Fighting The Hunger Games With Creative Solutions Advanced by FEED3
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 27, 2013 -- Economic challenges including unemployment and rising food costs are putting a greater burden on charities and food providers meeting the growing numbers of families in need. This is why creative solutions are being initiated by FEED 3 to help meet the growing hunger needs.
“We found that after two years of providing backpacks for children in need at local schools, that a more feasible and fiscal savvy approach are “emergency food pantries” at local schools” says Randy Skinner, FEED 3 executive director.
Skinner believes that weekend backpacks are a great fundraiser, however, they miss a key component to solving the hunger landscape: a personal touch with the family. “When companies show up at the local nonprofit and fill backpacks, it’s a ‘feel good’ approach to a problem, but it ends there.”
FEED 3 has partnered with local schools like Thomas Edison Middle School in West Dallas that serves 800 students, with 83% from families in need. “We help families with emergency hunger needs, and then direct them to our local nonprofits that help the total family in crisis” says Skinner. FEED 3 also provides additional incentives for parents who attend parent-teacher conferences. Currently FEED 3 provides meals for teachers on parent-teacher conference days and meals and snacks for children being tutored on weekends.
FEED 3 has also adopted James Bowie Elementary in Oak Cliff, that provides healthy snacks for athletics who train after school. Coach Sharon Foster, who has been nationally recognized for her efforts in providing healthy meals and training, praises FEED 3 efforts. “Non-profits invested in the community are critical in helping us reach needy children. FEED 3 has made it possible for us to keep children energized for sports programs that are critical for the well-being of their health.”
More than 400 families will receive a turkey with groceries for a week at four locations during Thanksgiving. Another 800 needy families will be fed on Thanksgiving Day through FEED 3 partner Living Word Harvest Church of South Dallas, let by Pastor Anthony Anderson. His outreach also includes giving haircuts, medical outreach, and counseling.
As part of the FEED 3 program, sites are being chosen to provide 100 families per week groceries. The first two sites are located in West Dallas, with additional sites to be added as funding permits. In fall 2013, at Westmoreland Heights Neighborhood Association Center and Greater Mount Hebron Baptist Church, FEED 3 began providing emergency groceries for families of students at Thomas Edison Middle School. Also, a food pantry was built and supplied at the middle school.
Additionally, FEED 3 is helping develop food co-ops to replace local food pantries, where the needy join with small monthly fees, or service hours to nonprofits, in exchange for groceries.
The FEED 3 project is the collaborative brainchild of Randy Skinner, a West Dallas resident/community leader, Heart of A Champion, Director Steve Riach, and creative consultant Russell Lake of Eterné Films.
FEED 3 initiatives focus on the Body, Mind and Soul. The Feed the Body segment addresses the more than 280,000 children in the greater Dallas area that face hunger every day. The specific accomplishments include:
• Making sure every needy family is signed up to receive WIC or SNAP funds that are available, but not being utilized.
• Address the hunger gap among working class families by placing FEED 3 locations to distribute additional food, especially fresh produce.
• Providing summer meals with FEED 3 partner Strategic Justice Initiatives (SJI). This past summer more than 140,000 meals were fed daily at 25 locations in South Dallas.
• Providing after school meals for children in need.
• The development of school gardens, community gardens, and urban farms among low-income communities.
Please consider helping us expand our network of feeding sites in the DFW area. Make a generous donation this Christmas season. Please give generously by clicking here. Your tax-deductible gifts can also be mailed to Strategic Justice Initiatives. P.O. Box 222026, Dallas, Texas 75222.
FEED 3 was created in 2011 to help bring a pro-business solution to hunger and poverty. The organization is founder and co-sponsor of the Dallas Hunger Summit and Dallas Hunger Solutions Coalition working with the office of Dallas Mayor, Texas Hunger Initiative, USDA, Texas Agriculture Commission, and the 30th Congressional Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson.
Strategic Justice Initiatives Inc.was created in 2002 as an organization by law enforcement involved in the eradication of crime and poverty. The organization has been the parent nonprofit in leading Transformation West Dallas, Greater Dallas Justice Revival, Homes for our Neighbors, and FEED 3. For more see http://www.randyskinner.com
Randy Skinner, FEED3, http://feed3.org/index.html, 214 316-1356, [email protected]
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