2011 WFC Summer Newsletter

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Washington Food Coalition C/O Thurston County Food Bank 220 NE Thurston Olympia, WA 98501 Tel: 360.352.8597 Washington Food Coalition www.ThurstonCountyFoodBank.org

Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID

Seattle, WA Permit No. 5587

c/o NWH P.O. Box 12272 Seattle, WA 98102 800.722.6924 www.northwestharvest.com

We believe that no one in Washington State should go hungry.

Working Together for a Hunger-Free Washington

These are rocky times. Money is short, resources are strained, and client numbers are increasing rapidly. These are problems the emergency food community has faced for years, but they have accelerated during the past couple years.

Is this address correct and current? If not, please let us know!

During this time, it has become increasingly clear why the Washington Food Coalition is so important. What organization in Washington State wholly and specifically represents the interests of emergency food sites and their clients?

Only the Washington Food Coalition.

Washington Connection is a brand new online way to connect your clients to other services, and it does the screening process for you! Washington Connection is a web-based universal application/benefit portal that makes it easier for low-income families and individuals to apply for and access a variety of vital services and benefits. Through Washington Connection, residents can easily and securely learn about and apply for food, cash, and medical assistance; child care subsidies; long-term care services and support; and drug and alcohol treatment. Want to learn more about Washington Connection? Check out the online tutorial at: https://www.washingtonconnection.org/Support/wa_connection_tutorial_en/player.html See Washington Connection and how it works at www.WashingtonConnection.org. There will be a Washington Connection booth set up at our annual conference so you will have an opportunity to learn more and ask questions. Would you like free marketing materials to provide to your clients about Washington Connection? Contact Lisa Pan of DSHS at 360-725-4505 or Lisa.pan@dshs.wa.gov. Contact us if you have any questions, suggestions, or capacity issues that limit you from accessing Washington Connection.

Washington Food Coalition Contact Information: www.wafoodcoalition.org PO Box 95752 Seattle, WA 98145 phone: 206.729.0501 fax: 206.729.0504 info@wafoodcoalition.org

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As part of a grant from the WSDA Food Assistance Programs, WFC is coordinating four Area Summits across Washington to bring the emergency food community together with local specialty crop farmers and their commissions to help these groups learn how their businesses intersect and potential options for growth. Emergency food providers are experiencing challenges of saturation of certain seasonal food and a deficit in other seasonal food which can limit nutritional variety throughout the year. Much of the food needed to balance the nutritional needs of emergency providers’ clients is categorized as specialty crops in the agricultural community but are not recognized as such in the emergency food community. The goal of emergency food providers is not only to feed Washington’s hungry, but to help them balance their nutritional needs so clients can deveop healthy eating habits. These Area Summits are designed to increase awarenes of specialty crops among emergency food providers and also bring the emergency food community together with local specialty crop farmers and their commissions to help these groups learn to do business with one another like never before. In the current economic climate, there are a growing number of people who rely on emergency food providers as the primary source of the meals they prepare for their families every day. For this reason, it is critical for all of us to be able to target limited resources throughout the year in order to feed Washington with food of high nutritional value. These Summits will open a wide range of topics for discussion, including both general education as well as best practices. Another major benefit will be network development that will benefit both the emergency food providers with critical connections to fresh produce as well as connections for specialty crop farmers to find new outlets for their products in the emergency food community. Our first Harvest Against Hunger Area Summit will be held on September 14th in Wenatchee, Washington at the Wenatchee Convention Center from 2pm-6pm.

Complimentary registration opens online on July 15th at www.WaFoodCoalition.org/events Schedule for the following 3 FREE Harvest Against Hunger Area Summits: October 14, 2011 -Tri-Cities Area (Columbia Basin College) January 2012 -Greater Seattle Area February 2012 -Olympia Area Contact us to get involved with the event in your area! RSVP online at www.WaFoodCoalition.org/Events.html

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July 1st marks the beginning of a new fiscal year for Washington Food Coalition & a new year of membership benefits! Send in your 2010-2011 member dues so you don’t miss out on any of the new benefits in this new year. This year, your membership dues go even further! When you pay your dues, they will now earn you full membership through December 2012. After that, membership dues will then be renewed every year in January, making it easier for you to remember that they’re due! As part of this transition, we will be adjusting our dues costs to fit this schedule. Fill out the Pledge of Support Form included with this newsletter & send it in! Or, check out our website under ‘Membership’ to see the updates to our member dues and renew them online.

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presented by Northwest Harvest

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Each year, the Washington Food Coalition hosts a conference, offering workshops on a variety of topics relevant to emergency food providers including nutrition, fundraising, operations, and food safety.

This conference is the only event that brings together everyone fighting hunger in all of Washington State to share ideas, learn together, and find practical solutions to common problems. This creates an opportunity to fight hunger in Washington State like never before! You don’t want to miss this event. Attendees will have the opportunity to develop new collaborations, share information about tools and resources, hear about new and innovative programs and services, and network with others who share in their commitment to alleviate hunger. The conference will feature a mix of keynote, breakout and networking sessions. We are also offering a variety of exciting tours at local wineries, organic farms, and food banks as well as a bonus workshop on Wednesday. This mixture provides an experience that is both informative and fun! Breakout sessions include: Social Networking, Marketing and Branding Your Organization, Telling Client Stories,Meal Program Support, Food Safety & Nutrition, Cultural Diversity, Best Practices, Community Gardens, Software Training, and more. Online registration opens on July 15th! You can register easily online at www.WaFoodCoalition.org/Events.html or fill out the enclosed paper registration form and send it in.

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Featured Recipe for Success: Couponing for Emergency Food From: Good Cheer Food Bank

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Creative shopping is helping the Good Cheer P.O. Box 95752 Food Bank rise above in these challenging times! Ula Lewis, who is a coupon shopper, approached Seattle, WA 98145-2752 Damien Cortez, the Good Cheer Food Bank Coordinator. Ula was getting some of her food for free 206.729.0501 / phone and asked Damien if the food bank could use it! 206.729-0504 / fax Damien saw the value of what she was doing and started giving Ula some funds; Good Cheer could www.wafoodcoalition.org use the savings & free food is always handy! info@wafoodcoalition.org “We were dealing with a tough recession and some of our food resources were going elsewhere; our logistics needed rearranging� says Damien. Board Members The creative buying program of using coupons continued to grow. Ula and friends would go to Robert Coit, Thurston County Food Bank grocery stores with their coupons, purchase merchandise, stand in line to checkout and WFC Chair then do it again and again. The reason for doing the shopping over and over was because David Ottey, Emergency Food Network there were coupon limits. WFC Immediate Past Chair Ula began to develop relationships with the store managers and this provided the food Kris Van Gasken, Des Moines Area Food Bank bank with a real bonus-coupons with no limits. She would make sure that she would not WFC Vice Chair deplete any one store of their supply of product through her use of the coupons and this Yvonne Pitrof, Vashon Maury Food Bank helped in her relationship building. Now they have a checker that works specifically with WFC Treasurer her or an associate to streamline the process! Nancy Wilson, Inter-Faith Treasure House Ula found that she could work with the store managers and they could bring in extra Secretary coupon or rebate merchandise for the food bank. Coupon programs are a “win-win� situ- Susan Urhausen,WFC Kettle Falls Community Chest ation since the individual stores receive money back from the manufacturer on coupons Dan Speare, Resources Community Action that are used. Coupons are a way of enticing people to come to their stores and in times Bob Soule, Chelan-Douglas Comm Action Center like these a way for the store to help the community. Peny Archer, Comm Services of Moses Lake Coupons are wonderful tools that many of us don’t take advantage of. The use of food Linda Finlay, Comm Services of Moses Lake stamps and coupons can dramatically increase the amount of food that you can buy. Connie Nelson, Spokane Valley Partners There is a need to teach people how to shop differently; if you don’t need a coupon item JoAnn Ruston, Hope Source now just put it in the pantry. Lisa Hall, Northwest Harvest Coupons can have a major impact on local food banks; at Good Cheer 25-35% of our food John Neill, Tri-Cities Food Bank comes from the use of coupons and rebates. What it Takes: GCFB started with $200 a month, then moved to $500 a month and are now at about $2000 a month. The $2000 is provides a return of $25,000 in food value. The secret is the commitment of an experience of a volunteer coupon shopper and their volunteer team. This volunteer serves 30 hours a week, so it is time intense but the payoff is what keeps them and their volunteers inspired. The more they can save, the happier they are, it is almost like a quest. BONUS:Ula is willing to visit any WFC member and train them on how to use coupons to make their funds go further!

Featured Recipe for Success: Milk Money From: Bellingham Food Bank

Got Milk? Not long ago, Bellingham Food Bank always ran out of milk early into each distribution. We had been relying solely on donated milk from grocery stores. The amount of milk we received varied greatly, but it was never enough. Finally, one of the volunteers who staffs the “dairy station� said she could not stand to tell all but the first few families that visited each day that we did not have enough milk. “Either get more milk or find another spot for me to volunteer. It’s no fun telling families that we don’t have enough milk for them.� The volunteer inspired Bellingham Food Bank to create and launch its Milk Money program. Milk Money is a simple to implement and replicable. It was too much for us to find any donor who could buy enough milk for the food bank to meet the demand. But, when we looked at how much it might cost to ensure each family could get 1/2 gallon of milk each time they visited, the monthly cost didn’t seem as intimidating. Essentially, Milk Money is a sponsorship program. We determined that if we had $750 each month, we could buy the milk we needed. The food bank began to solicit a dozen sponsors that we believed had the capacity to raise $750 in a month. We knew that if we could get 12 sponsors, one for each month, we could close the milk gap. Churches, local businesses, civic clubs and others were told of the program. We told each sponsor that we not only wanted them to sponsor a month, but to sponsor that month each year. They would “own� the month and would know the impact they were making. If successful, their contribution would purchase all the milk the food bank would need to give each family 1/2 gallon per visit. Milk Money has been very successful. We now have more than one dozen sponsors and are buying more milk than ever before.

Chris Gerke, Cascade Blue Mountain Food Share Kathy Covey, Blue Mountain Action Council Wendy Gonzalez, Helpline Walla Walla Bill Humphreys, Volunteers of America WW Mike Cohen, Bellingham Food Bank Joe Gruber, University District Food Bank Helen McGovern, Emergency Food Network Kevin Glackin-Coley, St. Leo’s Food Connection Robin Rudy, Tenino Community Service Center Kellie McNelly, ROOF Community Services James Fitzgerald, Sal. Army-Stop Hunger Vicki Pettit, Coastal Community Action Program Anthony Airhart, Coastal Harvest Hoyt Burrows, Central Kitsap Food Bank Marilyn Gremse, Bainbridge Island Help House Bonnie Baker, Northwest Harvest Scott Hallett, Council on Aging & Human Services Christine Kiehl, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Shayne Kraemer, Meals Partnership

Mission Statement: The Washington State Food Coalition actively educates and networks with organizations that strive to alleviate hunger throughout Washington State.

__________________________________________ This newsletter prepared with funds made available by the WA Dept. of Agriculture, Food Assistance Programs. No person shall on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, national origin, age, citizenship, political affiliations, belief, veteran status or sexual orientation, be denied employment or benefits or be discriminated against as a participant, administrator or staff member under this program.

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