Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition Updates and Action Alert: Meeting Reminder & Farm Bill Update

Updates & Action Alert  AHNC December Meeting and Farm Bill Update AHNC December Meeting: Dec. 19 Please join us for our December membership meeting next Thursday, Dec. 19 at 1:00 p.m. Our meeting will be by phone only. We'll be discussing the Governor's Budget, scheduled to be released earlier that week, and giving updates on what this means for our 2014 legislative priorities. When: December 19, 1:00-2:00 p.m. Call: 712-432-0900, Access Code: 677657 Farm Bill Update At this time, Congress does not have plans to vote on a conference report for the Farm Bill until early January. The lead negotiators on the Farm Bill hope that the conference report, once passed by the Conference Committee, will move swiftly through votes in the House and the Senate in order to pass a new five-year Farm Bill before the end of January. Take Action! With no Farm Bill reauthorization before the end of the year, this means that we have time to continue to tell our Congressional delegation that we need a Farm Bill that fights hunger -- one that protects SNAP! Here are three actions you can do before the end of the year to help protect SNAP: 1. Send a holiday card to our Senators and your member of Congress, letting them know #whogoeshungry when SNAP benefits are cut. 2. Continue to find and share the stories about how real cuts to SNAP hurt real people: Tweet the link to our SNAP Client Stories page to your networks with the hashtags #protectSNAP and #FarmBill.  You can also add stories to our client stories page.  Use this story collection template to ask the kinds of questions that help frame a particularly impactful story. Send your stories to Carrie for posting onto our page so that others can tweet the link to their networks. 3. Let us know if you are meeting or would like help with a meeting that you have set up with your Congressional member while they are back in district for the holidays. Email Carrie with the information. 4. Read this blog post from our friends at the Children's Alliance, then click the link at the end of the post to send an email to Congress telling them no more cuts to SNAP in the Farm Bill.
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Anti-Hunger Nutrition Coalition: Hunger Action Day-Register Today!

Hunger Action Day - Register Today Join advocates from across the state to ensure Washington families don't go hungry!   If you plan to come to Olympia on February 7, register now! Once you register, we schedule appointments for you on Hunger Action Day with your legislators, so remember to include your legislative district. You will also get information about the Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition's legislative agenda, links to policy papers and advocacy tips to use throughout the legislative session and on Hunger Action Day. Learn More About Hunger Action Day. Please encourage your colleagues, board members, volunteers, neighbors and family to sign up for Hunger Action Day and make your voices heard!      Follow us on

Meet Our Members: Yakima Food Bank

By Stephanie Marin, Advocacy Assistant

Yakima Food Banks Client Card

Volunteers keep organized with
this handy chart for food placement

Located on Central Ave, Yakima Food Bank is one of several food banks serving the Yakima area.  The completely volunteer run food bank serves more than 400 families in the three hours every week.  To receive food, clients fill out a simple client card with information about ages and number of people in their household.  Clients can then shop the food line with volunteers who help monitor and choose food products.
 Right outside the building’s exit, the “produce patio” holds a variety of fruit and vegetable choices for clients to supplement food received inside.

Watermelon from Northwest Harvest

The food bank also utilizes every nook and cranny for food storage with donations from a variety of sources including two of Washington’s largest distributors Northwest Harvest (conveniently right down the street) and 2nd Harvest.
They have created community partnerships to make sure fresh foods are continually available as well.   Ray’s IGA supermarket provides the food bank with five to six boxes per day of produce while the Union Gospel Mission collects bread from local grocery stores and offers it to Yakima Food Bank and St. Vincent de Paul food bank.  To make sure nothing goes to waste, the food bank provides a local animal farmer spoiled produce on a weekly basis.

The Produce Patio

Fridge Storage for Produce and Perishables

Freezer Storage

Super Volunteer Earl Hall outside the Food Bank

To learn more about Yakima Food Bank, Please Visit: https://www.facebook.com/YakimaFoodBank

AntiHunger & Nutrition Coalition, Update and Action Alert: National Call-In Day to Protect SNAP

Update & Action Alert  National Call-In Day to Protect SNAP Wednesday, Dec. 4 is a National Day of Action to protect SNAP. Anyone can call their member of Congress using this toll-free number: (877) 752-6479. When prompted, enter your zip code and listen to the brief instructions. Sample message: As a constituent, I'm hoping [MEMBER OF CONGRESS] will oppose any cuts to SNAP as you consider the Farm Bill and other legislation this year. Current SNAP proposals would be devastating to families and children across the country and would cause more than 4 million people to lose benefits entirely. In WA, hundreds of thousands of households would see cuts or lose benefits altogether and WA can't afford that. I am asking [MEMBER OF CONGRESS] to oppose cuts to SNAP. Join and promote our Thunderclap on Dec. 4 via Facebook & Twitter - Get the message out before Wednesday.   Thunderclap shares a common message from thousands of people at the same time through Facebook and Twitter. Supporters must sign up in advance, and then Thunderclap blasts a timed Facebook post and/or Tweet from all who are registered. Sending the message at the same time maximizes impact. This Thunderclap is scheduled for December 4 at 9am (noon, EST), so please encourage your networks to sign up in advance. Sign up here:  (https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/6909-natl-day-of-action-protectsnap) to join our Thunderclap in support of SNAP. Urge your organization and your social media networks to participate - you can use these sample Facebook posts and Tweets: Facebook: Congress is considering unprecedented cuts to food stamps for hungry families. Join our Dec 4 Thunderclap to make your voice heard and tell our leaders no cuts to SNAP.  http://bit.ly/IdSltl   December 4 is a National Day of Action to Protect SNAP. Join our Thunderclap to make our voices heard as we tell Congress loud and clear that #SNAPWorkshttp://bit.ly/IdSltl  Do you want to be one of thousands raising your voice in support of hungry families on SNAP? Join our Thunderclap to share your support on Facebook and Twitter on our National Day of Action: http://bit.ly/IdSltl  Twitter: Protect families from going hungry. Join the Dec 4 @ThunderclapIt to make your voice heard. Sign up today http://bit.ly/IdSltl #SNAPworks Join the @ThunderclapIt for the National Day of Action on Dec. 4 to Protect SNAP! Sign up today http://bit.ly/IdSltl #SNAPworks Congress may cut food for hungry kids, seniors, families. Join the Dec 4@ThunderclapIt to say no. Sign up today http://bit.ly/IdSltl #SNAPworks National Day of Action to Protect SNAP is Dec. 4. Support the @ThunderclapIt to make your voice heard! http://bit.ly/IdSltl #SNAPworks    Follow us on

Meet Our Members: Cle Elum HopeSource

By Stephanie Marin, Advocacy Assistant

Cle Elum HopeSource makes the most of their small facility providing energy, transportation, housing, financial literacy, and nutrition services.   Approximately 25 families per day utilize HopeSource’s food bank. Open Mondays and Wednesdays, residents can come up to twice per month to receive a variety of food products.  The HopeSource Food bank receives a good portion of their food from Northwest Harvest.  On top of this, many of the food pantry’s donations come from the local Safeway and other local donors including restaurants and private citizens.  With Safeway’s food drives this time of year, they can receive up to 16 food bags per day!  HopeSource partners with a local company to store nonperishable items for later use to make the most of these donations. To supplement their short hours during the week, the organization keeps a room full of staples including beans, rice, bread, and onions free to take during any business hours. They also partner with the local animal rescue organization AARF to offer dog and cat food to clients with pets.  To find out more about HopeSource, Please Visit: http://www.hopesource.us/

Staples Offered During Any Business Hours!

Bread offered During Any Business Hours!

HopeSource offers education with Food
 with these serving size guidelines 

HopeSource is able to offer unique and tasty proteins thanks to donations like this one...Elk!

Bags from Safeway awaiting sorting

This row of fridges and freezers keeps food donations fresh!

To help shopping,  food bank clients choose items
they would like from this white board
and volunteers find the items in the fridges and freezers.

Some of the Pet Food Donations courtesy of AARF

Some of the Food Available to HopeSource Clients

Don't forget to make use of your volunteer's talents!
HopeSource does with this volunteer's love for organization

Update and Action Alert from AHNC: We're Thankful for Your Advocacy

Updates & Action Alert  We're Thankful for Your Advocacy! Farm Bill Update: Late last week, talks between the lead negotiators on the Farm Bill broke down. At the heart of the disagreement is division over both reforming the crop subsidies program and SNAP. The lead negotiators, (the Chairs and Ranking Members of both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees) are continuing their talks over conference calls this week while Congress is on Thanksgiving recess. When Congress reconvenes next week, there will be two short weeks for the Farm Bill Conference Committee to come to an agreement on a new five-year Farm Bill as Congress will break for the rest of the year after Dec. 13. If no agreement can be attained in that time, then both the Senate and the House will have to agree on a continuing resolution on the 2008 Farm Bill to reauthorize spending for all programs in the Farm Bill in the new year. The Farm Bill could also be picked up by the Budget Conference Committee, led by Senate and House Budget Chairs, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan, because the Farm Bill could be a source of savings in the federal budget. The bottom line remains simple: hungry Americans can't afford further cuts to SNAP in either a new Farm Bill or in the federal budget. SNAP cuts that took effect on Nov. 1 already mean that SNAP spending will be cut by $11 billion over the next three years. The cut to Washington's SNAP equates to the loss of 47 million meals over the next year alone. In  fact, on Tuesday, the White House spoke out against additional cuts to SNAP in the Farm Bill. Obama Administration representatives said that the cuts amount to a "fundamental difference in values" and commented on the injustice of discussing cutting SNAP at a time when families will gather together to celebrate around Thanksgiving dinner tables. Please continue your efforts to urge Rep. Suzan DelBene (Washington's representative on the Farm Bill Conference Committee), Sen. Patty Murray, and your member of Congress, asking them to pass a Farm Bill that meets the following criteria: brings SNAP and the programs in the Nutrition Title back up to a five year extension period and makes no additional cuts to SNAP! Take Action: Your SNAP Stories Help Us Protect SNAP Stories of the effects of the Nov. 1 cuts to SNAP and about the impact of the most harmful cuts to SNAP that are still under consideration by the Farm Bill Conference Committee are vital tools to help Rep. DelBene and our Congressional delegation oppose additional cuts to SNAP in the Farm Bill or in the budget. 1. Use this SNAP story collection tool  from our friends at Northwest Harvest to find SNAP client stories that will be particularly helpful for fighting harmful SNAP cut proposals. This tool provides descriptions of the kind of client profiles and questions to ask that will help us target the stories we send to Rep. DelBene to provide evidence of how additional SNAP cuts will hurt hungry families. It was designed based on requests for information from Rep. DelBene herself. Please send your stories to Christina. We'll send the stories to key Congressional members and some stories will be featured on AHNC's website to make it easier for organizations to tweet to their networks. 2. Join the White House in calling out the injustice of the SNAP cuts during Thanksgiving by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper. Letters should in general be around 200 words. Talking points include the following: Thanksgiving is a time when we celebrate all that we should be thankful for-shelter, family, food. Yet there are those in Congress who want to take more food away from families in need by cutting food stamps in the Farm Bill. SNAP has already been cut by $11 billion over the next three years due to the end of economic stimulus money to the program. That's money that isn't coming back and is already showing signs of harmful impact-lines at food bank doors are long. Food banks can't make up for the 47 million meals that will be missed in Washington next year due to the Nov. 1 cuts alone. We need a five year Farm Bill-one that reauthorizes SNAP and nutrition programs on the same five year timeline as the other Farm Bill programs and one that makes no additional cuts to SNAP. 3. Tell your story or reasons why we should protect SNAP, using one of these Thanksgiving or Hanukkah e-cards that can be sent to Congress or to the White House, courtesy of our friends at the Food Research Action Center. Announcing the AHNC 2014 State Legislative Agenda Thank you for taking part in our member survey to approve items for the AHNC 2014 Legislative Agenda! Here's what we'll be fighting for together during the upcoming regular session, scheduled to convene on Jan. 13, 2014.  Restore full funding for the State Food Assistance Program (SFA) Food stamps are our first line of defense against hunger. That's why we're continuing the campaign to restore this program that provides state funded food stamp benefits for legally residing, Washington immigrants who are ineligible for SNAP so that their benefits will be equal to what Washington households on Basic Food receive, just as the law creating SFA intended. Strengthen the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) Food banks have already been taking the hit, seeing longer lines of clients and deeper need for services during this sluggish economic recovery after the recession. The need will only deepen as clients face cuts to SNAP/Basic Food. We're asking the state to increase funding for food banks to help provide some back fill for these cuts to SNAP. Reinvest funding in the Farmers Market Nutrition Program for WIC and Seniors (FMNP) FMNP provides vouchers for low-income seniors and families on WIC to purchase fresh, locally sourced produce at farmers markets. Both of these programs are very popular yet funding has not kept up with demand. Increasing funding for these programs will enable DSHS and the Dept. of Health to provide more vouchers to clients. More vouchers will mean more nutritious food for those most in need of that support and more income to help our state's small farms. Revenue The most recent economic forecast shows some but very little growth in anticipated state revenue such that economists are saying that growth is essentially flat. We need additional, sustainable sources of revenue to fund the priorities that we've determined are necessary to move the needle on reducing hunger in Washington and to restore and strengthen other important programs and services that help low-income families meet their basic needs. We are thankful to every single one of you who voted in our member survey-you gave us 100% support to advocate for efforts to close outdated tax expenditures, increase transparency in the creation of tax expenditures, and find new, sustainable sources of revenue that increase fairness to our tax code. Be sure to mark your calendars for Hunger Action Day to join us in telling your legislators to support these programs that help fight hunger in Washington state! Our annual lobby day will be Feb. 7, 2014 at the United Churches in Olympia. Keep an eye out for an announcement in December to register for HAD 2014!     Follow us on

Meet Our Members: Thurston County Food Bank

By Stephanie Marin, Advocacy Assistant

Executive Director Robert Coit in the
Thurston County Food Bank Receiving Area

Food donations are sorted by type and
input in a custom database that helps
TCFB more accurately calculate the
dollar value of in-kind donations

Down in Olympia, Thurston County Food Bank (TCFB) under the direction of Robert Coit, continues to provide innovative services to meet the needs of their community.  The main food bank in downtown Olympia serves clients three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Satellite food pantries, however, allow the food bank to reach a wider variety of clients.  TCFB utilizes their network of volunteers to sort food and provides this food to their 17 satellite sites.  Not having to source food or volunteers makes it easier for these small food pantries to provide aid and gives Thurston County residents options to find food seven days a week.

Different Color Tickets Designate the
number of each type of food clients can pick up

Specialty Foods and Baby Care Shelf

If clients decide to go to the TCFB over one of the satellite locations, they are checked in and given tickets for each individual section based on family size.  Clients can also request separate tickets if someone in their family has a special dietary need such as sugar free or gluten free foods.  Staple items are separated onto three identical shelves.  This prevents overcrowding and makes sure everyone gets through the food bank in a timely fashion. 

Odd items and coveted items like coffee have a special place in the food bank in the “bonus” section.  This section is only for people who remember to bring their reusable shopping bags.  So far, the incentive has worked and saved the food bank time and money for plastic grocery bags!

The Repack Kitchen

TCFB relies on a variety of methods to keep their shelves stocked and minimize waste.  Due to the large contingency they serve, much of TCFB’s food comes from bulk purchases of staples such as cereal and canned goods.  Produce and other fresh foods are often donated from grocery stores and gleaning projects while food drives are relied on to provide variety in the type of food offered.  TCFB also works with restaurants and a local school district to recover unserved food in a program they call “restaurant rescue.”

This box machine allows TCFB to repackage
 Restaurant Rescue Meals in a snap!

  This food is taken from the restaurants and school district back to TCFB’s repack kitchen and boxed into family size servings for food bank clients.  The food bank also makes sure to take advantage of their influx of volunteers and squash this time of year by scooping, cutting, and otherwise prepping the winter squash to make it easier for clients to cook and eat.  This means more squash is taken and less becomes compost!

Presorted boxes of food for the ForKids Backpack Program

 On top of all this, TCFB provides 2000-3000 children food per week through their backpack program ForKids, has an in person assister for health care, and processes basic food applications!  Now in the middle of a capital campaign, they expect to expand square footage and services even more. A new warehouse off-site will free up some space inside the current building.  With this extra room, they hope to enhance client experience with a better waiting area and even more office spaces for services.  To learn more about Thurston County Food Bank, Please visit: http://thurstoncountyfoodbank.org/

Volunteers are well appreciated at TCFB!

Volunteers help sort food and organize the storage space

Cranberry sauce in time for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving essentials bags prepped for satellite food pantries

Some of the produce offerings at TCFB