The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona is partnering with Feeding America in support of the Farm Bill and we need your help:

Help us generate 20,000 comments in support of strengthening and protecting hunger-relief programs!

On April 26, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Farm Bill out of committee.  The House must do the same.  Right now, members of the House Agriculture Committee are working on developing their version of the Farm Bill and seeking public comments to inform their decisions.  In April, that same committee approved a proposal to cut SNAP by $36 billion as part of the budget reconciliation process.  The full House is expected to vote on this measure later this week.  While the budget reconciliation votes are non-binding, they show how serious the threats to hunger-relief programs like SNAP and TEFAP really are, particularly in the House.

As a result, we need to send a strong message about the importance of protecting and strengthening these programs by generating comments from anti-hunger advocates throughout the country.  If every food bank can mobilize 100 people to make a comment on the House Agriculture Committee’s website, we can generate more than 20,000 public comments and show real grassroots support for hunger-relief programs.  Urge your volunteers, donors, partners, board members, social media followers, and other community supporters to post a comment and help us show Congress that Americans want their elected officials to stand up against hunger in America!

For more information please see the Farm Bill’s Website.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Go to the House Agriculture Committee Website

2. Post a comment:  You can post your own comment or use our sample.  The more local and personal your comment is, the more impact it will have.

I am a supporter of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.  Right now, many families in our community are struggling.  With increased demand for emergency food assistance, high food and gas prices, and declines in TEFAP commodities—a major source of the food we distribute—our food bank is having difficulty meeting the needs of our community.  We need a strong Farm Bill to make sure that struggling families can put food on the table.  I ask that you pass a Farm Bill that protects and strengthens programs like SNAP, TEFAP, and CSFP.  Our community cannot afford cuts to these programs.

3. Spread the word:  Help us reach our goal of 20,000 comments by sharing this call to action.  If every food bank successfully mobilizes 100 people, we can generate 20,000 comments!

If you have questions, please contact Brett Weisel at bweisel@feedingamerica.org.

The Marana Community Food Bank has announced that it has received a $10,000 TRICIO Electric Cooperative Power Grant for 2012.

With this TRICO Power Grant the 2,947 food insecure families in the Marana Community Food Bank service area will continue to receive peanut butter as one of the staples in the monthly TEFAP emergency food distribution.  6,536 jars of peanut butter will be purchased for the TEFAP food boxes.

“We are thrilled to partner with TRICO Electric Cooperative to ensure that those in need in our community continue to receive peanut butter in our food boxes,” said Linda Hampton, Marana Food Bank Executive Director.  “35% of our clients are children who will directly benefit from this purchase of peanut butter for our food boxes.”

The Marana Community Food Bank is a branch of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and serves the areas of Marana, Avra Valley, Dove Mountain, Tucson Estates, Three Point, Picture Rocks, Old Tucson and Pascua Yaqui.

Trico Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a non-profit electric cooperative serving more than 38,000 customers in northwest Tucson, Marana, Corona de Tucson, Sahuarita, Green Valley, Three Points, Arivaca and Sasabe. Trico was formed in 1945 by farmers in Avra Valley seeking to bring electric power to their rural area.

For more information, contact Linda Hampton at (520) 682-3001.

The Community Food Bank purchases peanut butter, every five weeks, but due to the recent droughts and tornadoes in the South, the price of these jars has just increased 80% from $40,000 to $72,000.

We serve 24,000 jars of Peanut Butter every month in our Emergency Food Boxes. The cost has just risen from 99 cents to $1.53 per jar. Donate today!

Call (520) 882-3288 to host a food drive.

Donations of cash and food made between March 1 and April 30, 2012 to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona are eligible for the Feinstein Challenge.  During this nationwide challenge, the Rhode Island-based Feinstein Foundation will provide a partial match for every dollar raised or pound of food donated.

For the 15^th consecutive year, $1 million will be divided among hunger-fighting agencies nationwide, including the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

The Feinstein Foundation was founded by Alan Shawn Feinstein and is dedicated to the alleviation of hunger, the importance of community service in education and the values of caring, compassion and brotherhood.

“This is a great opportunity for local businesses, schools, churches and the entire community to come together and have their contributions of food or dollars matched by the Feinstein Challenge to benefit local families in need,” said Bill Carnegie, Food Bank President/CEO.

To make donations eligible for the Feinstein Challenge, they must be received by the Community Food Bank between March 1 and April 30, 2012.  Donations may be made online  or by calling (520) 622-0525.

For further information about the Feinstein Challenge, contact Jack Parris at (520) 882-3287.

Thanks to the generous support of individuals and a matching contribution from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona will receive more than $72,000 that will in turn provide 580,545 meals to assist families.

“At a time when many individuals and families are struggling to put food on the table, the opportunity for donors to contribute funds locally to food banks, and extend this support through Bank of America’s matching donation, helped motivate and increase donations to the fight against hunger,” said William Carnegie, President and CEO, Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

The Food Action and Research Center (FRAC) reported last year that Tucson ranked 15^th among the nation’s top 25 metropolitan areas for families struggling to put food on the table for their children.  The analysis of Gallup Data examined food hardship rates, or the inability to afford enough food.  As a state, Arizona was tied for the seventh-worst for food hardships for households with children, meaning that there was at least one time during a 12-month period when there wasn’t enough money for food.

The match offer from Bank of America proved to be the motivating factor during the holiday season for nearly $1 million in personal financial contributions from more than 8,000 donors nationwide, helping to provide more than 26 million meals across the United States through Feeding America’s “Give A Meal” campaign.

The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona will receive $72,568 from Feeding America in March.

The campaign proved to be an overwhelming success. The Gift for Opportunity fund supported over 80% of Feeding America affiliates, reaching almost every state in the country.  The program was a collective effort to fight the pressing issue of hunger in large and small communities and the Give A Meal effort provided an opportunity to engage individuals – on a local level – to help fight hunger in the United States.

As the campaign’s signature partner, Bank of America, through its Gift for Opportunity fund, contributed $2 for every $1 donated.  Combined with Bank of America’s initial $1 million donation to Feeding America at the outset of the campaign, the successful outcome is a final donation of $2.5 million to hunger relief in the U.S.  Bank of America’s support of the Give A Meal effort stems from its longstanding commitment to serve pressing needs in the communities it serves.

Bobby Rich from 94.9 Mix FM did his annual Thanksgiving on the Mayflower event, raising $113,163 from the community.  TEP (Sharon Foltz in photo) matched what the community donated that day.  It is the largest single day fundraising event in the Food Bank’s 36 year history.

Vivian Archuleta, Cox Community Relations Specialist, Jose De Alba, Cox Field Operations and Ken Guglielmo, Cox Facilities

Three members of the Cox Communications family stopped by the Community Food Bank on Thursday, December 8, 2011 to drop off a donations of 642 pounds of food and frozen turkeys. Pictured from left to right are Vivian Archuleta, Cox Community Relations Specialist, Jose De Alba, Cox Field Operations and Ken Guglielmo, Cox Facilities.  Our sincere  thanks to Cox Communications for their continued support.

KGUN-TV and Sam Levitz Furniture will team up on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 to “Stuff the Bus” for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

Donations will be accepted at the Sam Levitz Furniture location at Broadway and Pantano from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Non-perishable food donations such at cereal, canned meat, canned vegetables , canned fruit, pasta, rice, beans and peanut butter are the most needed items.  Monetary donations will also be accepted.

Drop off your donations for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona at the “Stuff the Bus” event at Sam Levitz Furniture, Broadway and Pantano on December 6^th from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM.