Empty Bowls Tickets Make Great Stocking Stuffers!

Purchase or gift a ticket for the 3rd Annual Empty Bowls of the Albemarle and help provide critical nutrition assistance to our neighbors in need in northeast North Carolina. Come to the ALL NEW Preview Party, the traditional Empty Bowls Luncheon or both! Every year, Empty Bowls helps to put thousands of meals on the tables of families in need. Local artists and arts education programs are busy making beautiful bowls that are their own expressions of hunger relief for event patrons to take home as a reminder of hunger in our region.

NEW THIS YEAR! Empty Bowls of the Albemarle Preview Party
Tuesday, March 15th, 2016 | 5:30PM - 7:30PM
Tickets: $40
Ticket includes choice of a handcrafted pottery bowl, heavy hors d'oeuvres and entertainment! A silent auction will be held with beautiful items created by area artists. Ticket also includes lunch at the Empty Bowls Luncheon the following day!

JOIN US AGAIN! Empty Bowls of the Albemarle Luncheon
Wednesday, March 16th, 2016 | 11:00AM - 2:00PM
Tickets: $20 in advance | $25 the day of
Ticket includes choice of a handcrafted pottery bowl and a lunch of delicious soup from area restaurants, salad, bread and dessert!

Tickets available December 2nd ONLINE, Hugh Cale Community Center and the Food Bank of the Albemarle. For more information call 252-335.4035 x 113.

Getting Healthy Food to Kids in Need

Kids all across the Albemarle have gone back to school and are learning and growing and  working towards their goals. That's what all of us want as parents,grandparents, and community members. But for children who are at risk of hunger the Food Bank of the Albemarle is working to ensure there's always enough food to eat.

27% - nearly 1 in 3 children in Washington County lack consistent access to the healthy nutritious food they need. Recognizing this problem, Food Bank of the Albemarle and Farm Service Agency County Executive Director, Wendy Modlin, jumped to  action to coordinate a backpack program for kids in need.  With support from the community and  from Vidant Chowan Hospital Foundation, 50 children are currently receiving nutritious and easy to prepare foods for the weekend while they are out of school.

Without meals for the weekend, many children return to school unprepared to learn causing set backs to their academic progress. 

Nonprofit Tax Exemption is at Risk - Take Two Quick Actions by Monday

State legislators are in the final stages of negotiating the state budget for FY2015-16. We continue to hear that nonprofit tax exemption is at risk. Specifically, the Senate has proposed lowering the existing $45 million cap on nonprofit sales tax refunds. This would be a first step to eventually taxing all nonprofits in North Carolina.   

Please complete two quick actions by noon on Monday, September 14 to help protect all nonprofits' tax exemption: 

1.     Call your House member with the following message:

"We urge you to support the entire nonprofit sector by protecting our tax exemption.  Any change to the existing structure for nonprofit sales tax refunds will ultimately hurt all nonprofits, including my organization.  Please tell Speaker Moore that you can't vote for a tax package that lowers the existing cap on nonprofit sales tax refunds."

2.    Tweet your House member with one of the following message(s):

• .@__________ Taxing #nonprofits will cost NC - stand with the nonprofit community. Learn more: http://bit.ly/1Kd41EN #ncga #ncpol
• .@__________ Protect #NC taxpayers and communities - don't tax our #nonprofits. Learn more: http://bit.ly/1Kd41EN #ncga #ncpol  

You can check here to find your House members' phone numbers and Twitter handles.

SECU Members Partner with North Carolina Food Banks for 6 Million Meal Project!

Raleigh, N.C. – SECU Foundation Board Chair McKinley Wooten, Jr. and NC Association of Feeding America Food Banks Executive Director Alan Briggs met today to sign a $1.2 million Agreement that will provide North Carolinians in need with 6 million additional meals over the next 3 years! The grant from State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) members via their Foundation will add 2 million meals per year to clients served by North Carolina food banks – that’s one extra meal per year funded by each of the Credit Union’s 2 million members. The non-profit NC Association serves as a strategic alliance for the six food banks and one food recovery organization in the state, and its affiliated network of 2,500 food pantries, shelters and community groups will help ensure the additional meals reach neighbors in all 100 North Carolina counties.

L- R: McKinley Wooten, Jr. and Alan Briggs
signing official Agreement

According to a recent Feeding America research report “Hunger in America 2014,” 81% of North Carolina households receiving assistance don’t know where their next meal is coming from, 73% of NC households served have had to choose between paying for food or healthcare and medicine, 61% served have been forced to choose between buying food and paying for housing and 36% of NC food pantries have had to turn people away for lack of food to distribute.

As part of the Agreement provisions, SECU Foundation’s grant will assist with procuring and distributing additional shelf stable food items that are not ordinarily donated or are in short supply. The grant will also help procure and distribute additional fruits and vegetables to improve nutritional food stream content, tying in with the Association’s statewide Farm to Food Bank initiative to rescue unharvested or unsold produce. The final result will mean better food for more families in poverty, improved health for the food insecure and boosts to local communities across North Carolina.

“Since 2010, North Carolina has regularly ranked among the top ten states with the highest percentage of citizens experiencing food insecurity and we have one of the highest percentages in the U.S. of children under 18 who are food insecure on a regular basis, 26.7% or over 1 in 4,” said Briggs. “SECU Foundation’s grant will help us close the meal gap, providing a source of funds to purchase basic necessities and help expand our ability to meet the growing needs in our State. We deeply appreciate the support from SECU members through their generous funding and commitment to this project.”

Wooten added, “On behalf of SECU members, we are delighted to be partnering with the NC Association of Feeding America Food Banks to provide much needed assistance for local citizens and

bring more awareness to the issue of hunger. The Foundation’s investment in this initiative will also broaden the reach of the Food Bank’s network statewide and help build connections between individual food banks and their partner agencies with Credit Union branches in all counties. We know this effort will make a powerful difference in our State!”

About SECU and the SECU Foundation

A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, SECU has been providing employees of the State of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for 78 years. The Credit Union also offers a diversified line of financial advisory services including retirement and education planning, tax preparation, insurance, trusts, estate planning and investments through its partners and affiliated entities. SECU serves 2 million members through 254 branch offices, over 1,100 ATMs, 24/7 Contact Centers and a website, www.ncsecu.org. The SECU Foundation, a 501c (3) charitable organization funded solely by the contributions of SECU members, promotes local community development in North Carolina primarily through high impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare and human services.

Dine Out to Help Out 2015!

Dine Out to Help Out is ONE WEEK AWAY! When you Dine Out at a partner restaurant on Tues., June 9th a portion of your bill will benefit the Food Bank's hunger relief programs (so go ahead and get the appetizers AND dessert!). Get your co-workers, family and friends together and Dine Out for a cause! For more information, visit www.afoodbank.org. 

Participating Restaurants: 

Camden County

Track I Restaurant

Currituck County
BJ's Carolina Café
Currituck BBQ
Frog Island Seafood

Dare County
Awful Arthurs Oyster Bar
Colington Café
Dune Burger
Jolly Roger Restaurant
Kelly's Outer Banks Restaurant
Kill Devil Grill
Mako Mikes
Pamlico Jack's Restaurant
Peppercorns Restaurant and Lounge
Pigmans BBQ
Sam & Omie's
Stack'em High - Kitty Hawk
Stack'em High & So Forth
The Sanderling Resort:
                  The Life Saving Station
                  Kimball's Kitchen

Pasquotank County
3 Amigos
AirBase Café
Captain D's Seafood Restaurant
Circle II Restaurant
Colonial Restaurant
Cypress Creek
Dairy Queen
Dragon Buffet
Famous Franks
Golden Corral
Grouper's Waterfront Seafood Restaurant
Kathy's Kreations
Montero's Restaurant
Ray-Rays Food
Sidney's Café
Subway at Farm Fresh
Subway At Walmart
The Sandwich Market
Tony's Ristorante Italiano & Pizzeria
Toyama Japanese Restaurant
The Villa Restaurant
Wildflower Café

Perquimans County

Captain Bob's BBQ & Seafood

The Clubhouse at Albemarle Plantation
The Nicholson House Café, Tea Parlor, and Gift Shop
Tommy's Pizza

How does a Food Bank differ from a Food Pantry?

What is a food bank and how does it relate to my local food pantry?

This is a question staff at the Food Bank of the Albemarle field often and it's understandable - the terms "food bank" and "food pantry" seem interchangeable. A food bank is a nonprofit clearinghouse that receives donated food and grocery products and channels them through hunger relief partners such as food pantries, shelters soup kitchens, adult day cares or any type of facility that serves lower-income populations within a specific geographic region.  
Simply put, it is a warehouse and distribution center. Food banks are able to accommodate larger quantities of food and can then acquire food at bulk or wholesale prices. The food bank then supplies the food it has acquired to hunger relief partners which, in turn, provide people who are in need with food and supplies. Both are vital parts of the hunger-relief system.  

 What is the Food Bank of the Albemarle?

As the area's only food bank, we provide food to a network of more than 130 agency partners such as food pantries, shelters, senior centers, low-income day cares, domestic violence centers and more throughout a fifteen county region of northeast North Carolina. FBA is a member of the Feeding America network of food banks and is 1 of 7 food banks serving North Carolina. In addition to the food bank’s distribution of approximately 6 million pounds of food and grocery product annually, it offers several direct service programs such as the Albemarle Food Pantry, After School Snack Program, Back Pack Program, Summer Meal Programs and Mobile Food Pantries. 

How do local hunger relief agencies relate to a food bank?

Small, local hunger relief agencies are often members of a regional food bank like FBA. They are a part of a hunger relief network working at a micro-level towards a solution to hunger.

• Food pantries provide unprepared food directly to those in need who may have a place to live, but not enough to eat.  Food pantries are an important source of emergency food for the working poor. FBA's pantry partners report 77% of the food they distribute is from FBA.
• A Mobile Food Pantry program model operates like a standard food pantry, but on wheels. A truck from FBA arrives at and serves geographic regions where there is limited or no access to a fixed food pantry.  The people in these designated areas are often in most desperate need of assistance.
• Emergency meal sites like soup kitchens prepare food provided by FBA into hot, nutritious meals for those in need.  For many people, the soup kitchen provides their only hot meal of the day.

The food bank solicits public support, grants and conduct special events within our 15 county region to cover vital program costs necessary to meeting the mission.  In addition, donors will elect to support the food bank directly because they want to support regional activities, not one program or project because it mirrors their business footprint. Our food donors want assurances that their donations are going to be handled in a safe and secure manner. Feeding America food banks and their network of hunger relief partners are able to demonstrate that the food they distribute is safely meeting that expectation in order to feed the hungry.

FSA State Director Bob Etheridge Helps Say Thank You to Eagles Wings' Volunteers

State Farm Service Agency Director, Bob Etheridge, was the keynote speaker for Eagles Wings Food Pantry’s Annual Volunteer Banquet. Eagles Wings is a member of the Food Bank of the Albemarle's Hunger Relief Network. Etheridge was instrumental in assisting Eagles Wings acquire a USDA grant that funded a large portion of the agency’s new forklift. 

During the dinner, Montague stated, “As a group, our volunteers have given 15,913 hours of service to Eagles Wings. The newest federal estimate on the value of a volunteer hour of work is now valued at $23.07….that equates to roughly $390,000 worth of time you have given towards our mission of alleviating hunger in our county.”

Congratulations to Ann-Marie. Today, May 1^st, marks her 1^st anniversary as executive director of the agency!

Eagles Wings Executive Director Ann-Marie Montague
& FSA State Director Bob Etheridge

Two Local Feeding Frenzy Champions are Repeat Winners

Attorney General Roy Cooper with
Peebles Harrison

The Legal Feeding Frenzy Food Drive, conducted by the Young Lawyers Division in Conjunction with the North Carolina Feeding America Food Banks was held through March and April of this year and two local law firms are repeat champions in their respective categories for the 2015 drive. Simonsen Law Firm, PC of Edenton, NC was the winner of the Sole Proprietor category for the third year in a row and Rose, Harrison & Gilreath, PC won the Small Firm category for the second year.

Attorney General Roy Cooper with
Lars Simonsen

"Simonsen Law Firm participates in the Legal Feeding Frenzy to help shine a light on the pressing issue of hunger found in our area, and across our state.   We feel that it’s important to raise awareness, just as it is important to raise funds and make a difference.  We are thrilled to have won North Carolina’s sole division for the past three consecutive years, and really appreciate ‘our' generous donors who have helped us help others," said Chamblee Simonsen, Office Administrator of Simonsen Law Firm.

Law firms across the state are encouraged to enter the competition and collect as many pounds of food as possible. Locally, four other firms from the Food Bank of the Albemarle's service territory participated this year including Legal Aid of NC; Sharp, Michael, Graham & Baker, LLP; The Twiford Law Firm and Hornthal, Riley, Ellis & Maland, LLP. More than 62,000 lbs of food was raised to help fight hunger in NENC and nearly 300,000 pounds of food was collected across the state. Each of this year’s champions is a repeat winner and several are being honored for the third consecutive year.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, honorary chair, recognized category winners and the recipient of the Attorney General’s Cup on Wednesday, April 22, at the N.C. Bar Center.

  

Wilson Loftis chaired the YLD Legal Feeding Frenzy Committee this year. 

 

All the winners & participants

For area kids, hunger is a growing problem

Child Food Insecurity Rates in Northeast NC at Five Year High According to Map the Meal Gap 2015

According to the annual Map the Meal Gap study released today, food insecurity in northeast North Carolina remains stagnant at 19.5% -60,500 people- for the overall population. Food insecurity rates rose to a 5 year high of 26.6% for area children under 18 years old. 17,710 or more than 1 in 4 kids in northeast North Carolina know hunger as a chronic condition they face throughout the year.

Food insecurity is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s measure of lack of access at times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.

“We are dedicated to working to address hunger in northeast North Carolina,” said Liz Reasoner, Executive Director at Food Bank of the Albemarle. “We use the findings from Map the Meal Gap 2015 to better quantify the reality of hunger that we see on a day to day basis. This information is critical to targeting implantation of our programs and services across the region.“  

The state of North Carolina's food insecurity rate of 18.3% is slightly higher than the national average of 15.8%. 

Other local key findings:

·          The counties in northeast NC with the highest rates of food insecurity were Hertford County (24.1%), Bertie County (23.7%) and Northampton County (23.4%)

·          The counties in northeast NC with the highest rates of child food insecurity were Chowan County (31.8%), Northampton County (30.3%) and Tyrrell County (29.8%)

·          25% of food insecure children come from households that are NOT income-eligible for federal nutrition assistance programs.

Map the Meal Gap 2015 is based on an analysis of statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture , U.S. Census Bureau, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available.The study, commissioned by Feeding America, is a detailed analysis of the nation’s food insecurity. An interactive map is available that allows viewers to explore the issue of hunger in northeast NC and across the country. The map can be found at map.feedingamerica.org .

“ Map the Meal Gap 2015 provides unique insight into the prevalence of food insecurity in each county and congressional district in our nation,” said Bob Aiken, CEO of Feeding America. “It will help policy makers and our elected officials understand the challenges they face in addressing hunger in the communities they serve.”

The study is supported by the Founding Sponsor Howard G. Buffett Foundation as well as the ConAgra Foods Foundation and Nielsen . The food price data and analysis was provided by Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN), a global provider of information and insights. The lead researcher is Dr. Craig Gundersen, professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, executive director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory and member of Feeding America’s Technical Advisory Group.

County and congressional district food-insecurity details and the full report are available at map.feedingamerica.org .

Together with Walmart, #WeSparkChange

Today Walmart launches the 2015 Fight Hunger, Spark Change campaign and through May 3rd you can be a part of fighting hunger in northeast NC! Here in our corner of the world 19.5% of our population and 1 in 4 children don't have consistent access to the healthy food they need.

Here's how YOU can help!

1. When you shop at Walmart, be sure to purchase specially marked items. Each item you purchase secures 1 meal for someone in need here in northeast NC.

2. You have the opportunity to give even more meals to those in need at the register. Donations of $1, $2 or $5 are accepted and will go directly to feeding the hungry in northeast NC.

3. Fight Hunger and Spark Change on social media! Help the 1 in 6 Americans who deal with hunger by uploading a picture of 6 people who care about fighting hunger to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Use the hashtag #WeSparkChange -- be sure to make your photo public!

The Food Bank of the Albemarle Operations Team

Food Bank of the Albemarle Recognizes 2014 Farmer of the Year

The Food Bank of the Albemarle located on Tidewater Way in Elizabeth City formally recognized its agricultural donors with a donor appreciation luncheon on February 4th. Last year, farmers across the Albemarle region donated more than 314,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Food Bank of the Albemarle. "We are incredibly grateful to our farming community for their dedication to fighting hunger in our community. They answered the call of service and provided thousands of pounds of fresh produce to help those in need," said Food Bank Executive Director, Liz Reasoner.

Among those who donated 2 operations were awarded for exemplary support of the Food Bank's mission of fighting hunger in northeast North Carolina.

• 2014 Farmer of the Year: All Seasons Farm, LLC , Camden County. All Seasons Farm, LLC had a 275% increase in donations from 2013 to 2014.
• 2014 New Donor of the Year: Pamlico Shores Produce, Hyde County. New to donating in 2014 Pamlico Shores Produce provided 70,858 meals for those in need across northeast NC in 2014.

Food Resource Coordinator, Carolyn Anderson, presents the Farmer of the Year Award to All Seasons Farm, LLC

William Liggitt accepts the New Donor of the Year Award on behalf of Pamlico Shores Produce, LLC