Call for support

I'm passing on this important message from America's Second Harvest Rick Bella:

America's Second Harvest Issues National Call for Support

America's Second Harvest is urgently calling for national support to raise funds to help millions of Americans facing hunger during the holiday season.

America's Second Harvest and the people served by food banks from coast to coast are facing a potential crisis. We are projecting an immediate food shortage of 15 million pounds -- the equivalent of more than 400 truckloads or 11.7 million meals -- by the end of the year.

Need is High Nationwide

The demand for food assistance is strong across the United States. The ailing economy and rising food and fuel prices are taking a toll on struggling families' budgets. Moms and dads face impossible decisions like whether to pay to heat their homes and keep their children warm or buy groceries to feed them. When they find themselves in desperate need, they turn to our network and the agencies we serve for help. Right now many of our member food banks and food-rescue organizations are seeing an increase in demand, as high as 20% in areas including Denver, Orlando and Phoenix.

The Farm Bill

Meanwhile, food banks nationwide are experiencing dramatic declines in food aid from surplus commodity purchases by the federal government. This has occurred because a healthy farm economy has required less intervention in order to support prices.

The Farm Bill, which is currently stalled in the Senate, authorizes funding for nutrition and food assistance programs for low-income families. Enacting a new Farm Bill would strengthen a long-term successful partnership between food banks and USDA, and provide much-needed food for those most in need throughout our nation.

America's Second Harvest food banks and the people we serve need a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill enacted as soon as possible to begin replenishing dwindling inventories. Additionally, we need help from corporate and individual donors to help us replenish empty food banks shelves.

How You can Help Make a Donation: The best way to help hungry Americans is to make a financial donation to America's Second Harvest. Your donation will help us secure and distribute food for this campaign that will benefit our food banks and their agencies in need. Help give struggling families a reason to be hopeful this holiday season. Call 800-344-8070 or visit www.secondharvest.org to give a gift today. Urge Your Senator to Pass the Farm Bill: You can also help by visiting the Hunger Action Center at www.hungeractioncenter.org to contact your senators and urge them to push for the quick passage of the Farm Bill; please urge them to also support increased resources for federal nutrition programs, including $250 million with indexing for TEFAP food purchases for distribution to food banks.

While Americans across the country celebrate the holiday season, more than 35 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, live in food insecure households. Support is urgently needed to stock our food banks and get food and groceries to those in desperate need.

Now is the time to give your most generous gift. The need is more critical than ever.

http://www.secondharvest.org/how_to_help/call_to_action.html

Rick Bella
America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Foodbank Network
35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60601

Office: 312-641-6507
Cell: 219-712-3685
Fax: 312-263-1730

www.secondharvest.org