Cure Hunger Blog

Our elected representatives are down there in Indy trying to rework that state budget. I know what a job it is here at Second Harvest to keep our budget balanced.

You have got to have income equal to expenses. If you don’t, you start squeezing those expenses and you work hard for more revenues.

I heard Gov. Mitch Daniels say that the state will have less money to spend in 2011 than it did in 2007 even with economic recovery. He maintains that Indiana spends less per person now with better services and that only five other states do better than we do.

That said, many of us have different notions of what kind and quality of services the state should provide.

Food banks in Indiana have formed a state food bank association called FIsH, Feeding Indiana’s Hungry. We looked hard for state money this year. Ohio and Illinois both have large appropriations going to their state food bank associations and we wanted to follow suit.

Sen. Sue Errington (D-Muncie) after a discussion with Rep. Terri Austin (D-Anderson) introduced a bill that would have allowed Indiana taxpayers to designate their state refund to the state association. It did not pass out of committee. We thought it might generate a quarter of a million dollars or more for hunger relief. Because of the failure of that bill, an appropriation of $300,000 each of two years was put into the budget.

So far, it is still there. This money would be used by Feeding Indiana’s Hungry food banks to access Indiana-grown foods and could provide as many as 1.5 million meals throughout the state.

It couldn’t come at a better time. Hunger is rampant. Food pantries are unable to keep up with the numbers of people needing their services. More than 30 percent are first-time users. Our own direct distribution, the Tailgate Program, serves increasing numbers of families at each site in every county. We often have 600 families drive through in a two-hour period.

I understand the need to cut expenses in the state budget. I agree that we must live within our means. But critical elements must be funded and making sure that our nutrition safety net is secure is one of them. People are out of work and can’t find work. We believe things will get better but until then we must help Hoosiers with basic needs.

You can make a difference. Log on to www.hungeractioncenter.org and sign in. You can then send a letter to your representatives that will encourage them to do all they can to keep this money in the state budget. When I saw Gov. Daniels, I asked him personally to pass a budget that includes this allocation.

This is national Dairy Month and we are happy to be distributing hundreds of pounds of cheese purchased with a grant from the Indiana Dairy Association. Most of this is going to local pantries that are including it as one of the choices for people needing assistance.

Remember, you can find the list of pantries, their locations, with days and times they are open on our Web site, www.curehunger.org . While you are there consider making a contribution on line and designate it to Kresge. We need about $474,000 more by the end of the year to claim the $400,000 Kresge Challenge grant.

My apologies to those of you who have not been asked to give us money. Please consider this your personal invitation. We are racing to meet a deadline and want you to be in the celebration circle when we claim the big prize.

So go to www.curehunger.org and click the Donate Now button. Be sure to type ‘Kresge’ into the designation line. Or phone for a pledge card and you can give your gift over a three year period. 287-8698 ext 100.

Wait, you say. Why Kresge when it’s Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana? The answer is that “Kresge” is the secret code for the big, big prize. It’s a challenge grant! We raise $800,000 and they give us $400,000. Now that’s quite a prize, wouldn’t you say?

There is always a deadline and ours is January 1, 2010. We have $260,000 toward the goal. You can see that we need our community to rally with gifts large and small to bring in $540,000 more in the next 223 days.

The returns are huge. We get the Kresge Challenge Grant and East Central Indiana gets a better food bank. All of the money goes into the Second Harvest on the Move campaign. The challenge grant will bring us right to the edge of our $4 million campaign.

This money bought us our newer and safer facility in Delaware County. It is paying for renovations and equipment. And it will help fund the food assistance programs you know and love.

Your gifts for the Kresge Challenge will help get us a new truck. This is badly needed as our two big trucks are hitting the repair shop on a regular basis. We are doing retail pick-up at our Kroger / Pay Less stores and will add all the Wal-Mart stores in our eight counties by June 1. Plus we pick up from other food donors and we are on the road five days a week delivering food to local charities.

Offices at our place consist of two construction trailers parked side by side inside the warehouse. It was a creative solution two years ago. But now we want the space for warehousing. We need to renovate another area for staff, for training and for education. Your Kresge Challenge gifts will make that happen.

A portion of the money raised will expand and support our programs. You are familiar with our core program of providing food to local pantries, kitchens and shelters. We also support other charities focusing on assistance to low-income neighbors. We provide food through our monthly Tailgate Program. We feed children at our Kids Cafes, through our school BackPack Program and with Summer Food meals.

With your support and our expertise, we make a remarkable team for hunger relief! I need you to go the extra mile in the next 223 days. Make a gift! I am counting on you to get us into the winner’s circle where we can claim the $400,000 prize!