NEWS

The National Hunger Hotline (NHH), a service of WhyHunger's National Hunger Clearinghouse, provides real-time referrals for people in need across the U.S. to emergency food and assistance programs. Receiving an average of 700 calls per month, the NHH is a portal to information, assistance, and resources, ultimately empowering families and individuals to meet their vital needs including fresh, healthy food. In Stories from the Hotline, we share some of the experiences of callers and our efforts to support them.

Living on the outskirts of the post-industrial city of Cleveland, Ohio, Ms. Mary, called the National Hunger Hotline seeking resources to help hungry children who sat in the classroom alongside her own two children. She explained that her children came home from school and stated that there were children in their class who did not have food and lived in motels. Ms. Mary informed the Hotline advocate that in her children's school there are at least 12 kids who she suspects are homeless and without consistent meals.

Ms. Mary decided to ask the school if there was any type of support for the children, stating that "if we know about these 12 kids, how many more are there?" The Hotline advocate passed on information about the BackPack Program which provides weekend food for children who may be at risk of going hungry along with information on the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) that provides after school snacks and meals to children. The advocate also shared information about the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), which provides breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or snacks to children in the local community. Ms. Mary was thankful for the information and affirmed that she would work with the school administration to improve the programs available at the school.

The National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3 HUNGRY and 1-877-8 HAMBRE (1-866-348-6479 and 1-877-842-6273) refers people in need of emergency food assistance to food pantries, government programs, and model grassroots organizations that work to improve access to healthy, nutritious food, and build self-reliance. Help is available on Monday through Friday from 9am-6pm EST. Hablamos español. The Hotline is funded in part by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.    

Register Your SFSP Site

Registering your Summer Food Service Program sites with WhyHunger's National Hunger Hotline (1-866-3-HUNGRY and 1-877-8-HAMBRE) ensures that families who call the Hotline find your site. Please register here. 

If you are a sponsor organization with multiple feeding sites, please fill out the Microsoft Excel file located on the USDA FNS Summer Food Service Program website and then email the file to nhc@whyhunger.org. Complete as much as of the form as you can so that callers to the Hotline can get complete information about your site.

Promotional Materials

Most kids cannot wait for school to let out in June. However, for some parents, when school is out for summer, they have to worry about where their kids will get breakfast or lunch. USDA's Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) fills this summer meal gap for many low-income families. Local organizations all over the country participate in the SFSP and serve meals at schools, recreation centers, playgrounds, parks, churches, day camps, summer camps, housing projects, and Indian reservations. 

Now you can advertise the summer food sites in your community by using these free Radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs) recorded by WhyHunger's Executive Director Bill Ayres. It's never too soon or too late to start advertising summer meals. There are four PSAs to choose from and each of them is under 30 seconds. Two of the PSAs focus on recruiting summer meal sponsors and volunteers and the other two PSAs focus on letting families know where they can go to receive summer meals. Please download and then give one or all of the Summer Food PSAs to your local radio station to play for free.  

• PSAs to recruit sponsors and volunteers to serve summer meals - #1  / #2  
• PSAs to tell families where they can get free summer meals - #3 / #4     

Click here to download the PSA transcripts (Some radio stations will have their DJs read the PSA.)

Now you may be asking: "How can I get my local radio station to play a PSA?" Here are some instructions that you can follow:

1. Look up radio stations in your area by going to radio-locator.

2. Pick some stations that you always listen to and contact their public affairs director or station.

3. Some stations post details about PSA submissions on their websites. However, if they don't, you can ask the station's public affairs staff the following questions: 

• A. How should I submit a PSA - via e-mail or regular mail?
• B. What format should it be in?
• C. Do you require the transcript?
• D. Will one of your DJs read the PSA or will you just play the recording?
• E. When will the PSA be aired and for how long?

4. Follow the radio station's instructions. If all goes well, sit back, relax, and listen for the Summer Food PSA to be played.  

MODEL PROGRAMS 

Urban Roots  

Exciting anti-hunger work is taking root in Austin, Texas. While visiting Austin for the SXSW music festival (to catch our Artists Against Hunger & Poverty member Bruce Springsteen's powerful keynote), WhyHunger staff spent some time with its partners at Urban Roots on site at their farm. Urban Roots is a USDA Community Food Project grantee. They're working with Austin's youth to teach cooking skills, nutrition, farming, creative writing, and perform work in service of others. Urban Roots is very intentional about their focus on seeing youth as tomorrow's leaders. The youth are paid interns who are planting, growing, and harvesting healthy food all while learning about food systems and food justice. 40% of the produce grown by the youth at Urban Roots is donated to soup kitchens and food pantries in Austin helping residents meet their daily food needs. With 24% of kids in Texas without access to nutritious food, this is a vital community-building service that addresses the full spectrum of anti-hunger work from the farm to the pantry. The youth from Urban Roots not only provide the fresh produce to local hunger relief organizations they also spend time working at them as part of their service learning curriculum. A truly inspiring program!

Learn more at: Urban Roots.

RESOURCES 

CFSC Webinar  

Nonprofit Advocacy for Food & Farm Policy: Understanding Lobbying Guidelines and Restrictions

In an ongoing effort to support and encourage grassroots advocacy, the Community Food Security Coalition is pleased to partner with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Alliance for Justice, the leading national expert on the legal framework for nonprofit advocacy efforts, to offer this webinar.

• Types of advocacy (lobbying vs. grassroots vs. electoral)
• What is- and isn't- considered advocacy for reporting purposes
• How to track and measure your advocacy for federal reporting
• The 501(h) election and when and how to use it
• A beginners' case study - how can we get started in advocacy? 

Please note that registration is limited to organizations that are current members of either the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition or the Community Food Security Coalition. A recorded version will also be available to members.

Center for Benefits Webinars

Did you know that every year low income older adults leave 20 billion dollars in unclaimed benefits on the table? The National Council on Aging's Benefits 101 webinar training series includes presentations on Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), Part D Low Income Subsidy, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). More topics are coming soon.

Your 2011 Federal Tax Receipt

It's tax time! In a move towards greater governmental accountability and transparency, last year the Obama Administration released an online tool that calculates how taxpayer money is spent. The tool has been updated to reflect current spending on national defense, health care, and other categories.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

USDA Updates 

Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP)

The Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) offers grants to help improve and expand domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agri-tourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Approximately $10 million in FMPP grants are available in fiscal year 2012. Applications are due May 21, 2012.

 SNAP Participation Grants

States and non-profit organizations can apply for competitive SNAP participation grants from the USDA.  The priorities for the $5 million funding pool include proposals that address workflow analysis and project management and those that make technology improvements. Applications are due June 21, 2012.

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