Many of the people calling the National Hunger Hotline this month have been particularly affected by the SNAP cuts and are looking for more information and help finding food. One of these calls came from a family with a young daughter. The father had lost his job due to the recession and the mother was working a part-time job to support the three of them. She had recently picked up a few extra hours at work, but as a result of her slight income increase, their SNAP benefits were cut. Then, due to the nationwide SNAP cuts on November 1st, their benefits were reduced for the second time in two months. "I honestly don't know how we're going to make it," she said.

The Hotline advocate was able to refer them to food pantries in their area, but it is unlikely that charity will be able to fully replace their lost benefits. Emergency food providers distribute about $5 billion worth of food to hungry people each year, but this year, $5 billion is also the amount being cut from SNAP, which "makes it as if every single emergency food provider in the United States didn't exist," according to Joel Berg, executive director of New York City Coalition Against Hunger.

Since I speak and consult with many groups around the country, I often find myself placed on their donor solicitation lists. Many of the subsequent fundraising letters I receive are from food banks which urge me to help them feed the hungry. The letters rarely vary in their message, stressing the unprecedented demand on their services, the increase in food "poundage" distributed this year, and a personalized story of hardship faced by a person like Julie or Jessica or Tameka...

While I am not immune to these tugs at the heart strings, nor do I want to see my donation frittered away, what these letters so sorely lack is any information about how the organization is attacking the root causes of hunger, namely poverty. Are they simply doing the same thing they've been doing year after year, only more of it, without making any appreciable difference in the underlying problem, or are they heading off in bold and promising new directions? After all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but getting the same unsatisfactory results.

So rather than wait for food banks to send me the letter I've been hoping for, I thought I'd write that letter myself - to me and from an executive director I hope will one day emerge.

To read Mark's ideal fundraising letter, click here.

We'd like to cater the webinar to your interests, so please email questions you'd like us to pose during the webinar and we'll do our best to get to as many as we can.

Community Food Centres Canada provides resources and a proven approach to partner organizations across Canada to create Community Food Centres that bring people together to grow, cook, share, and advocate for good food. CFCC works with the broader food movement to build greater capacity for impact and to empower communities to work toward a healthy and fair food system.

If you want to learn more about Community Food Centres Canada's work to build centres that bring people together to grow, cook, share and advocate for good food, sign up for CFCC's monthly e-newsletter, like CFCC on Facebook or follow CFCC on Twitter at @aplaceforfood.

For the health of our economy, health care system, and the future of the nation, it's critical that kids develop healthy eating habits. But as parents, caregivers and school food directors know all too well, that's easier said than done. Why? In part, it turns out, because getting kids to eat healthy isn't a fair fight. Food corporations pour nearly $2 billion into marketing junk food to kids every year! Can humble broccoli or non-artificially-colored carrots stand a chance against those ad dollars?

Join WhyHunger, Food MythBusters director Anna Lappé, and Michele Simon, public health lawyer and president of Eat Drink Politicsfor a live Google+ Hangout on food marketing to kids and learn how to fight back on Friday, November 22nd from 3:00-3:40 EST. For more information and to RSVP, visit the Connect Blog.

Feeding America recently released a new analysis estimating the impact that significant cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps) will have at the county and state level. The cuts were effective November 1 and affect all 47 million SNAP participants.

The Healthy Food Bank Hub supports efforts to increase access to healthy foods and promote nutrition and wellness. The Hub provides a platform to share pertinent information, strategies and tools while also showcasing innovative and promising practices that help connect efforts around hunger-relief, nutrition and health.

    

The Edible Schoolyard Project's online network maps the growing edible education movements around the world and allows individuals working in the field to exchange ideas and resources. Click here to access and download best practices (recipes, toolkits, lesson plans, administrative tips, fundraising ideas, community outreach plans, etc.) from the Edible Schoolyard and other engaged programs all over the country for free.