Hunger Walk Raises $330,000, Thanks to You! We asked, and you responded! The 7th Annual WINK News Feeds Families Hunger Walk raised $330,000. Turn to pages 4-5 as we recognize you and our sponsors, and find more photos at harrychapinfoodbank.org/hc-media/photos!
“Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope” Vol. XV, No. 2
Newsletter — Spring 2015
Capital Campaign Well on Its Way to $5.1 Million Goal Get ready to “Peel Back Hunger”! That’s what the Harry Chapin Food Bank’s ambitious Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope Capital Campaign aims to do. It has already garnered $2.7 million in committed funds. Recent receptions at the warehouses in Fort Myers and Naples kicked off the next big push toward our $5.1 million goal. “In 2007, the Food Bank distributed almost 4 million pounds a year to 12,000 children, families and seniors a month,”
President and CEO Al Brislain told invited guests. “In 2014, 19.6 million pounds of food, valued at $33.7 million, served 30,000 recipients monthly. And we’re only halfway to meeting the need in Southwest Florida.” A successful campaign will save the Food Bank more than $15,000 every month and allow us to distribute more than $1 million worth of additional food (2.2 million meals) per year for Southwest Floridians in need — our friends, families and neighbors. Jo Anna Bradshaw and David Fry are the campaign’s co-chairs. “The funds raised to date have increased the
truck fleet to 17 and doubled the size of our freezer,” said Fry. These enable the Food Bank to distribute more nutritious produce and fresh foods — particularly critical to children (40 percent of those we serve) and seniors (10 percent). “Nothing has been as rewarding as helping meet the basic of all human needs: providing food to those who are not always able to do so for themselves,” said Bradshaw. Help us reach our goal! Please make a direct donation to the Capital Campaign at its web page on the Food Bank’s web site: harrychapinfoodbank.org/ capital-campaign/
‘The Food I Buy Only Lasts 3 Days...’
For every $1 donation, the Food Bank can source and distribute $6 worth of food!
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The nation’s largest single-day food collection effort needs your help! The 23rd annual Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive is set for Saturday, May 9. Show your support for children, families and seniors in need here in Southwest Florida by marking your calendars now. What’s collected here is distributed here!
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Help Letter Carriers ‘Stamp Out Hunger’ on May 9
Sa v Se Da e T e te he P s s
Capital Campaign co-chairs David Fry and Jo Anna Bradshaw (left photo), Food Bank board chair Noelle Melanson (far left in right photo) and guests help kick off the big push toward our $5.1 million goal. See more about the Capital Campaign on page 5.
At the mobile pantry at Golden Terrace Elementary School in Naples: A February forecast of scattered rain and wind chill didn’t stop Alberta Lopez and her four children from lining up for food assistance. Then, she held tightly to the many food items she received. “I used to only visit the pantries occasionally,” she said. But recently she was laid off from part-time work in construction, “and now I’ve found myself visiting more often.” Two of her boys (with younger sister in photo) each toted a bag of fresh produce. “The food I buy only lasts about three days, and then I find myself scrambling,” Alberta said with a worried look. “But the Food Bank has helped my family’s situation get better.” The mobile food pantries also provide the extra push to continue searching for a job. “I don’t have to worry about whether or not my children are eating, and I can leave them with their older sister while I go job hunting.”