Media Articles

 

May 31, 2002

June 5th National Hunger Awareness Day focuses attention on growing demand for food by community agencies as economic downturn and summer impacts North Texas families

DALLAS, TX – The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) celebrates its 20th anniversary on the first-ever National Hunger Awareness Day , Wednesday, June 5, 2002, with and, Open House featuring the grand opening of The Community Kitchen, the unveiling of the donor recognition mural by Texas artist Jer Giles, and the launch of Check Out Hunger, a 30-day fund drive with five major North Texas grocery chain retailers. Event activities are from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon at 4500 S. Cockrell Hill Road in Dallas.

Each day, individuals, companies and organizations are pledging their support for National Hunger Awareness Day, an unprecedented national campaign to raise awareness of hunger and the solutions available at local, state and national levels. With America’s Second Harvest (A2H), the leading U.S. hunger awareness organization, and their 217 affiliated food banks, the NTFB recognizes June 5 as the culmination of A2H’s Call to Action, a 100-day campaign to raise an additional 365 million pounds of food to meet the recent increased demand by local food bank agencies. North Texas agencies are facing a 25 percent increase in demand for food and grocery products due to the economic downturn and the approach of summer as schools close and the free school lunch program is not available to supplement family budgets.

In response to the Call to Action, Tyson Foods, Inc., in partnership with Share Our Strength, is donating one million pounds of chicken to support National Hunger Awareness Day. On June 5, Tyson Foods will deliver to the North Texas Food Bank over 31,000 pounds of protein-rich chicken – enough to help provide more than 60,000 meals through the NTFB agencies. “We are deeply grateful to Tyson for their on-going support of the North Texas Food Bank. Protein is the most often needed product in emergency food assistance channels, yet it is often the least donated product,” says NTFB Executive Director Jan Pruitt.

Over the past 20 years, more than 200 million pounds of food and grocery products have been distributed through the NTFB; last year more than 23 million pounds of food and grocery products were distributed to 352 community agencies, food pantries, shelters and after school programs located in 13 North Texas counties. Each month last year, agency food pantries distributed food to more than 37,000 families, and agency on-site programs served over 500,000 meals/snacks. For every dollar donated to the NTFB, 17 dollars worth of grocery products are distributed to the hungry. The NTFB, recognized by A2H as the 2001 Food Bank of the Year, offers numerous innovative programs that effectively distribute produce and pre-cooked food to the elderly, children and families in both rural and urban communities. The Community Kitchen Program currently produces 3,000 fully prepared frozen meals each week for distribution to shelters and Kids Cafe after school programs. Students, participants in The Texas Second Chance program of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, attend a six-week foodservice job-training program directed by NTFB Chef James Williams. By August, food production is anticipated to increase to 10,000 meals per week as pantries start to supply the nutritious meals to families for use at home.

The Community Kitchen has received support from The Meadows Foundation, Philip Morris, American Express Foundation, The Marilyn Augur Family Foundation, Alcoa Foundation, Sodexho Foundation, and Wilson Barnes, General Contractors, in addition to numerous foodservice equipment manufacturers, distributors, and professionals.

Located on the inside warehouse wall of The Community Kitchen, a 100-foot long mural recognizes The Community Kitchen donors through images of food preparation. “The scene is an active kitchen with a stove top, burners and pots and pans bubbling with steam. In the vapors of steam are the names of many committed supporters of the Kitchen. The massive scale of the Kitchen foretells the size of the hunger problem and the solution,” explains Giles, an artist recognized for his theatrical scenery in Broadway, national stage and television productions. Giles is also credited with giving the State Fair of Texas’ Big Tex his new look in 1997 and painting faux ostrich skin boots and the silver leaf buckle last year.

CONTACT:
Colleen Brinkmann
colleen@ntfb.org
North Texas Food Bank
214.330.1396

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