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