The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is part of a great group of Nevada non-profit organizations that is in the running to receive a $100,000 gift from Walmart.  The really unique thing about this program is it is the Associate Choice Program meaning that the employees of Walmart are the ones that get to choose who get’s this amazing prize!  The Food Bank of the Northern Nevada is the only charity on the list from the northern part of our state. 

The opportunity to receive this gift, would be so appreciated by the Food Bank and our mission.  Last year, we helped to feed over 124,000 people in our region and distributed over 8 million pounds of food.  With $100,000, we would be able to provide 400,000 meals to those who need them the most. 

If  you or anyone that you know is an employee of Walmart, we humbly ask for his or her vote at www.mywalmart.com.  The Food Bank of Nothern Nevada sincerely promises to use this money to continue to feed our neighbors who need our help.

Thank you so much for your support!

So, you have your tickets (hopefully, because there aren’t many left) and you are heading to the show on Friday night, July 9.  Little Feat puts on a great show and plenty of fans are planning to join us for this great party in support of the Food Bank.  The gates open at 5 and you want to be there to get a good spot, but what to do until the show starts – eat and drink!  This year, there are three great food and beverage sponsors at the show that will be selling their favorites (and donating some back to help us feed more people.)   Check this out.

Great Basin Brewing Company -  Nevada’s most award winning brewery will be selling some of their favorites.  Enjoy the 2010 World Beer Cup Bronze Medal winning Whoop Ass Witbier, a Belgian white beer; Ichthyosaur India Pale Ale, and the 2008 World Beer Cup Medal winner Outlaw Oatmeal Stout.

Qdoba – will be serving mini -naked chicken burritos.   (You do not need to be naked to enjoy these great treats.  They are burritos in a bowl instead of a tortilla!)

Emerald City Cafe -  will offer chicken, veggie and shrimp skewers.  Try their artisan fruit and cheese with bread or crackers, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, chips,  sodas and water. 

We can’t wait for this show and we hope you feel the same.  Thank you so much to our sponsors, and our great supporters that are coming out to the show tomorrow night!

Help our Food Bank Friends in the Gulf!  The Bay Area Food Bank is eligible for a $100,000 gift through the Pepsi Refresh Project on the Today Show!  They are now in the top four and voting ends Tuesday, July 6 so please vote right now! 

VOTE HERE NOW!    

The Bay Area Food Bank services counties in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. They have already witnessed the effects of the oil spill on the people in their area. To respond to the increased need, the food bank has expanded its existing mobile pantry program.

The Bay Area Food Bank has learned countless workers in the fishing and service industry in their area are already out of work and are seeing declining work due to the oil spill. Using the mobile pantry to get to communities that have been particularly affected, the food bank has been able to help meet the need. On June 29, with the help of the National Guard serving as volunteers for the day, the food bank distributed food to around 260 families in Bayou la Batre, Alabama, a total of 12,000 pounds of food.

Additional distributions have recently taken place in Defuniak Springs, Florida, Pascagoula and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

The food bank has already decided what they would spend this money on.  They would use these funds for the mobile pantry program and child nutrition programs.

The winner will be announced July 7. Please vote from now until then to help the Bay Area Food Bank.

VOTE HERE NOW!

The food bank was nominated for the contest by one of their agencies, Georgetown-Chunchula United Methodist Church in Chunchula, Alabama.

Thank you for your support of one of our fellow Food Banks!

If you are a Twilight fan, this is a party for you!  Saturday, June 26 in the Mandalay Ballroom of the Circus Circus Convention Center  from 1 – 4 p.m.  The event is free to attend and all ages are welcome. 

 There will be more than $15,000 in Twilight prizes and eclipse movie tickets to be given away!  Get a drawing ticket for each can of food that you bring and it is UNLIMITED!!!  Yes, the Food goes to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada and we are thrilled to be a part of it.

There will also be fun fan contests like look-a-like contests, best costume, best homemade tshirt, best themed centerpiece and a family feud style trivia contest with 3 person teams!

There will be food by Forks Café inside the event with vegetarian options as well!

 Remember, bring your cans of food and get door prize tickets for them! 

 This event is brought to you by Circus, Circus, The CW, Univision KREN Reno 27, Sunny 106.9, Z93.7 FM, Alice 96.5, Barnes & Noble Booksellers. 

            The Food Bank of Northern Nevada was thrilled to host Feeding America president and CEO, Vicki Escarra for a tour and visit to the Donald W. Reynolds Food Distribution Center.  Vicki had been out for the ground breaking ceremony when the plans had begun to build the new facility but hadn’t been back to see it in full operation.  With close to two of the busiest years that the Food Bank had seen under our belt, we were thrilled to share all that had happened in the new facility.  The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is on track to distribute over eight million pounds of food in the current fiscal year and with the need so drastically increased over the last couple of years, we are definitely busy. 

            The best part of the Vicki’s visit was that her excitement to see what was new at the Food Bank of Northern Nevada was just as great as ours. She talked to the staff and shared that the Food Bank of Northern Nevada was one of the most efficient operators in the entire 200+ network of Food Banks, meaning that we distribute more and more food, while keeping costs under control.  The Food Stamp Outreach, Summer Food, Kids Cafe Program, and Back-Pack Kids programs have all served as examples for the network to follow.  Food banks across the Feeding America network all share best practices and success stories to make sure that we all move forward toward our strategic goals as a network.

            Here are some photos of Vicki at the Food Bank!

Dear Friends of the Food Bank,

The House Agriculture Committee child nutrition reauthorization bill was introduced yesterday in the House.  Child nutrition reauthorization (WIC program, school meals, summer, day care and afterschool meals) SHOULD have been reauthorized in 2009, and really must be handled in this session of Congress – hungry children cannot wait, and all over Nevada and the US, children of unemployed and low income families must rely on child nutrition programs for much of their daily nutrition needs.

Please review the document below, which outlines the issues, and call Dean Heller (or in the south, Dina Titus and Shelley Berkley) to leave a message requesting his support of the House bill for child nutrition reauthorization.  Telephone numbers and relevant points are in this document, along with plenty of background information. 

You are most welcome to forward this to your friends, family and network.

Thank you for taking action today and next week on this very important nutrition and health protection for children in our community and throughout the United States.  They are counting on us.

Sincerely,

Cherie Jamason

President & CEO of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada

In Brief:  On June 10th, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) unveiled a bipartisan Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) proposal, which is expected to be marked up in Committee this month.  Release of the proposal coincided with a June 10th CNR Lobby Day on Capitol Hill and June 10th and 11th CNR Call-in Days.   

Take Action:  Urge Members of Congress to enact a robust Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill this year that achieves President Obama’s proposal of $1 billion a year in new ten-year funding; build on House and Senate bills, especially by adding funding for program access priorities; and oppose cutting SNAP Nutrition Education funds.

Below are comments from Feeding America and FRAC, which provide back ground.  At the end of this document will be information on how to contact your congressman (in this case Dean Heller, or Dina Titus and Shelley Berkley in southern Nevada).  This is a House Bill, and opportunities to advocate with our Senators will come up in the next month or so as we work on the Senate side to generate additional funding. 

TO TAKE ACTION:

Share the action alert!

Send to your friends, coworkers, family – many calls are needed to register on the Congressional radar screen

Register at http://www.hungeractioncenter.org – the Feeding America grassroots advocacy action center – this makes it easy to send a letter to your congressional delegation with one click.  The Center is updated regularly – the latest advocacy opportunities are available.

Make the call – call your member of Congress  - one click instructions are on the Hunger Action Center website – upper right hand corner – along with the message you need to convey.

Click to become a Hunger Champion (read about it on Hunger Action website), which will provide you with periodic emails when calls or letters needed or helpful to our efforts to end hunger in America and Nevada.

 What We’re Asking and How to Translate What We’re Asking into What to Say :

Policy:  state your “ask” (review following background information) – I am calling about the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill just introduced in the House. We need more access for low income children; Need for more attention on out of school child nutrition programs– especially weekends; need for a robustly funded bill  - $1b/year

Personalize: explain why it’s important to you – I am a constituent, live in ___Reno, Sparks, etc.  (Focus on elements that are important to your food bank/community) Northern Nevada is suffering through serious unemployment, which has affected thousands of families with kids, etc….they can’t keep their homes and put food on the table as well, etc.  Tell story about your community and why this is important to you.

Walk through Talking Points (the 3-point ask)
The “ask” is short and direct ($1b in funding, access for all eligible children, especially during weekends and outside school hours), but personalized to the experience in your community (kids hungry in our community during gap periods – in the summer, on weekends and often after school; our FB serves lots of kids – almost 50,000 last year in northern Nevada, and more than one third of our school children rely on free meals during the school year; my FB runs a backpack/afterschool/and summer programs, but cannot reach all the children who need access)

We are asking Congressman Heller (or Congresswoman Berkley or Titus) to support a well funded child nutrition reauthorization bill so that kids in our community have the food they need at all times, to stay healthy and ready to learn.  Thank you very much. 

You may call directly or call through the Hunger Action Center http://www.hungeractioncenter.org, and you may give this message to whomever answers the telephone.  The office will be keeping track of calls coming in on child nutrition reauthorization.

Congressman Heller’s office is 202-225-6155. 

Congresswoman Titus’s office is 202-225-3252.

Congresswoman Berkley’s office is 202-225-5915.

Thank you for taking the time and effort to make a difference. 

Briefing:  Child Nutrition Reauthorization

Update: House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Miller Unveils Details of Child Nutrition Reauthorization! 6.10.10 

FRAC (Food Research and Action Center) Statement on Miller Bill:  “Chairman Miller’s mark makes substantial and positive new investments in the child nutrition programs, helping to make critical improvements that will enable low-income children to access the nutritious food they need. It moves the process forward in important ways.  It improves the area eligibility standard for summer food programs in rural areas, which will allow more communities to operate such programs and serve more low-income children. It provides competitive grant funds to promote the expansion of the school breakfast program; includes competitive improvements in processes for certification for school meals; and enhances the nutritional quality of food served in school-based and preschool settings.  A strong Child Nutrition bill is a key step in reaching the President’s goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015 and in reducing childhood obesity. FRAC is committed to working with Representative Miller and members of the House and Senate to continue to fight for the best possible bill and continuing to move toward President Obama’s goal of $1 billion/year of improvements in these effective programs that boost children’s health and learning. We applaud Chairman Miller, Subcommittee Chair Carolyn McCarthy, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Todd Platts for their leadership on this bill.”    

It is so great to hear from a group of volunteers and to learn what the experience is like for them.  A group from NV Energy shared a little bit about their volunteer experience with us.  This is what they said:   The 18 volunteers from NV Energy had so much fun and got to pack the CSFP boxes along with some great young people from Job Corps.  We were proud to pack 527 CSFP boxes for needy seniors and 18,000 pounds of food in just under 3 hours!  For our volunteers, it worked well to start with the CSFP boxes, take a quick break to eat our dinner of Capriotti’s sandwiches and then do a little more work packing cans from the Letter Carrier’s Food Drive. The Volunteer Manager, Dave is such a nice guy and patient teacher, everyone agreed we need to do it again soon.  Another highlight was seeing a few wild horses as we drove into the facility – it’s beautiful wild Nevada out there! Any company looking for a great teamwork/bonding event should think about spending a few hours at the Food Bank.

This is an editorial written by Cherie Jamason, the president and CEO of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada that appeared in the May 26, 2010 issue of the Reno Gazette Journal.  If you would like to know more about how you can help, visit Feeding America’s Hunger Action Center. 

Working firsthand with families who are struggling to put food on the table, I witness every day the devastating impact poor nutrition can have, particularly on children.  Last year, we provided 49,665 children with emergency food, and an appalling one third of them were reported in our hunger study to have missed meals on a regular basis.  Almost 26,000 kids in Washoe County are eligible for free meals at school, many from families who turn to us for assistance.

We have long known that good nutrition has a direct impact on student performance in school. Studies show that students who do not have reliable, healthy meals in kindergarten lag noticeably behind their peers in reading and math by the third grade.  Breakfast is particularly important to learning, and not just on test days.

Families without much money often rely on inexpensive food options—frequently high in fat and calories and lower in nutrients – contributing to skyrocketing obesity rates.  Nationally, 98 percent of children are making poor food choices and consuming fewer fruits, vegetables and whole grains than nutrition guidelines recommend.  Fortunately, there is a remedy:  USDA school meals, which must meet USDA nutrition standards, include fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, protein and grains, and provide opportunities for better choices. 

Right now, Congress has a unique opportunity to dramatically change the health of American children by improving the Child Nutrition Act, a law originally passed in 1966, to ensure that all children receive nutritious meals. This law oversees the school lunch and breakfast programs, which provide daily meals to almost 31 million children in Nevada and across the nation.  It also oversees the WIC program, which reduces the incidence of low-birthweight babies and creates documented savings in infant medical care.

The pending reauthorization bill will allow more children to be served by these programs, while improving the nutrition value of school meals through updated guidelines and better funding. The impact of these changes cannot be overstated. With many children consuming 50 percent or more of their daily calories at school, food provided through school meal programs has a direct impact on children’s health. One third of America’s children are classified as overweight or obese, setting them up for a lifetime of struggles with diabetes, high blood pressure and related health problems. Clearly, we must take strong action now.

Fortunately, Congress can address this important issue immediately.  In a rare showing of bipartisanship that underscores the importance of this effort, the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has unanimously passed a reauthorization bill that goes a long way towards improving the meals our kids receive in school. To make these improvements a reality, the Senate must bring this important bill to the floor for passage.

By urgently calling for a vote on this critical legislation, Senator Harry Reid can make a difference in the lives of not only Nevada’s kids but children across the country. A robust and well funded Child Nutrition Act is good for our kids, for Nevada and for our nation. 

Cherie Jamason

Cherie Jamason, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, has been named as a recipient of the 2010 Distinguished Nevadan award. This is the most prestigious award presented by the Nevada Board of Regents. The Distinguished Nevadan award is conferred upon individuals who have contributed to the cultural, scientific or social advancement of Nevada.   In essence, in is Nevada’s Hall of Fame.  The award ceremony will take place Friday, May 14 at 5 pm in conjunction with the advanced degree commencement at the University of Nevada Reno.

Jamason joined the Food Bank of Northern Nevada more than 20 years ago. With her leadership and expertise, what began as a small grass-roots food assistance program serving Washoe County, is now a nationally recognized anti-hunger organization, serving more than 124,000 people and distributing over 7 million pounds of food yearly through more than 118 partner agencies and six direct service programs in 13 northern Nevada counties and seven in the Tahoe/Sierra region of California.

Jamason has brought hunger issues to the forefront in Nevada, garnering both attention and action. She has successfully implemented many outreach programs including the Nevada Child Nutrition Initiative providing summer food and after school meal programs for low income children throughout the state, implementing food stamp outreach, and a pilot program for nutrition education in at-risk schools, and securing the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for Nevada.   Her tireless work has helped hundreds of thousands of people to eat during her tenure and she continues to advocate state and federal policy makers to help those who are often overlooked.

We know you care – Here’s an easy free way to make a difference.  The Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill is in Congress right now and it is vital to the health and vitality of our children.  This bill is only up for reauthorization every five years so this is a conversation that we can only have twice a decade.   We invite you to this conversation.  

This important legislation funds school breakfast and lunch,  meals in child care settings, summer lunch, after school meals, and WIC (The Women with Infants and children Supplemental Nutrition Program).  These programs allow low income children to receive the nutrition they need to stay healthy and grow.  They also are a key component to education.  

In northern Nevada there are 49,665 children that needed emergency food services just last year, and almost 26,000 children who rely on school meals for much of their daily nutrition.  One of every two children in America will have better health because of the WIC program.   This is a very important Bill and we need your help to make it as powerful as possible for our kids. 

What we know about Child Nutrition Reauthorization:

·         It is vital to provide children access to nutritious food. 

·         It needs to be fully funded to meet the needs of the hungry children. 

·         It needs to move forward immediately in this session of Congress.    

What if we told you that you could help this effort with just a few short minutes of your time?  

Click here Hunger Action Center  to show your support for hungry children.  Click on how to take action.  You can send a letter to all of your representatives with a few short clicks. 

It is unacceptable that there are hungry children in our communities and our nation. This is an issue that every person and every party can believe in.  It has strong bi-partisan support in Congress.  The Administration has set the goal to end child hunger by 2015.  This is the first step.  

Thank you so much for helping.   

 Cherie Jamason

 President & CEO

APICS, The Association for Operational Management, is having an event and you’re invited!  The Northern Sierra Chapter of APICS are great friends of the Food Bank and we are actually the beneficiaries of this event’s wine bar proceeds!  Thank you APICS. 

Here’s more about the event!

TOP MANAGEMENT NIGHT

International Wine Tasting Featuring wines from around the world – Presented by “Vino 100″

Annual Awards: Company of the year, Instructor of the year, and CPIM and CSCP Pin recipients

Slot Machine Raffle – Donated by IGT

Presentation: “Are You Dead?”
by Ian Hill, President of The Changing Point

Ian Hill

Humanitarian, Social Entrepreneur, Business Leader, and Award Winning Philanthropist, these are some of the monikers that often used when referring to Ian Hill. 

Ian is also one of North America’s foremost advocates for the Recreation and Park profession, this recognized Humanitarian and Award Winning Philanthropist has a very unique perspective on what we do every day and is one of only a hand full of individuals that has been the keynote speaker for both the National Recreation and Parks Association and the Canadian Park Recreation Association national conferences.

Ian’s latest humanitarian project is Let Them Be Kids, a first of its kind initiative to build community capacity while building playgrounds in areas of extreme need. LTBK has geographically specific programs for the USA, Canada and the World.

He has been recognized for his commitment to positive change by the National Council for Community and Justice and the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, which both named him Humanitarian of the Year. The Stand for Children Organization named Ian its Child Advocate of the Year, and most recently in Beijing China, The World Leisure Congress named Let Them Be Kids one of the four most innovative social leisure programs in the world.

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
5:30 PM – Wine Tasting & Networking
6:00 PM – Dinner
6:45 PM – Awards & Recognition
7:00 PM – Presentation by Ian Hill
8:00 PM – Raffle Drawing

Members: $30.00
Non-Members: $35.00
Students: $20.00

RSVP for this Event NOW!

APICS The Association for Operations Management – founded in 1957 as The American Production and Inventory Control Society – is a not-for-profit international educational organization respected throughout the world for its educational courses and professional certification programs. For more information about the international association, go to apics.org. For local chapter information, visit apics-nors.org.

Click to join the Rachel Ray Town Hall Meeting.  

 We know that over 49,600 children in our area needed emergency food services last year.  In any context, that is a lot of children without adequate nutrition.  At the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, we know that this vulnerable population needs our attention and our help.   The long term consequences of our children growing up hungry, is not certain but we do know that adequate nutrition helps a child grow, thrive and learn.

One program that helps us to serve children that are homeless or chronically hungry in our area is the Back-Pack kids program.  We know that without this bag of weekend food, some of these children would have a very long time between dinner at school on Friday and Monday morning breakfast.  Each bag cost $5 to sponsor and the program is not supported by any State or Federal funding. 

We received this note from a child that receives one of the 700 Back-Packs of food that are delivered each week.  We look forward to a time when Morgan doesn’t have to wonder where her next meal is coming from.

Thank you so much for your support of the Back-Pack and other child nutrition programs at the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.   

Thank you to the employees of Anthem Blue Cross who came out on Saturday to celebrate the national Community Day of Service.  We loved having you for the tour and for your hard work.  We really needed your help to get ready for our big Letter Carriers Food Drive on May 8. 

Check out these pictures from the day! 

Employees from the Reno Office of R & R Partners made the drive out to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada today to help out and learn a little bit more about the organization.  They were impressed at the size of the facilility and all of the programs that are run out of the Food Bank.   They stayed after their tour to help with assembling some backpack bags for the Back-Pack Kids program.  This program provides weekend food to children who are very reliant on school meals to meet their nutrition needs.  The needs of this program has grown vastly over the last couple of years.  At the beginning of the school year, the Food Bank was distributing about 400 bags of food weekly and now in the spring, the number has grown to 700 per week.  This program is soley for children that are homeless or identified as chronically hungry so these numbers are even more astounding.  The Back-Pack Kids program is also one that is done without any state or federal funding so the generosity of the donors and volunteers like R & R Partners are vital.

Thank you so much for making a difference!  Check out these Pictures of the event.