May/June Update 
In This Issue
CK Class 19 Enrollment
Agency Credit Hours
2012 Feast of Sharing
FNS Nutrition Programs
Useful Websites
Community Kitchen
Food for Kids
Program Volunteer News
Community Initiatives
Agency Relations
SNAP
Nutrition Services
 

Tarrant Area Food Bank
2600 Cullen Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107

 
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Community Kitchen
Class 19

 

Information sessions for
Class 19 will be held on July 2
at 1 p.m. and July 3 at 9 a.m. We encourage you to refer your clients who are unemployed or underemployed and interested in a food service career. Contact Barbara Higbee at [email protected] or 187.332.9177 ext 144 for more information.

Send Your Volunteers!

 

Did you know that agencies who send their volunteers to help at Tarrant Area Food Bank can receive credit toward their shared maintenance fee? View the updated policy here and contact us to learn more!

 

Are you a member of DOVIA?  Directors of Volunteers in Agencies is a professional group that supports volunteer managers of organizations that utilize volunteers. Idea-sharing, networking and trainings are just a taste of what you will gain from involvement with DOVIA of Tarrant County. Learn more about how you can become a member here.

 

Central Market's
2012 Feast of Sharing

  

What does it take to feed 10,000 - 12,000 people Thanksgiving dinner at one location?

 

It will take a network of engaged service agencies, an army of volunteers and one committed sponsor. Central Market's Feast of Sharing is exactly this.

 

Plans are underway to inaugurate the Feast of Sharing in Tarrant County. Dallas has held their event for five years and it has been tremendously successful. The format of the event includes seated service dining of traditional Thanksgiving dinner, live entertainment, an activities section for children, and a section for social services. Transportation is also included in the plans with Central Market working together with city transit and others that can provide vans or buses.

 

TAFB is pleased to provide support for the Feast of Sharing and will be helping spread the word to our partners. Sondra Hay at Central Market will be working with the agencies to help inform and invite clients to the event on Tuesday, November 6 at Will Rogers Exhibit Hall.

FNSProgramsFNS Nutrition Programs

 

These programs include Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), Food Assistance for Disaster Relief, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP), Special Milk Program (SMP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Lori Pope
Agency Relations Manager
 

Micheline Hynes
Nutrition Services Manager

Ginger Cleveland
Food for Kids Manager

Vicky Martinez
SNAP Manager

Barbara Higbee
Community Kitchen Coordinator

Romy Basil
Community Initiatives Coordinator

 

Robyn Morgan

Resource Coordinator


Kay Dillard
Director of Programs 


 

Useful Websites 

 

Links to Nutrition Resources:

 

Here's What's Cookin'
in the Kitchen

 

Class 17
Class 17 celebrates at their graduation ceremony
on May 5, 2012
  

 

Class 18 are cut ups - at least they are learning to cut up vegetables, that is. The nine culinary students enrolled in the Community Kitchen Class 18 began on April 30 and are already hard at work practicing their knife skills and helping produce nearly 10,000 one-pound meals at the same time. As part of the training that will change their lives by providing them with practical job skills, the students work in teams to get that all important hands-on experience of working on a production line.

 

Chefs Manny Vasquez and Tom McGrath oversee the production which utilizes approximately 120,000 pounds of reclaimed food each year, food that might otherwise go to waste. Often the Food Bank receives large quantities of donated product that the pantries and feeding programs can't utilize, so the Kitchen converts this into one-pound meals that the pantries can use. A list of these items is available on the shopping list at http://shop.tafb.org

 

The Community Kitchen began producing these nutritious meals in July 2009, when the kitchen was moved from the East Fort Worth Montessori Academy to the Food Bank facility.TAFB initiated its culinary arts/life skills job training program in January 2007. The Community Kitchen has made a difference in 139 graduates' lives with 84% of the graduates still employed one year after graduation.

 

The culinary curriculum is 14 weeks of instruction and practice at TAFB and two-week internships at a local food service facility. Depending on when their class falls, students may participate in two of the food bank's largest fund raisers - Empty Bowls and Breakfast with the Stars. Class 17, which celebrated their graduation on May 5, completed their two week internships at Olenjack's Grille, Swiss Pastry Shop, Ellerbe Fine Foods, Colonial Country Club, Ol' South Pancake House, The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel, Billy Bob's Texas, Union Gospel Mission and Buttons. About half of the graduates from each class receive offers of employment from their internship sites.

 

Nine students from Class 18 are scheduled to graduate on August 18.

Food for Kids

 

Summer means swimming and fun for many children, but for some it can mean hunger. So many of our young clients rely on free meals during the school year and TAFB works hard to feed these children during the summer through the following programs:

 

SummerPacks for Kids!


For the third year, TAFB is partnering with City of Fort Worth Community Centers to distribute packs of weekend food on Fridays. We will distribute food to 3,000 kids each week.

 

Hot Lunches through Kids Cafes


For over a decade, TAFB has partnered with Sodexo at TCU to serve hot meals to over 575 kids each week day at seven of our Kids Cafes sites. This program is supported in part by Sodexo's Feeding Our Future program.

 

Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)

 

Across Texas, over 2.8 million children qualify for free and reduced lunches during the school year and yet only 336,000 children are utilizing the summer feeding services. TAFB wants to increase our summer feeding programs to make them more plentiful and accessible so no child has to go hungry. This will be the second year for TAFB participates in the Summer Food Service Program with the Texas Department of Agriculture. TAFB will work with churches and apartment complexes to provide lunches and snacks in an organized group environment to children who are often on their own during the day. For information about how you can become a SFSP site with TAFB as your sponsor, please contact Ginger at [email protected]
 or 817.332.9177 ext 153.
Program Volunteer News

 

Risk and Liability

 

Surprises are to be expected in life and especially in the non-profit world.  How organizations prepare for and manage surprises often determines their future success. Risk management is the process of identifying possible risks in order to minimize potential liabilities. It also involves financial readiness for addressing potential risks. So, why is risk management important? Serious implications can result from unforeseen occurrences, including physical harm to staff and volunteers, legal action which may deplete financial resources and adverse publicity about the organization.

A risk management plan should include:

  1. Identifying risks
  2. Evaluating each risk - determine likelihood of an incident and it's severity of consequences
  3. Designing the management program
  4. Implementing, monitoring and reviewing the plan often

When developing a plan, be sure to include board members and staff of the organization so that all may provide input, feedback and communicate risks pertaining to their areas. Building a plan for managing risks takes some time and effort, but the benefits of preparedness far outweigh the repercussions that could result from an unexpected incident.

 

Resource: "Running the Risk? Risk Management Tool for Volunteer-Involving Organizations", www.VolunteeringAustralia.org

Community Initiatives
 

Senior Share Program

 

Senior hunger is on the rise and Tarrant Area Food Bank is filling the need. Our newest program, Senior Share, couples food provision with an educational component for senior citizens at risk of hunger in the Como area. Senior Share launched this April and provided healthy food and SNAP education to over 60 seniors.

 

Gap Analysis

 

Why do Gap Analysis? Gap analysis is a tool that helps organizations compare actual performance with potential performance. It helps you answer two basic questions: "Where are we?" and "Where do we want to be?" The US Census Bureau has collected comprehensive data, which you can use to evaluate your community and do some quick analysis of the potential needs. For more information, go to http://censtats.census.gov/usa/usa.shtml.

Agency Relations

 

 

Tarrant Area Food Bank will offer Civil Rights Training to our partner agencies this year, not only at the Food Bank, but out in your communities. It is a requirement that all Partner Agencies complete Civil Right Training each calendar year. You are welcome to bring staff and/or volunteers to the training of your choice. Trainings will last approximately one hour. All Partner Agencies will need to sign-in at the training for verification of attendance.

 

Preregistration is not necessary. We look forward to seeing you at Civil Rights training!

 

 

 

Save the Date: Tarrant Area Food Banks Annual Agency Conference will be a full day conference on September 13, 2012. Conference will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth. Please plan to join us as we learn and share information. Much more information about registration, classes, awards and prizes will be coming soon. Hope to see you there!

SNAP 

  

SNAP has a new Administrative Assistant. Bobbi Logan has been a volunteer at TAFB for two years and has recently joined the staff full time. She can be reached at 817-332-9177 ext 143.

 

Brenda Olivares is now a SNAP Specialist helping clients apply for state benefits in North side Fort Worth as well as Arlington. Brenda can be reached at 817-681-8290.

 

As a result of the changes in the department, some of the SNAP geographical areas have also changed. If you are not sure who the SNAP Specialist is for your zip code, please call Bobbi Logan or Vicky Martinez at 682-521-5457.

 

As of April 30, 2012 two additional services will be available to clients. SNAP Specialists will be available to help clients check the status of their SNAP cases as well as help clients make any necessary changes. For example, if clients need to change their addresses, phone numbers, incomes, or household demographics, a SNAP Specialist will be able to assist them.

Nutrition Services

  

USDA Food & Nutrition Service: Programs, Education and Research

 

USDA is much more than farms and commodity foods. Many of the programs operated by Tarrant Area Food Bank and our network of partner agencies happen in collaboration with USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

 

The FNS coordinates 14 nutrition programs for children and low-income families in the United States and each of these programs helps to meet a need in our community, from schools to WIC and SNAP to emergency food assistance. The USDA plays a crucial part in supporting us as we serve our communities. Click here to view FNS nutrition programs.

  

In addition to food assistance programs, the FNS helps provide educational resources through the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) and Team Nutrition. CNPP works to improve the health and well-being of Americans by developing and promoting dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers. Team Nutrition is an initiative that supports the Child Nutrition Programs. This is accomplished through training and technical assistance for foodservice, provision of nutrition education for children and their caregivers, and support for schools and the community in promoting healthy eating and physical activity. Program specific educational outreach is also available to the SNAP and WIC programs.

 

Other activities of the FNS include food safety and food defense, program analysis and assessment, compilation and provision of data on USDA nutrition assistance programs, disaster assistance, and grants. More details on each of these activities can be found on the USDA's FNS website.

 

So remember, the farm bill covers much, much more than farms.