News Flash!
…was a year of growth and growing pains. Changes at the San Diego Food Bank resulted in uncertainty early in the transition period when Neighborhood House no longer was part of the organization. However, a dedication to and acknowledgment of the community’s needs for nutritional help resulted in the bank’s growing health, donations and productivity. What appeared to be a loss to San Diego’s needy community turned out to be a bonus. America’s Second Harvest formed their separate food bank to continue to provide food for the hungry. The two food banks resulted in a larger amount and increased variety of food with an emphasis on nutrition. Both food banks are providing large amounts of fresh produce and Second Harvest is also increasing their distributions of other goods such as paper products, cleaning materials and other needed items. Thanks to America’s Second Harvest Food Bank, the Coalition pantry is no longer bare. We receive food to stock our pantry shelves weekly in addition to their scheduled distributions. The additional food is also added to the bread line distribution.
The bread line is food gathered by the Church of the Nazarene from local merchants such as Albertson’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken and other local generous businesses. Canned foods and fresh produce donated by the San Diego Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank to the Coalition are also distributed with the bread and baked goods on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In 2007, 7,582 families received food in this program.
The San Diego Food Bank continues to deliver a monthly food allotment which is given to families in the 92105 zip code on the first Friday of every month.. Food not distributed is given to our pantry. In 2007, the monthly San Diego Food Bank commodity distribution was given to 9,562 heads of households serving 23,557 individuals. Our pantry, open to everyone who comes to our doors without restriction, gave food to 2,371 persons. We are pleased that the outlook for 2008 is for more and better food choices.
A growing and solid partnership with the Church of the Nazarene in Mid-City has been a mutually beneficial relationship. The Church was able to purchase a refrigerated truck and has regularly picked up food from Second Harvest and San Diego Food Banks. Our food resources would not be as plentiful if it weren’t for their cooperation. We are also hopeful that a new program from Albertson’s stores will ensure a weekly donation of perishable items such as eggs, dairy products and refrigerated items.
Donations keep us operating. Mission Village Christian Fellowship has been a long-time friend to the Coalition. They have made cash donations and given emotional support in our efforts to assist people who need a helping hand. This past year, they have outdone their financial generosity and doubled their annual donations to $2,400! Support like this is greatly appreciated especially because operating expenses have increased.
Energy for Others gave a $3,000 donation to show their support for what we do for the community. That gift was enhanced by another $1,000 donation from Sempra Energy!
Two new members have been elected to the Board of Directors in 2008. James Feathers, a San Diego City employee, has worked hard for the Coalition for the last three years and hopes to further fundraising efforts along with Lita Oetken. Lita, who has been a financial corporate executive for 26 years, hopes to work with us in her desire to give back to the community.
Our web site has been updated and we hope to have frequent postings of current information. We are looking for volunteers experienced in grant writing to apply for funds to help us operate and expand our services. Please contact us if you are interested.
December is a busy month for the Coalition. Long-time friend and benefactor Steve Hanson gives his annual Christmas party with a request to his guests to give a donation to the Coalition. This year, a portion of the proceeds was given to Julie Darling. Julie owns Just Call Us Catering. In 2007, she served Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to the homeless in San Diego’s winter shelter and the Metro Hotel which were run by Alpha Project. Residents at the hotel are homeless in hospice care and the mentally disabled. For her 50th birthday, Julie asked friends to give new sleeping bags and blankets instead of gifts which were given to the homeless at the Petco parking lot on Easter Sunday.
On December 15, just days after Hanson’s Christmas party, we hosted our annual Christmas party, “Holiday Magic for Kids “. Casas International Brokerage again provided one of their trucks to pick up toys from Toys for Tots. Their 24-foot truck was full and was most of the gifts we collected. The toys were delivered to the Quality Inn & Suites San Diego East, located at 1250 El Cajon Boulevard in El Cajon. Two beautiful, large suites were donated by Quality Inn for us to use for wrapping a full week before the party. Wrapping parties were ongoing day and night until Friday morning, December 14. The toys were picked up by the Casas truck and delivered to Golden Hall at the San Diego Community Concourse. Wrapping continued Friday night and Saturday until the party began. Hundreds of volunteers stepped up to the plate and got the job done for the kids. .
The children received several wrapped gifts and enjoyed a day of entertainment. Radio and Channel 6 television personality Joe Bauer was emcee. Reverend Carl Baker, Mission Village Christian Fellowship, gave the invocation. Todd Gloria, Congresswoman Susan Davis’ representative, presented a Proclamation to the Coalition in appreciation for our work in the community. Todd is a candidate for the District 5 City Council seat currently held by Toni Atkins. The Valhalla High School Chorus opened the program with “Here Comes Santa Claus” as Santa and Mrs. Claus entered the room. They continued with a wonderful selection of Christmas holiday music. Children from Dance Magic danced and strutted their stuff with adorable and creative choreography. San Diego Youth in Action mimes performed dramatic choreography to religious music,.and swing dancers swung. Mary Poppins was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” and Samoan dancers added to the festivities. The Swamp Critters band added a Cajun flavor and everyone enjoyed the diversity of talents. Mission Village Band entertained in the lobby throughout the day
Clowns face-painted and did magic tricks, California Highway Patrol mascot Chipper gave out CHP badge stickers, SeaWorld sent their penguin, Clifford the Big Red Dog and the Pad Squad mingled with the crowd along with other costumed characters and personalities. Ronald McDonald couldn’t attend the party but sent hundreds of kid’s meal certificates that were given to the children. Miss San Diego 2008 and Miss San Diego Outstanding Teen 2008 also made a special appearance at the party. The families received a few food items to take home when they exited and it is our hope to do better at the next party. All in all, it was a day of fun and Christmas spirit at Golden Hall. “Holiday Magic for Kids 2008″ will take place at Golden Hall on December 20.
That was the way it was in 2007. We have new hopes and energy and the outlook looks positive for more involvement from the community to help us shore up our financial reserves. We look forward to increased generosity from the community and are pleased to announce donations can be mailed to us or made through PayPal. Please click on the link; we need and deeply appreciate your donations!
“People helping People”
More seeking donations; shopping habits changing
By Penni Crabtree
STAFF WRITER, Union-Tribune
April 25, 2008
Tonya Posk is haunted by history these days.
Standing in a long line for free groceries at City Heights’ Church of the Nazarene yesterday morning, Posk reflected on her grandparents’ stories of bread lines during the Depression.
“I never thought after working 40 years and paying into Social Security that I’d be in a bread line,” said Posk, 62, who started coming to the church for free groceries in March as a way to stretch her $1,376.72 fixed monthly income, which also supports an unemployed son. “It used to be that $150 worth of food would last nearly the whole month – now it lasts just two weeks.”
For Posk and countless other Americans, rising food prices are transforming shopping habits and forcing changes in lifestyle that many would not have contemplated a year ago.
A Gallup/USA Today Poll last week found that food inflation is a significant worry for Americans, with nearly half saying rising food prices have caused hardship for their households.
Consumer food inflation has been running at a 5.3 percent annual rate in the past three months, and that’s on top of a 5 percent increase in all of 2007, the Labor Department said this month.
Big grocery bill
Here’s the average price increase for some common food items over the past 12 months in cities across the United States:
Rice: 9.8 percent
Beef roast: 3.1 percent
Eggs: 29.9 percent
Milk: 13.3 percent
White bread:16.3 percent
Whole chicken: 5.5 percent
Bananas: 14.9 percent
Potatoes: 3.4 percent
Tomatoes: 18.2 percent
Cooking oil:11.7 percent
Peanut butter: 10.9 percent.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Nationally, the average price for rice is almost 10 percent higher than a year ago, while a loaf of white bread is up 16.3 percent. Eggs are up almost 30 percent, milk 13.3 percent and tomatoes more than 18 percent.
Experts attribute food inflation, the highest in two decades, to a perfect storm of ugly circumstances: A sluggish economy. Record crude oil and gas prices. A robust demand for biofuels and a subsequent decline in corn inventories. Drought-reduced harvests. Commodities speculators. And the rising demand for food supplies in developing countries such as China and India.
In San Diego County, food price worries are exacerbated by some of the highest prices for gas and diesel in the nation, and a meltdown in the housing market that has ratcheted up rental rates and tipped some mortgage-burdened homeowners into foreclosure.
From the bottom up, everyone is feeling the pain. San Diego food banks and their clients – the hundreds of churches, pantries and other relief programs that work directly with poor families across the county – report a sharp rise since January in those seeking food assistance.
Sandy Maynes, executive director of the San Diego Coalition for the Homeless, which co-sponsors the three-times-weekly Church of the Nazarene grocery distribution, called the recent demand “amazing.”
For all of 2007, the church distributed free groceries to 7,582 people; so far this year, 5,771 people have received food. Last April, 1,219 people sought groceries; in just the first two weeks of this month, 1,398 people received food.
Maynes said the chronic homeless constitute only a tiny percentage of those in line.
“A lot of these people have two or three jobs, or recently lost a job, and we are hearing from more and more people who have been foreclosed on and, while they have savings, they are not far from being on the street,” Maynes said. “And it is simply because everything, from gas to food, costs so much.”
The San Diego Food Bank, which distributes millions of pounds of food it collects from donors and corporations each year, said its food relief program to help seniors who qualify under federal low-income guidelines is up 5.2 percent since January.
And the amount of food distributed through the larger, emergency food assistance program, which supplies groceries to soup kitchens and food pantries that in turn dole them out to people regardless of income, is up 50.4 percent since January.
“If only one of our programs went up, I'd say its seasonal variation, or maybe one segment of the population is being affected,” said Jim Jackson, executive director of the San Diego Food Bank. “But when all the program trends are going in the same direction, you begin to wonder what is going on.”
Some area grocery stores report stark changes in shopping patterns and rising frustration. Janet Little, a spokeswoman for Henry's Farmers Market, which has 28 stores in Southern California, said people are buying sale items and passing up “indulgence” products like cake and wine.
Shoppers are also purchasing cheaper meats, more vegetables and buying bulk grains and beans instead of prepackaged, flavored rice or bean mixes.
“Now they are buying beans out of the bulk bin at 39 cents a pound, but so many people don't know how to cook them, so we are trying to give people recipes,” Little said.
Little predicts that shopper frustration will mount as grocery store contracts with food suppliers come up for renewal and more cost is handed down the supply chain to the consumer.
“This is sort of the tip; the whole chain of supply hasn't really gotten down to the consumer yet,” Little said. “Once these year or two-year contracts run out and have to be renewed, we'll start seeing the prices increase even more.
“People are mad now,” Little said. “Who knows where it is going to go in the fall.”
In traditional grocery stores and discount food shops, consumers from all walks of life expressed anger this week with the rising price of food.
At the Albertsons in Mission Hills, shopper Greg Allen, 43, fumed at a $150 grocery bill that he estimates would have cost him closer to $100 last year.
“I used to just pick up the brand I wanted. Now I look for the 2-for-1 stuff and whatever is the cheapest bread,” said Allen, who supports four children on his $70,000-a-year income. “And last month I started shopping for gas online at cheapgas.com, and I'll drive 10 miles to get cheaper gas.
“I went online the other day to see when my economic stimulus money is coming,” Allen said. “I thought it would go to my Etrade account, but forget it. It's going to groceries and gas.”
Normal Heights resident Emilia Alvardo said she knows that all parents look forward to the time when their toddlers get potty trained, but she feels guilty about wanting to hasten the event.
With a weekly income of $300 – and gas to commute to her job as a teacher's aide gobbling up one-third of that – a $10 package of disposable diapers for 2½-year-old Itzel gives potty training unexpected poignancy.
“Things have become very hard – the milk, it's almost $5 a gallon, and I have four children,” said Alvardo, 40, who shopped this week with Itzel at Wal-Mart and the Dollar Tree store off Aero Drive to try to stretch the family budget. “I used to buy Huggies, but they cost $20. Now I buy the off-brand diapers for $10. I'm really trying to potty train her now, but she needs these.
“I used to buy nice little things for the kids,” Alvardo added with a sigh. “But we have cut out all that isn't really necessary.”
Staff writer Jeff McDonald contributed to this report.
Penni Crabtree: (619) 293-1237; penni.crabtree@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080425/news_1n25food.html
View My Stats
