02/14/2012 by Ivy Farguheson | Comments (0)
By: Ivy Farguheson for the Star Press
MUNCIE -- After distributing 70 million pounds of food, providing more than 52 million meals to hungry families in East Central Indiana and serving for 23 years as the executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, Lois Rockhill is retiring.
"I'm going to be 69 years old this year. I'm old!" Rockhill joked when asked why she's leaving the position. "I've always heard you'd just know when it's time. And it's time. Maybe someone will come in with fresh eyes and take it to the next level. But it is time."
Rockhill's last day at the agency will be March 30.
After graduating from what was then Anderson College in 1965, the Youngstown, Ohio, native joined the Peace Corps with her husband Erv, serving in Turkey and pursuing her passion for helping people in need.
Upon returning to the United States, she worked for various social service agencies in Indiana and Kentucky, eventually landing back in Anderson.
She joined what was then East Central Indiana Regional Food Bank in February 1989, four years after the organization first distributed food in the area.
By the end of 1989, ECI's food bank provided 450,000 pounds of food that year to local families. Last year, that number had reached 9.5 million.
"She's been through moving the agency twice to different locations, seen it grow. She's done so much for the issue of hunger in our community," said Chris Caldwell, president of the Second Harvest board of directors. "I was surprised when she told me she wanted to retire. Mostly surprised. But I don't expect her to sit back on the sidelines for long."
The board is conducting a national search for Rockhill's replacement, working with the agency's national affiliation group, Feeding America, to find "the best person for the job," according to Caldwell.
But that is not to say her replacement will come from outside the area. Caldwell encourages interested local residents to apply as well.
He hopes a new executive director will be in place by May.
Becki Clock, executive director of Christian Ministries, an agency that receives assistance from Second Harvest, shared the feeling of many pantry volunteers and staff members upon hearing of Rockhill's upcoming retirement: Gratitude.
"She's left a quite a legacy. Her heart has always been for the hungry in our community and around the world, really," Clock said. "She's figured out a way to make things run efficiently, brought hunger issues to forefront in our community. ... We'll all miss her being at Second Harvest."
Although she will spend much of her time playing with her grandchildren and traveling the country with her husband Erv, Rockhill plans to assist Second Harvest's leadership team -- including her replacement -- with anything they need to operate the agency.
Her body might not be in the office with the executive director tag come April, but her heart will remain with the people who struggle to keep food on their tables.
"I'll always be an advocate. That's for certain," she said. "There's still work to be done on ending hunger in our community. And I'll do what I can to bring attention to this issue."
02/14/2012 by Melanie D. Hayes | Comments (0)
By Melanie D. Hayes
The Herald Bulletin
MUNCIE, Ind. — Lois Rockhill will soon retire as executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, but she’s not the only one full of memories of her 23 years there.
Many other people have their own.
The first time Nancy Vaughan met Rockhill was when she volunteered to sort food at the former Anderson warehouse shortly after Rockhill started her job in 1989.
“I will never forget that food sort because a tractor-trailer had wrecked somewhere on I-69,” said Vaughan, who is now the president of United Way of Madison County. “It was full of canned chickpeas. Our task was to sort through the salvageable cans of chickpeas.
“I didn’t know what you do with chickpeas other than use them in a salad bar,” Vaughan said.
Rockhill, though, was thrilled because the cans were an unexpected boost to the pantry — and chickpeas are full of protein, Vaughan said, chuckling.
After all those years collecting and distributing healthy food for food pantries, kitchens and shelters in eight counties, including Madison County, Rockhill, 68, has decided to retire on March 30. Her replacement, who has not been named, should be in place by June 1, she said.
The Anderson resident joined Second Harvest Food Bank in 1989, just five years after the organization was incorporated.
Rockhill, who had always worked in social work and human services field, got the job after answering a newspaper ad. She told herself she would give the job five years. Twenty-three years later, she is glad she stuck with it.
“It’s been challenging. It’s been fun. It’s been satisfying. The whole underlying purpose is to be of assistance to people who are really struggling.
“Another layer of that is that it’s been fun learning how to operate and run a business. It’s a charity, but it still has business aspects like balancing budgets and raising money.”
A lot has changed under Rockhill’s leadership. She has been with the organization while it moved from one Anderson location to another and then to its current spot in Delaware County.
The current facility is much larger than its first, and the services it provides have also grown.
In 1989, 450,000 pounds of food were distributed, she said. And that was a success.
Last year, Second Harvest distributed more than 9.5 million pounds of food and fed about 69,000 people in eight counties.
Rockhill said that Second Harvest’s success comes from the work and contributions of lots of people.
“There are people all through the communities we serve who had different parts — writing a check, giving food, advocating. That’s probably the most satisfying part, to see how our food bank can be a catalyst for people to take action on the difficult subject of hunger in a community, which is hard to accept. Once they know about it, people step up.”
Rockhill knows that her replacement will move the organization forward and continue to help people. And in the meantime, after stepping down, she plans on taking a road trip and camping across the country with her husband Erv and their grandchildren.
Vaughan has appreciated Lois’ devotion to Madison County, and said that whoever comes in will have big shoes to fill.
“Lois is just so totally mission-driven,” Vaughan said. “It’s going to be hard to imagine Second Harvest without her there. It’s hard for her to imagine not being there. She just has a passion to help people.”
Contact Melanie Hayes: 648-4250, melanie.hayes@heraldbulletin.com
What’s next
The job opening for executive director will soon be posted on Second Harvest Food Bank’s website, www.curehunger.org. A blog will also go up with Lois Rockhill and others posting their memories of the organization from the last 23 years.
01/21/2012 by Lois Rockhill | Comments (0)
Lois Rockhill: Some being squeezed out in block-grant programs
By Lois Rockhill
For The Herald Bulletin
— U.S. Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) was at the Muncie Noon Rotary last Tuesday. We exchanged a few comments after his presentation. I learned that he supports the idea of federal block-grants for food stamps.
This idea was presented back in 2002 and found new life within the platforms of some of the current Republican presidential candidates. The idea is to grant out this big pot of federal dollars to each state rather than to administer it at a federal level.
Mike seems to think this would allow Indiana to make better decisions on how those hundreds of millions of dollars are used to support people in need. I remember his mentioning less waste and less abuse. I invited him to discuss this in more detail with me and am, in this column, pulling some of my thoughts together.
There seems to be some major concerns around block-grants for food stamps. Opponents of the idea say that once the money is sent to the states, a state could decide to use it for something other than food assistance — to fill a shortfall in the budget for example. They cite the fact that this enormous program has an astounding record of abuse prevention and that in the hands of the state some of this could be lost, such as setting and enforcing food stamp regulations for food industry partners that operate across state lines.
Another grim result of block-granting the food stamp program is the loss of flexibility. A block-grant is a set amount of money with no guarantees of increases such as demanded by economic downturns that plunge more residents into poverty or disasters that wipe away individual resources. The only recourse the state would have is to decrease benefits or reduce the caseload.
Until you take a close look at the demographics of people on food stamps, you will not understand how acutely this could affect our children, people with disabilities and seniors living on low, fixed incomes.
I haven’t seen a strong stance on the benefits of block-granting food stamps. While proponents refer to the success of block-granting the welfare program that assists families, I don’t see a lot to be proud of there — other than saving money. It looks to me like many people in dire need have been squeezed out of that program.
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, along with the pantries and meal programs we serve, recognize the food stamp program as the cornerstone of national, state and local anti-hunger efforts. We know absolutely that we could not meet the added demand that would come from weakening this program.
So, I think that gives me a start on my presentation to Mike Pence! Until then, celebrate with us at the February 11 Dream Ball at the Horizon Center in Muncie. It will be a lovely Evening in Tuscany with dinner, dance and auction. Call (800) 886-0882 for more information. We want to raise funds for 250,000 meals that night.
We thank St. John’s Health System/St. Vincent Mercy Hospital and Walmart for leading sponsorships this year. With the wonderful support of our community, Second Harvest surpassed our 2011 goal of 9.1 million pounds of food on the tables of hungry neighbors. The Dream Ball will move us toward doing even more in 2012!
Lois Rockhill is executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. Her column appears the third Sunday of each month. She can be reached at lrockhill@curehunger.org.
12/20/2011 by Lois Rockhill | Comments (0)
Lois Rockhill: Different experiences to celebrate Christmas
By Lois Rockhill
— My holiday experience is rooted in Christmas and centered on the Nativity. Baby Jesus, Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, carols, gifts and family celebration are all part of it.
Other people in our big, wide world may look to a different set of experiences to celebrate the holidays. But I think we all have something in common. It is the deep sense of community that wells up from the soul this time of year. It is as sure as the winter solstice, as beautiful as the first snow. It is a love for one another that takes on a purity and naivety that moves us to join hands and sing with abandon!
I know there are worries, concerns, shopping, losses, illness and crisis. But there is also joy for the taking and joy for the giving. Maybe for some it is only a glimmer, but I hope that everyone can have even a tiny glimpse of its promise and potential.
I see it every day and when I take a moment to let it seep into my heart, I am inspired by the great goodness around me. I don’t think we can fully understanding our actions by dissecting our motives. We do things for many reasons. But I believe one of those reasons to be our love for one another. Sometimes we respond with deep thought and strategic action. Other times we move deeper into our souls and respond to a universal tug with little or no judgment or critique.
I say all of that to build a platform for thanks and gratitude. On behalf of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, an organization I have been honored to direct since February 1989, I thank the thousands of you who have reached out to help your neighbor though our organization. Your goodness, strategic or spontaneous, has set a place at the table for men, women, girls and boys who otherwise would not have eaten. You helped us weave a safety net for neighbors who fell from prosperity into poverty and for neighbors unable to ever reach self-sufficiency. You wove the net and you linked it to other pillars in the community that provide medical care, education, jobs, senior-care, childcare, transportation, a political voice.
Thank you for donating a can of soup. Thank you for donating a semi-load of pumpkins. Thank you for giving a bushel of grain at the elevator. Thank you for helping at the Tailgate. Thank you for packing apples. Thank you for donating apples. Thank you for discounting the cost of your services. Thank you for donating equipment. Thank you for complimenting our employees. Thank you for holding a food drive. Thank you for writing a check. Thank you for helping at a food pantry. Thank you for writing a letter to Congress. Thank you for writing your story on a paper plate. Thank you for providing flu shots. Thank you for liking so many things on Facebook. Thank you for telling our story in your newspaper, on your radio station, and in front of the cameras. Thank you for sponsoring events. Thank you for sharing your pantry food with a neighbor who couldn’t get out. Thank you for paying attention to that tug from deep in your soul. May we all have at least a glimmer of happiness this holiday season as we look with hope and expectancy to the New Year to come!
Lois Rockhill is executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. Her column appears the third Sunday of each month. She can be reached at lrockhill@curehunger.org.