The Most Important Gift You Can Give This Holiday Season? The Gift ...

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Hunger Beat Winter 2013-14

LITE

News from the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina

www.foodbankcenc.org

The Most Important Gift You Can Give This Holiday Season? The Gift of a Meal.

“I’m just hoping to get help with some groceries,” Ken (pictured left) told Food Bank staff. Read more about Ken below.

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his is the sad reality facing more than 560,000 people living at or below the poverty level in our 34-county service area: Things are not getting better. The need for emergency food assistance is still at an all-time high in the communities served by the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. There are an additional 500,000 people hovering just above the poverty level who are one event away from needing our help. While there is a need for food throughout the year, going without during the holiday season means added stress for struggling people at a time of year that should be filled with joy—not anxiety. These individuals and families are our neighbors, friends, and coworkers. They are the classmates of our children. In many cases, they are people who have jobs but still cannot stretch paychecks to the end of the month. They must sacrifice something. Frequently they must make choices between food and utility bills or food and medical care.

Recently Ken visited a Food Bank partner agency for emergency food assistance. His wife had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Ken had to turn her care over to a nursing home. The heartache Ken was feeling over the probable loss of his wife was palpable. And with the added medical bills, he was also having a hard time finding money for food. Then the starter on his vehicle went, and fixing it took additional money from his already strained budget. “It was $79 from my grocery money to fix it, but well, that’s the way it is,” Ken told our staff. “I’m just hoping to get help with some groceries.”

Your support is the best gift that these individuals can receive this holiday season. The gift of a meal means one less worry during stressful times.

Your truly valuable gifts mean Ken has one less worry on his significantly full plate. For every $1 donated this holiday season, the Food Bank can provide five meals or $10 worth of food.

Do you know how far your donation goes at the Food Bank?

$1 = Five meals = $10 worth of food

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Make your tax-deductible contribution now at foodbankcenc.org/holidaymeals.



Durham

2

Season of Giving

Greenville New Bern

3

On the Move

Raleigh

3

100,000 Meals

Sandhills

Wilmington

4

24-Hour Telethon

From the Desk of the President & CEO

Peter Werbicki

During this season of giving, I am reminded of the joy and excitement of celebrations and laughter filled family gatherings, often around a hearty meal. This is the season many of us know. But for countless others, it’s another day of uncertainty, a time of added pressure for the parent struggling to make ends meet. It’s a sad time for our senior citizens surviving on a limited income. Together, with your support, the Food Bank is committed to being there for these individuals, families, and children who need our help to overcome hunger. The holiday season is also a time when I celebrate each of you for your dedication to others. You create a season of giving all year, by helping us meet a need that is not seasonal but is instead a daily ordeal for 560,000 neighbors in central and eastern North Carolina. My sincere appreciation and best wishes for a glorious holiday.

Opportunities To Help During This Season Of Giving Help raise 6 million pounds during the Heart of Carolina Food Drive! The goal for the 27th annual ABC11 Heart of Carolina Food Drive is to raise 6 million pounds of food this holiday season. This event wraps up with a Drive-Through Day on Wednesday, December 11 at selected Kroger stores. Bring your food and cash donations, meet the ABC11 team, or watch from 5 am – 8 pm on December 11. Help us feed families this holiday season! Learn more: foodbankcenc.org/HOC.

Share Your Christmas in Eastern North Carolina! The Greenville and New Bern Branches are partnering with WCTI NewsChannel 12 for another year of Share Your Christmas! On Friday, December 13 from 11 am until 7 pm, drop off donations of food and funds at the Greenville Mall, New Bern Mall, Jacksonville Mall, Morehead City Walmart, and Cherry Point Commissary. WCTI reporters will be checking in live from Greenville, New Bern, and Jacksonville from 4 pm – 7 pm, so tune in or stop by! Learn more: foodbankcenc.org/SYC.

Reduce your 2013 taxes with an IRA gift! Did you know that if you are 70½ or older you can reduce your taxes for 2013 by making a gift to charity from your IRA? An IRA rollover gift is a simple and easy way for you to use your IRA to help others in your community. Your gift will qualify toward your 2013 required minimum distribution, and you will not have to pay federal income tax on the amount directed to a qualified charity like the Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC. This provision of the law allows retirees to direct their qualified distribution, up to $100,000, to a charity, thus eliminating the income tax due on what would have been their minimum required distribution. Simply contact your IRA custodian and request that an amount be transferred DIRECTLY to us by December 31. 2

Greenville On The Move Sort-A-Rama Day of Service

After 14 years at the original location near downtown, the Greenville Branch moved to a new location at 1712 Union Street on September 30. The opening of the Greenville Branch was expedited in 1999 due to the increased need after Hurricane Floyd. The 17,500-square-foot space features a dedicated volunteer area and a produce room that Food Lion generously donated. This donation, along with other aspects of the new site, will allow for increased service capacity at the Greenville Branch. In fiscal year 2012–2013, the Greenville Branch distributed more than 8.8 million pounds of food to partner agencies, including more than 3 million pounds of produce. The Greenville Branch celebrated their new space with a ribbon cutting on October 24. Also on hand to show support were the Young Professionals of Pitt and Lenoir County, who were kicking off the Eastern Carolina Fall Food Drive. Southern Bank presented a $5,000 check to get the Young Professionals started toward their goal of raising 40,000 meals.

Busy volunteers work to package 100,000 meals!

Triangle-area companies joined the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina on September 11 to package 100,000 meals for families at risk of hunger. The “Sort-A-Rama Day of Service” is one of many ways the community honors the memory of those lost on 9/11. It is also one of the largest volunteer projects in the area.

Food Bank board, staff, council members, and Chamber representatives prepare to cut the ribbon.

Presenting partners Blue Cross and BlueShield of North Carolina, Cisco, and Food Lion led the effort to bring 700 corporate volunteers together.

In Times of Crisis In October, Attorney General Roy Cooper allocated $2 million from a consumer settlement grant to the seven Feeding America food banks in North Carolina. At that time, the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina’s partner agencies were seeing an 11% increase in households seeking emergency food assistance. During this time of increased need, the Food Bank of CENC’s first installment of the grant will be exhausted within a few weeks through immediate acquisition of meats, produce, grains, and shelf stable food to further support our mission: No One Goes Hungry in Central & Eastern North Carolina.

Hunger Beat Lite Written/edited by Christy Simmons & Jennifer Caslin Designed by Archetype Printed by B&J Custom Printers Questions? Call 919.865.3050 or 919.865.3063.

Yes, you can count on my generous holiday gift to help stock the shelves at the Food Bank

p Enclosed is my check made

Here is my gift of:

p I have attached a matching gift

of Central & Eastern North Carolina during the holiday season, so that individuals, children, and their families continue to have access to daily meals.

p Other_______ p $500

Name_ _____________________________________________________

form from my employer.

Address_____________________________________________________ City______________________________ State______ Zip_ __________

p $250

E-mail______________________________________________________

p $100

Please charge my

p $75

Account#_________________________________ Exp Date___________

p $50

payable to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.

p Visa

p Mastercard

Signature___________________________________________________

Please clip & mail to: FBCENC, 3808 Tarheel Drive Raleigh, NC, 27609 Or, give online at www.foodbankcenc.org.

Make your end of the year tax-deductible contribution now at foodbankcenc.org/holiday meals.

3

2nd Annual 24-Hour Telethon Exceeds $50K Goal The 24-Hour Telethon, held September 13–14, was once again jam-packed with fun activities. Gregory Ng of the online frozen food review show FreezerBurns hosted 24 hours of programming from our Raleigh warehouse. A lively Food Truck Rodeo kicked off the event. The bustling Social Media Mixer raised $3,000 and ended with a dunk of Peter Werbicki, Food Bank President & CEO. Midnight Madness volunteers braved the late hour to sort sweet potatoes. Due to the support of our patrons and the donors that tuned in or followed along on Twitter, the telethon exceeded the $50,000 goal. The total raised was $55,648 plus 3,491 pounds of food! This equates to more than 281,000 meals for those ask risk of hunger. For more information on these and other events, visit foodbankcenc.org/events. For photos, visit flickr.com/foodbankcenc.

A tired but happy Team Telethon met the 2013 goal!

Our Wish List There are many other ways to help give the gift of a meal. Consider donating the following:

Holiday

Meals

Drive

Make your tax-deductible contribution now at foodbankcenc.org/holidaymeals.

• LCD Projector • 32”+ Flat Panel TVs • DVD Players • Volunteer Driver • Volunteer Graphic Designer • Electric & Manual Pallet Jacks • Forklifts & Forklift Battery Chargers • Hand Trucks • Paper Plates • Plastic Utensils

• Games & Sports Equipment • Art & School Supplies • Educational Software • Point and Shoot Digital Cameras • Residential Refrigerators/ Freezers in good working condition • Refrigerator/Freezer Thermometers • Meat Thermometers • Top Loading Mechanical Food Service Scales

To donate, please send an e-mail to: [email protected] or call 919.875.0707. Full color for this issue donated by B&J Custom Printers

3808 Tarheel Drive Raleigh, NC 27609 Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Raleigh, NC Permit #1681