User:Alpha472/Philabundance

Philabundance

Article about Philabundance. Added below are points to include in the article to expand it.

Add-on Points

• Philabundance was created in 1984 with the simple (belief)
• MOTTO: that no man, woman or child should go hungry
• How do they address hunger?

1. Direct Service Programs
2. A network of 500 member agencies
3. Contribute through food cupboards, emergency kitchens, shelters, daycare and senior centers.

• Strategies for Hunger prevention

1. Emergency relief
2. Long-term measures

• Area in which they operate - Delaware valley

Date wise updates/notes

• 23rd December

1. How the demand is growing in the last few years While in the last 2 years the demands for food have gone up by 60 percent, the last 12 months have seen a 25 to 40 percent increase.This has resulted in longer lines outside food distribution centers year after year.Today Philabundance serves over 200 families, an increase from the 30 families they served a year ago.
2. Donations Shrinking With an unemployment rate touching 12 percent,and the recession showing no signs of retracing its steps,people have a hard time paying their own bills. Giving for charitable purposes has therefore become a secondary priority for an increasing number of people.
3. Hunger, or Self Esteem At the present moment, with jobs lost and benefits reduced, the same people who donated last year are now dependant on Philabundance for their daily meals. There is a growing sense amongst people waiting in line, to protect their identity. For them their own self esteem is at risk in having to meet their daily meal requirements through Philabundance. Inspite of this many people overcome by hunger, have now put away their self esteem and regularly make their way to the distribution center that serve fresh fruits and vegetables.

• 24th December 2010

1. Corporate Contributions Very recently Comcast Spectator, a Sports and entertainment firm, began a month long food drive to help Philabundance. They appealed to their large fan base to bring non-perishable food items such as canned tuna, canned vegetables, peanut butter and jelly in plastic containers, to all events at the Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia - home to the Philadelphia Flyers NHL team. With the month long drive to include as many as 22 events, Comcast spectator hopes to contribute in a big way, given the growing demand for food amidst recession hit community.
2. Fresh For All Program Most people tend to move away from fresh produce in times of recession. Noting this trend, Philabundance started the Fresh For All Program to supplement the menu of families with fresh vegetables and fruits,at 12 sites in the Delaware valley. Traditionally, food pantries served mostly non-perishable items. However, the Fresh For All program changes all of that making healthy food a part of Philabundance'food supply to the community, all year long.
3. Member Agencies Philabundance is using the support of more than 500 member agencies in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties. The use of member agencies has helped Philabundance spread its presence, and has as a result been able to provide food to an average of 65000 people a week. In the fiscal year 2009, Philabundance, in collaboration with its members, has distributed over 17 Million pounds of food.

• 25th December 2010

1. Help Via Donations Amidst dwindling donations for Philabundance in turbulent times, the Citizens Bank donated $25000 in the summer of 2010. At an average of 30 cents per meal prepared by Philabundance, this translates to over 83000 meals. Summer is the most challenging time for Philabundance, when donations are at their lowest. The worst impacted by this are children who are at an acute risk of suffering from malnutrition. The donation from Citizen Banks charitable arm, the Citizen Bank Foundation, has helped provide food for thousands of low-income families in the region.

(Need to make a list of One time donations and Regular Donors. Can then convert these into sub titles.The subtitle for one time donations could be A Helping Hand or such other.)

1. Help from SEPTA The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) provided support to Philabundance in the summer of 2010, by collecting food at SEPTA stations. With colection barrels at more than 45 locations, SEPTA collected mostly non-perishable items like Canned or Shelf Stabilized Tuna,pasta and beef ravioli,as well as peanut butter and jelly in plastic containers. To increase collections SEPTA also placed collection barrels at Regional rail stations. For some customers, with limited access to collection centers, SEPTA made provisions for items of donation to be handed directly to the driver.

• 26th December 2010

1. A unique learning drive Students of the Temple University in Philadelphia were given a unique insight into the lives of people who were dependant on Philabundance by a non-profit organization called LIFT. Most students were shocked to learn that as many as 4000 people were homeless in Philadelphia on any given day. Three income tiers were represented on differently coloured cards, each with it's own story. Students were then asked to draw cards with the objective that each student would receive a meal that corresponded to the income tier he or she picked.The meals arranged for the students were ranging from rice and water for the lowest income group depictive of a person living in poverty, to the upper class who recived salad, sprite, brownies, and rice. The whole excercise was meant to raise awareness at the student level, for them to better grasp how it was to live in different classes of income groups. This paragrpah cannot be included in the philabundance article. The only connection between the intiative taken by LIFT (to enlighten students about the hunger problem) and Philabundance is that Shira Rosenwald, marketing manager of Philabundance, was a guest speaker at the event .
2. Camping out for Hunger In early December the Preston and Steve show, from the popular radio channel 93.3 WMMR, conducted a five-day “Camp Out for Hunger” event at the metroplex in Plymouth Meeting. Running for the 12th consecutive year, the event was aimed at increasing hunger awareness, as well as collecting food for Philabundance. The event featured some of the most popular bands as well as several distinguised guests including Comcast Sportnet's Michael Barkann and 6ABC's Rick Williams, stopping by at the Metroplex to show their support for Philabundance. Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison conduct the event at the same spot throughout the week. To show their soladarity for the cause of colecting donations for those faced with difficult choices, Steve and Elliot camp at the spot in a trailer all week.
3. Some titles to consider for expanding the article, based on the information/data/notes collected from cited sources - An initial subtitle could be Operation to include how PA operates, how they address hunger,what are their hunger prevention strategies, and characteristics of their Fresh for all program.Growing challenges could include rising demand for food from PA(Philabundance), and dwindling donations in the last few years in particular. A third one could be Community Contributions that include all donations and contributions from corporates, individuals etc. Another subtitle could be Awareness Drives conducted by PA as well as their member agencies.

• Editing Philabundance

Begun on 29th December 2010. Add a note on the History of Philabundance

• 1st Jan 2011

1. The tagline (not the actual concept) Fresh-for-all was first used by Philabundance.
2. A source that details the Fresh-for-all program in its year of launch. Also covered extensively in this is the 'Share the harvest' program from Philabundance. Note that this program also supplies fresh produce to underserved communities.

• 3rd Jan 2010

1. Another source that gives a little bit about the history of Philabundance. Philabundance actually merged with the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank in the year 2005.