The Press Democrat: Article emailed from a friend

You have received the following Press Democrat article
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060502/NEWS/605020330/1033/NEWS01


FEEDING THE HUNGRY Summer stock

Redwood Empire Food Bank reminds people that low-income families still need food during the warmer months
By MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
What if you could spend $10 and buy $50 worth of food for someone hungry? OAS_AD('Middle'); The Redwood Empire Food Bank says you can. And they hope you will this summer.

In its continuing mission to remind the public that hunger is a year-round challenge - extending beyond the traditional holiday food drive season - the food bank is gearing up for a four-month campaign aimed at ensuring everyone has enough to eat.

"Having hungry people in a community is an urgent matter," Executive Director David Goodman said. "And what I'm hoping is there's a corresponding outrage to the urgency, having people say, 'This cannot happen here.' "

Beginning today and running through the end of August, food barrels will begin appearing in various stores and businesses around the county, including Safeway, Longs Drugs, Albertsons and G&G stores.

The food bank also encourages businesses, individuals and organizations to host cash drives that will enlarge the agency's ability to distribute $5 in groceries for each $1 raised and help ensure its shelves are stocked for all people in need.

"We are appealing to the same kind of good will that makes our annual holiday drive a success," Goodman said. "Hunger and food insecurity are a year-round reality, and we hope Sonoma County residents realize that many thousands of their neighbors need our help every month of the year."

In a county where more than 21,210 school-age children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, the need is profound, he said.

The food bank distributed 8.5 million pounds of food to people in need last year. That's 17,000 meals daily.

During its first annual Summer Hunger Drive that same year, the agency collected almost 16,000 pounds of food, Community Relations Manager Lee Bickley said. It also took in almost $4,000, she said.

Connections with growers and partnerships with other food banks allow the food bank to stretch the dollar, Bickley said.

Grape juice and cereal products that stores don't want because they are within 60 or 90 days of their "best if used by" dates are sometimes available for the cost of shipping only, Operations Manager Don Lindsay said.

"The grocery stores don't want to be under pressure to move stuff right out," he said.

There may be donated pallets of milk that has reached its sell-buy date but which, if refrigerated, is still good for a week, Lindsay said. Once made available at the food bank, "it's gone the same day," he said.

The agency ships in about 18,000 pounds of oranges each week which, while not always as pretty as oranges in the store, are sweet, juicy and nutritious - and inexpensive, Lindsay said.

Shipments also include potatoes, onions, zucchini, peppers, and stone fruits like peaches and plums, sometimes for 3 cents a pound, plus transportation.

"We probably have been a little more aggressive on produce than food banks in general. It's probably 37 percent of what we do," often at pennies on the dollar, Lindsay said.

Splitting truckloads with other food banks means cutting transportation costs, and wholesale canned products can sometimes be bought at half the price groceries pay, he said.

Having volunteers to sort and package food further reduces costs.

Donations can be made online via www.rfb.org, or by check to Redwood Empire Food Bank, 3320 Industrial Drive, Santa Rosa, Calif. 95403, Attention: Holly Silva.

To donate via Visa or Mas-terCard, call Silva at 523-7900, ext. 27.