Local Food Pantry Case Study

The agency I participated at for my ten hours of service learning this semester was the Plain City food pantry. The food pantry is located on 156 W Main St, Plain City, OH 43064. There are many people that run this agency. A couple names are Phyllis and Jane. I participated March 2nd from 9:30 to 11:30, March 3rd from 9:00 to 12:00, April 4th, from 9:30 to 11:30 and April 6th from 9:00 to 12:00.

S.A.F.E. - Supplying Allergy Friendly and Emergency - Food Pantry is a local 501(c)(3) non-profit, all-volunteer organization, established in 2014, centered in Columbia, Maryland. The mission of S.A.F.E. is to provide gluten free and allergy friendly food to those in need.

The way River City Food Bank works is that they open to the public from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm. They provide many services for single and multiple families. Anyone who lives in Sacramento and reports that they or their dependents are living at or below the federal poverty line are eligible to receive these benefits. This site relies on the help of volunteers from around the Sacramento area. The day I went to River City Food Bank, there were twenty volunteers on this site ready to help and assist. My role was

Thesis Statement: The Houston Food Bank uses the efforts of volunteers as well as donations to support the reduction of hunger in the community.

The social problem my agency focuses on is trying to end the hunger within the community; we give in-kind benefits of food to clients twice a week. We even do emergency food to people who are truly in need. I’m very fortunate that the agency I chose not only helps individual clients in Hay County, but also supports other agencies within San Marcos such as South Side, Hope and Love, Redwood and multiple other agencies. These agencies serve the homeless, elderly, children, families and individuals who are economically disadvantaged. The requirements are pretty simple the potential client has to live in Hays County and also meet the federal income guidelines, otherwise known as means testing. The individual clients seem embarrassed at first, they try to explain their situation, but I explain to them that I’m not there to judge. When they start to become regulars you can tell they are there to provide for their families. Most of the people who come in are either college students or middle-aged family members. A lot of the clients were white and Hispanic women, who are trying to provide for their family.

There are so many people in this world today, that are not aware of the huge storage in our local food bank community. Per the Houston food bank the goal of the Feeding America program is to make food accessible to feed hungry people in their greatest times of need. Therefore, our team is gear up to break the food shortage in defining the problem, analyze the cause, identify criteria, potential solutions and selecting the best solution.

On July 23, 2015, I applied for food assistance. As you would be able to find out from the attached application, you would find out that I stated clearly in my application that both of my children were in a 50/50 timesharing arrangement (including 50/50 overnights). See attached application “Frank-07-23-2015,” page 15 and Court order, “Agree Final Judgment July 14 2015.”

The pantry room 5080, and office space 5084 are without doors and needs to be replaced on the hinges. Nathan and I send an email to Charles Darby asking that the doors be replaced before this month because there were two new employees coming on board that will be occupying the office space in 5084. Charles has not responded. Nathan relocated both doors in the internship area resting against the computer station. The doors are not secure and could injure someone. Please direct Nathan or myself to the appropriate person who can that care of this matter.

The Houston Food Bank (HFB), their mission, “leading the fight against hunger” their vision is “food access for all”. The Houston food bank is a member of the nations largest non-governmental, domestic hunger relief organization Feeding America. In the fiscal year of 2013-2014, HFB distributed 59 million nutritious meal food and other necessities.” The vision for the future is to expand services to the community to 100,000,000 nutritious meals by 2018” (HFB, 2014).

Unfortunately not all organizations see the world in a humanitarian point of view, but the handful that do includes The South Texas Food Bank. This organization was founded in 1989 and has been helping the community of Laredo ever since. The South Texas Food Bank allows the unfortunate to receive food and also educate the community about the realities of hunger. It has helped more than ten thousand families throughout the years.

This type of advertisement may be the wrong advertisement this community needs. When it comes to schools, I noticed that the area had one elementary school. The elementary school parking lot was empty due to school being out but I did notice school buses still running. I wasn’t certain if it was for summer school or for transportation for church group functions. In the area I have noticed multiple small churches. They also had community worship centers which took place inside of apartment complexes. These local worship centers advertised on the board of the school library as well as on the windows of some of the local convenient stores. Some of the churches in the neighborhood also aid in reaching out to the families who are in need of food. They have certain hours that they are open to where families can come in and obtain food for free for their families. It is on a first come first serve basis and there is a limit. They neighborhood also has a recreational area for those children who are into sports or other activities and want to better themselves in that area during the

Does your agency track the number of individuals that access the food and clothing pantry? Is there ever a need to host a food and clothing drive when the shelves are running low or does the agency have a network of dedicated supporters continuously making donations to the center so that the shelves don’t run low?

Gleaners uses essentially every social media platform to reach volunteers and donors. By just simply going on Gleaners’ website, one can see a link to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube, all of which use the same handles to ensure easy access: @GleanersFBIndy or Gleaner’s Food Bank of Indiana. Gleaners’ Facebook account has by far the most interactions topping out at just over 9,500 likes. Gleaners uses its Facebook primarily to post pictures of volunteers at its headquarters and at different events being held (Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc.). Twitter is their second most followed platform with a total of 3,900 followers (@GleanersFBIndy). The Twitter account has a slightly different feel than the Facebook account because it focuses more on talking to followers and thanking different people and organizations that volunteer with Gleaners. Instagram has a very similar feel as Twitter, in the sense that the posts are almost identical. Instagram, however, only has around 800 followers, which is surprising considering the presence on Twitter and Facebook (@gleanersfbindy). Gleaners also has accounts on Linked In, Pinterest, and YouTube, but its presence is very minimal and the posts are very infrequent. Overall, Gleaner’s has a presence in the social media world that is still growing but is becoming very successful.

Can you live on $4.00 a day for food? Be honest with your answer. That's how much some of us spend on coffee or latte during the day. For more than 380,000 people right here in Wisconsin, it's not a question. It's a reality. In September, designated as Hunger Action Month, we're asking our supporters to experience that reality for one week. Called the Hunger Games Challenge, participants are asked to live as if they are on food stamps, now known as the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Karin was a very pampered young girl. She was very reluctant to go deliver the bread to the church but both her parents insist that she go. They knew she is very easily persuaded and she has been hanging out with many men and even not return home. Despites all these behavior, her parents still insist that she go deliver the bread to the church. Why do they let her go ? Are they not worried about her safety ? Why do they ask their servant who is pregnant and emotionally not stable to go with her?