with that figure for a moment. One in six children and approximately 38 million adults and children in total. Thats the magnitude of what Feeding America fights every single day.

Food bank CEOs like Mike Miller of River Bend Food Bank, Iowa, and Eric Cooper of San Antonio Food Bank, Texas, can paint a vivid picture of the human cost. Imagine youre a child sitting in school right now, who doesnt know where dinner is coming from, says Miller. That kid doesnt care about conjugating a verb or solving for X. They care about when theyre going to eat next. They have just as much capability as anybody else but such a lower chance of succeeding. And there is enough food. Were just throwing it away.

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Food Connections Resource Center

Our Food Connections Resource Center is the first stop for many in our community seeking food assistance. In addition to providing you with an emergency food box, we are here to help you navigate and receive information about vital Redwood Empire Food Bank hunger relief programs and food distributions throughout Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties. Our team can also help you navigate the CalFresh application process, get WIC application assistance, and more.

3990 Brickway Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA 95403From Highway 101, take the Airport Blvd. exit.Desde la autopista 101, tome la salida Airport Blvd.

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Can My Company Match My Gift

• Feeding America has an employer matching gift program. Once you confirm that your company will match your gift to Feeding America, please contact us at

  Once we confirm that we have received your gift, we will complete the appropriate matching gift paperwork and send it to your company for processing.

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Challenges For Food Banks In Providing Healthier Foods

While food banks and food pantries are critical food sources to address food insecurity, they are not always sources of fresh, healthy food. Food banks often receive donations of less-healthy options, including canned or packaged food products that have a longer shelf life and are easy to store and distribute.

In order to address both food insecurity and support healthy diets to prevent and treat chronic disease, food pantries need to provide a variety of healthy foods. However, lack of staff and physical infrastructure and chronic funding shortages can make it difficult for a food pantry to secure and distribute healthy items, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. Many food pantries only distribute food to clients a few times per month or don’t have the refrigeration capacity necessary to handle fresh produce. Food pantries can move toward becoming Hospitals can play an important role in supporting these efforts.

Food banks and pantries may be cautious when implementing strong nutrition standards out of concern that it may reduce the total amount of food available for distribution. Yet this worry may be misplaced. The Capital Area Food Bank received overwhelming support from retail donors when it established its nutrition policies. For example, Giant Food, a key donor, implemented a Retailers for Wellness program that sorts out soda, bakery items, and candy from food bank donation bins and prepares nutritious boxes for customers to purchase for donation at checkout.

Recommendations For Hospital Participation

There are many examples of successful partnerships between hospitals and food banks or food pantries to increase access to healthy foods. These include partnerships that help to expand the reach and improve the quality of foods provided by local food banks and food pantries, providing funding for targeted projects, and helping food banks develop nutrition policies.

• Healthy food can be sourced from farm gleaning, farmers market gleaning, plant-a-row programs in the local community, as well as from retail sources. Hospital staff can act as liaisons for these initiatives.

• Hospital grounds can be utilized as gardens to produce donated foods.

• Hospitals can offer grant support to purchase refrigerators, which are required to sustain the offering of healthy, but perishable goods.

• Hospital food purchasers may also be able to support food bank staff with identifying vendors for healthy food products or with negotiating pricing.

Additionally, food bank-health care partnerships often include an educational component in which participants learn about nutrition and healthy eating, healthy meal preparation, and also are given a selection of fresh, healthy foods for cooking at home.

Additional information about hospital community benefit roles and examples are included in the table below.

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Limited Liability Protection For Donors

The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996 encourages the donation of food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations for distribution to needy individuals. The Act exempts persons and gleaners who make good faith donations of food to nonprofit organizations that feed the hungry from liability for injuries arising from the consumption of the donated food.

Under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, the following food donation standards apply:

Persons and gleaners : Persons and gleaners, including qualified direct donors, shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently wholesome food that the person or gleaner donates in good faith to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to needy individuals.

Nonprofit organizations: Nonprofit organizations shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently wholesome food that the nonprofit organization received as a donation in good faith from a person or gleaner, including a qualified direct donor, for ultimate distribution to needy individuals.

Donations of apparently wholesome food by qualified direct donors must be made in compliance with applicable state and local health, food safety, and food handling laws .

What Benefit Does My Company Receive When We Donate Food Will We Be Protected If We Donate

In addition to helping end hunger in the United States, companies that donate products to Feeding America may be eligible for several tax deductions. In addition, donating food and grocery products can help companies manage inventory and reduce warehouse and disposal costs.

Food and grocery donors are also protected by the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act.

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Anyone Can Be A Food Donor

Anyone can donate food, including farmers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, cruise ships, and households, just to name a few.

• EPAs Excess Food Opportunities Map is an interactive tool that displays the locations of nearly 1.2 million potential industrial, commercial and institutional excess food generators and more than 4,000 potential recipients.
• Gleaning is the collection of excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers markets, and other sources to provide it to those in need. Typically, volunteers partner with a farm to glean excess fresh produce and deliver it to a food bank or food pantry. Learn how to develop a successful gleaning program with this USDA toolkit .

Check Out Our Virtual Food Drive Just Click Below To Get Started

We have made donating to the Food Bank easy. No time to shop–you can shop in our virtual grocery store. Holding a Food Drive? The Virtual Food Drive lets you or your group help to end hunger in Northwest Louisiana in an easy, immediate and highly effective way. Remember the Food Bank can multiply your donation with its buying power. Your money will go much further!If your business or company would like to host a Virtual Food Drive please fill out the REGISTRATION FORM and contact us at 318.675.2400 ext. 100 or email us at .Here are the current virtual food drives. Please click on a logo to start “shopping”

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Does The Food Bank Charge For Food

Our partners are not allowed to charge clients for food, but our partners do pay a shared maintenance fee of 16 to 18 cents per pound of food received from the food bank. This helps us cover overhead costs tied to handling food for the food pantry or meal program. When our partners select items we purchased at wholesale costto fill the gaps left by donated foodthey also reimburse us for the cost of those items.

Places To Donate Food

There are food recipient organizations across the country. The following sites offer tools to help donors find nearby food banks, pantries, soup kitchens and shelters that may accept wholesome, excess food.

• Feeding America is a national network of food banks, individuals, national offices, and corporate and government partners working to combat hunger in the U.S. Use the Find Your Local Food Bank tool to locate food programs by state or zip code.
• Ample Harvest is a nationwide effort to educate, enable, and encourage gardeners to donate extra produce to local food pantries. Use their Find a Pantry tool to donate food you grow or buy.
• The Homeless Shelter Directory is a crowdsourced listing for people who want to find and donate food and/or supplies to their local shelter.

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How Do I Get A Copy Of My Tax Statement Or Giving History

• If you donated by December 31st, Feeding America will send you a copy of your tax statement by mail or email in February. Be sure to keep an eye on your mailbox or your junk folder. You can always view your gift history in the Account Center.

  If you need a copy or you have questions about your tax statement or giving history, please get in touch with our Donor Services team at 1-800-910-5524.

Publix Continues Work To Help Neighbors In Need With 33m Pounds Of Produce Donated To Feeding America Member Food Banks

Publix Super Markets Charities donates $5.5M in monetary support

LAKELAND, Fla., Sept. 13, 2021 During Hunger Action Month®, Publix is highlighting the many ways the company helps alleviate hunger year-round. According to Feeding America®, 1 in 9 Americans face food insecurity, and within Publixs seven-state operating area, more than 8 million people face hunger every day. As a food retailer, Publix is committed to helping feed those in need in the communities it serves.

Having food on the table is an essential need that millions of people throughout our communities struggle with every day. As a food retailer, helping provide nourishing meals to our neighbors in need is at the heart of who we are, said Publix CEO Todd Jones. It is our privilege to join our customers in helping to alleviate hunger and do good together for our communities.

Since April 2020, Publix has donated more than 33 million pounds of produce to Feeding America member food banks through its farmers and families initiative and Feeding More Together campaign. Through the farmers and families initiative launched last year, the company purchased and donated more than 18 million pounds of produce and 500,000 gallons of milk to Feeding America member food banks. Publix purchased this produce and milk from Southeastern farmers who lost business as schools and restaurants closed due to the pandemic.

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Whats The Governments Role In Hunger

For every one meal the Feeding America network provides, SNAP provides nine. Because of SNAP and other government hunger-relief programs, many neighbors have consistent access to nourishing food. Other programs include:

• WIC, which serves young children and mothers
• TEFAP , which provides food from farms and other places to families in need, often distributed by food banks
• National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs

All of these programs, and more, work together to mitigate and decrease food insecurity across the country.

Examples Of Hospital Roles And Participation

Columbia St. Marys Hospital

Milwaukee, Wis.

Columbia St. Marys operates a community-based clinic providing health screenings, including blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index , cholesterol, and diabetes, at Ebenezer Church Diabetic Friendly Food Pantry.

800 families utilized the Ebenezer Food Pantry in 2016. The goal is to increase utilization by 50 families per year for the next 3 years.

15% of healthy food types, as defined by dietitians, were offered in 2016. Goals are to increase healthy food types offered by 5% each year for the next 3 years.

Maury Regional Medical Center

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Use The Following Guide To Help You Plan Your Food Drive:

Step 1: Review our food drive ideas, make a plan, and recruit your team.Step 2: Review our most needed items, listed below.Step 4: Advertise using our flyer templates and social media toolkit.Step 5: Collect food donations!Step 6: Deliver the food to AFAC during food drop-off hours or schedule a pickup using the registration form.

How Feeding America Turns $1 Into At Least 10 Meals

Feeding America works with manufacturers and retailers to donate food that would otherwise go to waste. Our partners donate truckloads of food they are unable to sell. That rescued food then travels to food bank members throughout the country. Your donations help Feeding America provide that food to people who need it. In 2020, our partners donated more than 2 billion pounds of food to Feeding America.

Our generous supporters help to cover the cost of sorting, storing, and transporting that food on its way to reach our neighbors in need. This means good food reaches our food banks quickly and we use our resources wisely.

How we calculate the cost of a meal

We calculate the cost of a meal by looking at how much food is donated to Feeding America and Feeding America’s operational costs. Our operational costs include, but are not limited to, collecting, storing, and transporting food to our member food banks.

We divide the total number of pounds of donated food by what it costs to keep Feeding America running smoothly and getting that food where it needs to go. That gives us the number of pounds of food we secured on behalf of local food banks per dollar. Each meal is roughly 1.2 pounds of food so that gives us our meal per dollar figure.

We review the cost per meal on an annual basis to ensure it continues to reflect Feeding Americas national food sourcing efforts and cost structure.

Impact of Inflation

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What Makes Mobile Pantries Unique

In 1998, former Feeding America West Michigan Executive Director John Arnold saw a pop bottle truck driving down the street and thought its roll-up side doors would be a great way to distribute perishable items to people who need them. Mobile Food Pantries were born soon after and the model has since been adopted by food banks across the country! Mobile Pantries act like farmers markets on wheels, bringing fresh produce and other food directly to communities in need. In contrast, traditional pantries and other hunger-relief programs often dont have space or equipment to store fresh produce, so they focus on shelf-stable items.

Company Also Commits To Donating Protein For 10 Million Meals* During Hunger Action Month

Springdale, Ark September 7, 2022 Tyson Foods announced today its commitment of $2.5 million to address food insecurity by partnering with Feeding America® member food banks to provide greater access to protein in communities facing hunger. This September, during Hunger Action Month®, Tyson is also donating 2.5 million pounds of protein, the equivalent of 10 million meals, to alleviate hunger.

Tyson Foods will allocate $1 million of its donation to support Equitable Food Access grants, which aim to improve access to nutritious food among people experiencing the highest rates of food insecurity, with a focus on communities of color and/or people living in rural communities.

The remainder of Tysons $2.5 million donation will go towards Feeding America and member food banks efforts to expand capacity to repack bulk or private label protein products into family size quantities, thus increasing the types of protein that can easily be donated and distributed.

Since 2006, Tyson Foods has donated almost $3.5 million to Feeding America and $223 million of protein to local member food banks.

*Tyson estimates that 4 ounces of protein equates to one meal.

About Tyson Foods, Inc.

About Feeding America

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