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

Fight Hunger, Spark Change and Help Provide Fresh, Healthy Produce Across Northeast North Carolina!

The Food Bank of the Albemarle needs your help to fight hunger in northeast North Carolina! 

Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. initiative begins today, September 15. We need your help in voting the Food Bank of the Albemarle into the top 50 food banks in the nation!

If we finish this competition, we will win $60,000 to acquire and distribute fresh healthy produce to those in need across the 15 counties we serve. A portion of awarded funds will benefit the hunger relief programs several of our Hunger Relief Partners operate. The more votes the Food Bank gets, the better chance we have of winning! It’s easy to vote:

1.    Visit www.walmart.com/hunger

2.    Search for “Food Bank of the Albemarle”

3.    Vote once per day through October 5!

4.    Share your vote and the link with your friends and family on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Award recipients will be determined based on the number of votes received in a public voting campaign from September 15 to October 5, 2014.

For more information on the “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” initiative, visit the Food Bank’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ECFoodBank or www.afoodbank.org.

Thank you for your support!

Tornadoes Strike Northeast North Carolina

On Friday, April 25th, strong storms rocked the eastern coastal plains of North Carolina causing tornadoes that damaged many homes, some destroyed completely in. This is not a regular occurrence in our region and the damage was devastating for many families.

Part of our mission as the Food Bank of the Albemarle is to respond to disasters when they happen. Food is essential and we respond by helping provide water and food to other emergency response agencies as well as people who are directly in need. When the tornadoes struck, the staff at the Food Bank of the Albemarle immediately responded, despite being without power temporarily and without phone or internet service for 5 days. Counties in our service territory that needed help were Beaufort, Chowan, Pasquotank and Perquimans.

A delivery of disaster relief supplies from God's Pit Crew
arrived at the Food Bank of the Albemarle following
the storm.

We were blessed that God's Pit Crew, a disaster relief organization from Virginia, saw what had happened in northeast North Carolina and delivered water and Gatorade to us the Sunday following the storm. We were able to provide those supplies to the City of Elizabeth City as well as the Red Cross to help them as they served people whose houses were lost. We opened our food pantry to people who had been affected by the storms and provided 45 households with groceries to get them through the next difficult phase of their lives as they rebuild all they've lost.

The Red Cross received food from the Food Bank of the
Albemarle

Water and Gatorade that was provided to people and
organizations who needed it.

Two Area Law Firms Win In 2014 Legal Feeding Frenzy!

In the 2nd Annual Legal Feeding Frenzy, a food drive competition among North Carolina's law firms, 2 local firms won their respective categories which is based on the number of employees. Simonsen Law Firm from Chowan County and Rose, Harrison & Gilreath, P.C. from Dare County were both recognized as winners by Attorney General, Roy Cooper on April 24th at the North Carolina Bar Association in Cary, NC.

Seventy-nine teams participated in the event and raised over 340,000 pounds of food – the equivalent of 280,000 meals – and easily shattered the goal of 250,000 pounds.

Speakers at the awards ceremony included Allan Head, executive director of the North Carolina Bar Association; Alan Briggs, executive director of the N.C. Association of Food Banks; Clark Walton, YLD chair; and YLD Legal Feeding Frenzy co-chairs, Cabell Clay and Brian Scott.

The winning teams were:

Attorney General’s Cup (most overall pounds of food per employee)
Mason Law Office, PLLC, Raleigh (3,397.5 pounds per employee)
Tonya Mason accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

Solo Practitioner (1-10 employees)
Simonsen Law Firm, PC, Edenton (1,850 pounds per employee)
Lars Simonsen accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

Small Firm (11-50 employees)
Rose, Harrison & Gilreath, P.C., Kill Devil Hills (828.6 pounds per employee)
Peebles Harrison accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

Medium Firm (51-100 employees)
Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A., Winston-Salem (76.4 pounds per employee)
Robin Stinson accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

Large Firm (101 employees and up)
Moore & Van Allen PLLC, Charlotte (headquarters) and RTP (139.7 pounds per person)
Cabell Clay accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

Law School

Wake Forest University School of Law, Winston-Salem (21.3 pounds per person)
Caleb Holloway accepted the award on behalf of the law school.

Most Pounds Collected
Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, Winston-Salem (headquarters), Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh, Charlotte (91,770.88 pounds)

Aulica Monroe accepted the award on behalf of the firm.