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2009 Feeding America. All rights reserved.

Feeding America is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit recognized by the IRS.

35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2000

Chicago, Illinois 60601
1.800.771.2303
www.feedingamerica.org

Jessie Gladin-Kramer
Laura Hajar
Chris Kirzeder
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Mark Ostow
Joshi Radin

photographers

RENEW

renew
Theres always a chance to start again, and with a little help, to make life
better than it once was. Perhaps its the ability to further education, invest
strongly in a childs future, or find a new home. Feeding America member
food banks and their agencies provide the food and other resources
that allow hungry Americans the chance to wisely budget their limited
funds, so that they can rise above their circumstances and start charting
a path to a brighter tomorrow.

New Mexico

South Carolina

Delaware

Minnesota

Alaska

10

Idaho

12

Missouri

14

California

16

New Jersey

18

Kansas

20

This is one book from a series of five highlighting the stories of some of the millions of individuals
and families across America who benefit from the Feeding America network.
1

Dianna
New Mexico

In the remote regions of New Mexico, people living near the poverty line
have limited options for both food and employment. Even with a steady
job, Dianna still finds it hard to make ends meet in her small town in northern
New Mexico. She is often forced to either pay inflated food prices at the
local grocery store, or drive nearly 90 miles to Albuquerque for more
reasonably-priced food. But with the rising cost of gasoline, even that
option has become untenable.
A single mother raising four children, Dianna is utilizing every resource she
can for self-improvement and assistance for her family, from continuing
education programs to government resources, to the local food pantry
supplied by the Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico. She says the money
she saves by visiting the pantry each month helps her to make it through
the winter months, when high utility costs used to force her to choose
between buying food or paying her heating bill. The food pantry gives her
the food and support she needs to keep her family well-fed, and the hope
to keep striving for a better tomorrow.

Served by an agency of the Roadrunner Food Bank

2

zoey
crystal, Seth, Caydin and alex
South Carolina

Hurricane Gustav destroyed the three-bedroom pool house Crystal and

her husband once rented in Mississippi. Cataclysmic rains and the unforgiving
winds of the historic storm flooded the canals of their town, causing grave
damage to not only their home, but their places of work as well. After
salvaging what little they had left, the two decided to take their four kids
to a city with better job prospects.
After just two months into their journey, Crystal found the taxing job climate
unpromising for a former shift manager at a fast food restaurant. Her
husband, who prior to the storm worked at an air conditioning company,
has had his fair share of sour luck. Scouting leads in Tennessee, Kentucky,

and Florida quickly depleted the familys savings. They came to South
Carolina after an internet search alluded to the booming labor industry of
the states towns along the Charleston Harbor.
Despite still living out of a motel room, wearing many of the clothes they
retrieved from their home, the family still looks forward to a time when
their lives will finally stabilize. They turn to a local soup kitchen for warm
meals and bags of food, as well as a link to finding the resources they will
need to start a new life in their new town.

Served by an agency of the Lowcountry Food Bank

4

Tyra
DElaware

This holiday season, Tyra is filled with great anticipation as she waits to
create what she hopes will be a festive display of turkey and fixings for her
family and neighbors. Many of them dont have the means to supply such
a grand Thanksgiving dinner, so the 21-year-old knows how much her efforts
will be needed. Shes also proud to present the cooking skills she learned
through the Food Bank of Delawares Culinary School Program.
The Delaware native learned about the 12-week program through a job
placement agency. As part of the program, Tyra cultivated invaluable
cooking skills, as well as lessons on how to work with a group, eagerly
applying her new craft to her internship with a cafeteria cooking staff
following the end of the program. Now that she has completed her training,
she looks forward to volunteering at her local soup kitchen and finding a
great full-time job as a cook.

Served by an agency of the Food Bank of Delaware

6

Jerry
Minnesota

Jerry is known as a big-hearted client at Keystone Community Services.

For the past three years, the food shelf has been the first place he turns
to when he cant make ends meet. Despite his dependency on disability
income and Keystones services, he still opens his home to people in greater
need. More often than not, Jerry shares the food he receives from Keystone
with his passing visitors.
If he had his own way, this witty 62-year-old Nebraska native would spend
his time and resources helping more people. As a new member of the
Kwanzaa Presbyterian church, hes eager to start community HIV-awareness
programs targeted toward African-Americans. Jerrys verbal fight against
the spread of the virus in the community is a sobering reminder of his
bodys daily battle with the disease.
Jerry also suffers from diabetes-induced neuropathy, which has led to
extensive nerve damage in his legs. But each week hell get on a bus to
make the one-mile trek to Keystone. For Jerry, this food shelf is a source of
nourishment and friendship.

Served by an agency of Second Harvest Heartland

8

David and ethel

Mason
Alaska

Bills and rent piled up for David and Ethel during the early part of 2008,
creating an insurmountable mass of debt. The two tried hard to catch up,
feeding their savings and the money David was making from his scaledback work shifts to their growing stack of past due notices. Soon, Davids
job fell victim to the deepening recession, and he was left with no income
to take care of his pregnant wife and their two-year-old son, Mason.
David tried earnestly to keep his family in their home to no avail. He and
Ethel have seven children between the two of them, with little Mason as
the only family living in their care. The former Navy man looked forward
to the day they would all be reunited in one home. But with no place to
call their own anymore, the three turned to a Food Bank of Alaska, Inc.,
shelter run by the local Salvation Army. Its there that David awakes each
day to continue his exhaustive job search.
For David, who hasnt always resided in Alaska, the rising cost of living has
been discouraging. Even with the way things are, he and Ethel would never
leave their home just off of the Gulf of Alaska. Its beautiful here, he sighs
with a capricious chuckle about his adopted home state. He knows with
Ethels support and the help of his shelter, things may be alright.

Served by an agency of the Food Bank of Alaska, Inc.

10

11

Ginger
Idaho

The sky is as dark as coffee on a cool Idaho evening, and Ginger sips a hot
beverage inside a cafher respite after a long days work. A year ago, this
single mother of four started her own massage company. Managing a
growing client base, Ginger now spends three to four nights a week easing
the tension out of stressed individuals. Shes remarkably chipper, considering
she works a full-time day job with her local Department of Education. Shes
still full of smiles, even as she recalls the night she and her children left the
home of her abusive husband.
Theres been some pretty dark times, Ginger recalls, especially when I was
still married. Her thirteen years of marriage ended on the evening she left
eight years ago. With no car and only $10.77 in her wallet, Ginger made her
way to Women and Children Only, a program and shelter created to help
abused women. This shelter, through the help of the Idaho Food Bank, was
able to provide food for Ginger and her children as the family recuperated
from their past. The WCA also provided access to counseling and support
groups where Ginger could share her story.
Despite the hardships shes encountered, Ginger made her way back to
school. She looks to her children for inspiration, using them as a reminder
of all the wonderful things she had to fight for in her life.

Served by an agency of the Idaho Food Bank

12

13

Najla
Alencia, Allen, Kevion and Keviyonna
missouri

For someone who enjoys looking out for others as much as Najlaa young,
single mother raising four kids under the age of ninesometimes she can
use a little help herself. Thats why she turns to the Kingdom House for
assistance. This social service agency caters to the working mothers of her
south side St. Louis neighborhood in need of day care services for their
kids. Each month, this Certified Nurses Assistant takes bags of nourishing
food home from the pantry. The array of groceries Najla receives often
makes its way into her large pots of pre-planned meals, yielding enough
food to be frozen and reheated for lunch and dinner throughout the week.

is someone that is there to listen and provide words of encouragement to

help you move forward and get past difficult times, she explains. Its the
reassurance she needs as she juggles the demands of EMT classes, work
and raising four young kids on her own.
A smile comes to her face as Najla thinks about the future and working as
an EMT. She knows that the long hours and hard work will be worth the
financial freedom. I think my kids will appreciate it because we will have
the money to do a lot more things together, said Najla. I cant wait for
the day that they call me across the stage [to get my diploma].

Najla gratefully relies on Kingdom House not only for child care and
food, but also for emotional supportBecause sometimes, all you need
Served by an agency of the St. Louis Area Food Bank
14

15

Larissa
CAlifornia

Many people who receive food through the Feeding America network also
spend time volunteering at their local food pantries and soup kitchens,
helping to sustain programs that are vital to their friends and neighbors.
Larissa is one such dedicated person.
Originally from Ukraine, she now lives and volunteers at San Franciscos
Bethany Center, a partner agency of the San Francisco Food Bank that
provides housing services to low-income seniors. Larissa focuses most of
her volunteer efforts on food preparation, and truly values the friendships
she and her neighbors share over meals.
Through the power of the Feeding America network, Larissas senior years
will be filled with food and companionship.

Served by an agency of the San Francisco Food Bank

16

17

Shirley
New Jersey

Shirley is often stunned by the faces she sees during her volunteering shifts
at her local pantry. This jovial 73-year-old widow recognizes countless
neighbors and friends coming in for emergency food assistance from the
agency supported in part by the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.
They are just like herpeople who dont know what they would do without
immediate access to food.
A $1,200 monthly pension was what initially worried Shirley, bringing her
to the food pantry in September 2008. The money her husband of 53 years,
an Army veteran and boat builder, had saved before he passed away wasnt
enough to pay for the cost of food, gas and auto insurance. A barrage of
medical bills was added to the mix of monthly monetary concerns after
Shirleys battle with high cholesterol led to four stents in her heart.
Nonetheless, Shirley definitely tries to remain financially savvy. She turns
down the heat to 60 degrees each night to lower energy costs. Home
cooking from scratch is cheaper for her than dining out, and Shirley
definitely loves finding creative ways to fix the food she gets from the
pantry. Its a fondness eclipsed only by the great joy she gets from
volunteering twice a week at the agency that keeps her fed when her
husbands pension cannot.

Served by an agency of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey

18

19

Rachel lynn
Kansas

In October 2007, Rachel Lynn was driving with her nine-year-old daughter,
Ragen, when another driver plowed into her car. Ragen emerged the
accident with a few scrapes and bruises, but Rachel Lynn was immediately
hospitalized for her injuries. Within 10 months, the 33-year-old underwent
two surgical procedures on her back and one on her arm.
Prior to the crash, this mother of three worked as a hostess in a small Italian
restaurant, and recently received the green light from her doctor to return
to work. Limited funds from time off forced this homeowner to her churchs
food pantry to help feed her kids. The humbling experience was ironic to
Rachel Lynn, who had spent years volunteering her services to the agency
filing the paperwork of new clients during intakes. Now she was sitting in
the chair, answering questions about her familys logistics and filling out
her own application for pantry parcels.
Rachel Lynn refuses to let the effects of the accident dim her outlook on
life, just as much as she refuses to let her current settings dictate her
dreams. Her infectious optimism has spread to her neighbors, creating a
well-maintained oasis in the midst of a struggling neighborhood. This
recuperating mother still takes extreme pride in her home and its
beleaguered streets, a love manifested in manicured lawns and clean roads.
She wants the best for her family and works hard to see her plans through,
and the food pantry is a useful tool in fulfilling her aspirations.

Served by an agency of the Kansas Foodbank Warehouse

20

21

States represented in this book are served by these

Feeding America member food banks:
alaska
Food Bank of Alaska, Inc.
foodbankofalaska.org

california

Second Harvest Food Bank of

Santa Cruz and San Benito Cos.
thefoodbank.org
Second Harvest Food Bank
Serving Riverside and San
Bernardino Cos.

missouri
Americas Second Harvest
of Greater St. Joseph
stjoefoodbank.org
Central Missouri Food Bank
Network, Inc.
centralmofoodbank.org

Alameda County Community

Food Bank
accfb.org

Yuma Community Food Bank

yumafoodbank.org

Community Food Bank

communityfoodbank.net

delaware

Harvesters The Community

Food Network
harvesters.org

Food Bank of Delaware

fbd.org

Ozarks Food Harvest

ozarksfoodharvest.org

idaho

St. Louis Area Food Bank

stlfoodbank.org

The Idaho Foodbank

idahofoodbank.org

Southeast Missouri Food Bank

semofoodbank.org

Food Bank of Northern Nevada

fbnn.org

Second Harvest Inland

Northwest
2-harvest.org

new jersey

Food Bank for Monterey

County
food4hungry.org

kansas

Community Food Bank

of New Jersey
njfoodbank.org

Americas Second Harvest

of Greater St. Joseph
stjoefoodbank.org

The Foodbank of Monmouth

and Ocean Counties, Inc.
foodbankmoc.org

Harvesters - The Community

Food Network
harvesters.org

Food Bank of South Jersey

foodbanksj.org

Community Resources
Council, Inc.
Feeding America San Diego
feedingamericaSD.org
FIND, Inc.
FINDfoodbank.org

Food Bank of Contra Costa

and Solano
foodbankccs.org
Foodlink for Tulare County
foodlinktc.org
Foodbank of Santa Barbara
County
foodbanksbc.org

Kansas Foodbank Warehouse

ksfoodbank.org

Food Share, Inc.

foodshare.com

minnesota

Los Angeles Regional

Foodbank
lafoodbank.org
Redwood Empire Food Bank
refb.org
San Francisco Food Bank
sffoodbank.org
Second Harvest Food Bank
of Orange County
FeedOC.org
Second Harvest Food Bank
of San Joaquin and Stanislaus
Counties
localfoodbank.org

Channel One Food Bank

helpingfeedpeople.org
Great Plains Food Bank
Issnd.org/greatplainsfoodbank
North Country Food Bank, Inc.
northcountryfoodbank.org
Second Harvest Heartland
2harvest.org
Second Harvest North Central
Food Bank
secondharvestncfb.org
Second Harvest Northern Lakes
Food Bank
northernlakesfoodbank.org

Philabundance
philabundance.org

new mexico
Roadrunner Food Bank
rrfb.org

south carolina
Golden Harvest Food Bank
goldenharvest.org
Harvest Hope Food Bank
harvesthope.org
Lowcountry Food Bank
lowcountryfoodbank.org
Second Harvest Food Bank
of Metrolina
secondharvestmetrolina.org

Second Harvest Food

Bank of Santa Clara &
San Mateo Counties
2ndharvest.net

22

23

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