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P-D Editorial:
Bailing out the hungry | 09-26-08 |
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Hard times
have food pantries scrambling |
By
Doug Moore
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/24/2008
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September 23,
2008---David Hardge, of St. Louis, loads a pallet of food
into a Foodbank truck to be delivered to one of 300
agencies Foodbank services in rural Missouri or Illinois.
(Emily Rasinski/P-D) |
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ST. LOUIS — When the grocery center opens at Food
Outreach four days each week, the line snakes out the door.
The demand for food at the midtown nonprofit center is
greater than at any time in Greg Lukeman's seven years as
executive director.
"When you see the number of people coming in, it's
staggering," Lukeman said. In July, a typically slow month,
Food Outreach provided 35,000 meals, a 39 percent increase
from a year before.
Higher gas and food prices combined with more people out of
work is putting a strain on food pantries, soup kitchens and
meal delivery services throughout the region and across the
country.These agencies, created to help the poor, are seeing more
first-timers walk through their doors each week.
The new clients never needed a helping hand before. But with
food and gas prices rising at rates much faster than
cost-of-living increases, more and more families have no
other choice. For some working families, a medical emergency
or car repair is the tipping point that pushes them from
independence to cries for help.
"These are really hard times," said Enid Borden, president
and CEO of Meals on Wheels Association of America in
Alexandria, Va. "I've been here 16 years and never seen it
this bad. Any way you slice it, it's just a mess."
A year ago, the average price for a gallon of gas was $2.67.
Today, it's $3.69. Food prices rose during the last year at
a rate not seen in nearly two decades. And unemployment is
at a five-year high.
Food banks serve as the distribution centers for pantries
and soup kitchens, the often small storefront spots in
neighborhoods where families can come for free food.
At the St. Louis Area Foodbank, which provides food to 500
agencies in 14 counties in Missouri and 12 counties in
Illinois, increased demand and costs have combined for a
wallop.
Click here to read the rest on STLtoday.com |
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P-D Editorial:
Bailing out the hungry | 09-26-08 |
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RELATED VIDEO:
Local Charities See Increase in Economic Downturn.
Wed., Sept. 25, 2008
| CW 11 News |
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 La'Roi Glover and Chris Long,
along with their fellow
St. Louis Rams
teammates will be on hand to greet and serve
guests at the
6th annual
St. Louis Rams' Taste of the NFL.
Taste
of the NFL is a food and wine tasting extravaganza in which
attendees are able to sample specialty foods prepared
some of the best restaurants
and clubs and throughout the community, bid on unique items,
and meet the chefs and Rams’ players.
More > |
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| St. Louis
Area Foodbank Food Fair program featured in Feeding America
(formerly America's Second Harvest) Agency Spotlight for
August 2008.
Click here to read. |
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 Disaster
Relief
The St. Louis Area Foodbank has been working with our
network of 500 community-based agencies in ongoing disaster
relief due to the recent flooding in the bi-state area.
So far this week we've:
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Held a Food Fair in St. Charles County helping more than 200 families in need.
Click here to
learn what a Food Fair actually is.
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On Thursday we joined forces with the State Emergency
Management Agency (SEMA) and delivered a truckload of Gatorade and
Bananas to relief efforts in Winfield, MO. |
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Also on Thursday we delivered much-needed food to
Wentzville, MO, St. Charles, MO, and Alton, IL. |
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And, as always, we're continuing to
provide food for non-disaster related hunger relief
throughout our entire
service territory. |
Thank you
for your past, present, and future support. It helps
alleviate the crisis of hunger on a daily basis and further
enables us to help in times of even greater need such as
now. |
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St. Louis Area Foodbank receives coveted 4-star rating from America's
largest charity evaluator for 4th consecutive year.
Only 5% of
charities evaluated throughout the country have received top
ranking 4 consecutive years.
More >
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How does the
St. Louis Area Foodbank help those in need in my county?
 Missouri Counties: Crawford;
Franklin; Gasconade; Iron; Jefferson; Lincoln; Montgomery; Pike; St. Charles; St.
Francois; St. Louis City; St. Louis County; Warren; Washington
 Illinois Counties:
Calhoun; Clinton; Franklin; Jackson; Jersey; Madison;
Monroe; Perry; Randolph; St. Clair; Washington; Williamson
Our mission to
feed hungry people includes people in all 26 of those counties.
For a listing of the counties served, please see below.
To see how much was distributed in each respective county in
2007,
please click
here.
To see how much has been
distributed in each
County during the first Quarters of 2008, click here.
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St.
Louis Area Foodbank opens recently
acquired state-of-the-art food distribution center on
National Hunger Awareness Day
St. Louis (June 05, 2007) --
The St.
Louis Area Foodbank recently acquired a 92,000-square-foot
facility near the Earth City Business Park and will open
food distribution to its 500+ food pantries, soup kitchens,
and shelters on National Hunger Awareness Day – Tuesday,
June 5, 2007.
In
honor of the their longstanding partnership with the St.
Louis Area Foodbank, the first items distributed from the
new facility were picked up by the St. Nicholas Food
Pantry which serves St. Louis City and Lutheran Child &
Family Services of Illinois/Hardin Food Pantry. Both
agencies have partnered with the Foodbank for more than 20
consecutive years.
More > |
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