STUFH - Students Team Up to Fight Hunger

SEC SAAC Food Drive Nets 20 Tons - 10/12/2007

---------------------------------------------------------------

For the past fourteen years, Auburn University and the University of Alabama students have competed with each other in the weeks prior to the State's biggest football game to see which University could raise the most food for their local food bank. The Auburn University Student Government Association partners with the Food Bank in this effort.

* The challenge has grown from a relatively small-scale event with about 1,000 pounds donated to becoming one of the largest food drives in the State. Last year, Alabama captured the trophy after AU students collected an amazing 183,017 pounds-compared to UA's 241,336 pounds. The value of last year's donation by Auburn University is estimated to be more than $294,657!

* The total pounds collected by both schools during this friendly competition over the past twelve years is the equivalent of more than 826,880 meals or 48 tractor-trailer loads.

* The real winners of this annual competition are the hungry families fed through the food bank network. This food is channeled into the senior programs, low-income day cares, emergency food pantries, missions and rehabilitation centers that are served by the Food Bank of East Alabama and
the West Alabama Food Bank.

* Hunger is on the rise across America. In many parts of the country, the demand for emergency food is so high that 1 in 5 food pantries is turning people away because they don't have enough to feed them. For many, visits to the food pantry are no longer one-time emergency stops, but a regular part of the monthly routine. The downturn in the economy has brought many new faces to food pantries over the past six months.

* We think of hunger as happening somewhere else-Africa, Bosnia, some third world country. What is hard to believe is that it is happening here in our own country.

* It is not an overstatement to say that this food drive, the Auburn-Alabama Food Fight, determines whether some families will have Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and will have adequate food for their families generally.

* People that live outside of Alabama can't possibly know what a "real" football rivalry is! This is about much more than the 60 minutes played once a year. It is bragging rights for an entire year. The
opportunity to beat the opponent university is just too good to pass up!

* This competition was the brain-child of Craig Young, former director of the West Alabama Food Bank, who felt that as long as there is this intense competition, we might as well put it to a good use.

* One of the really fun aspects of this food drive is the small competitions that take place within the "big" competition. A good example of this takes place in one of the departments at Auburn University. In October, the professors challenge their students to bring in donations of food. The professor with the least amount of donations has to wear a costume to teach his classes on Halloween.

We hear a lot these days about earth-friendly living and the importance of being green. As a matter of fact, food banks have been in the business of recycling food since 1967-rescuing perfectly good food that would have been headed for the landfill and putting that food into the hands of those who need it. The challenge, of course, is finding the food to "rescue."

John van Hengel is by no means a household name, but his concept benefits millions of households every day. Van Hengel, who died in 2004 at age 83, created the idea of food banks, which today help feed more than 25 million Americans each year.

Nearly 40 years ago, van Hengel met a woman who was feeding her large family from the refuse bins of grocery stores. She was just trying to keep her children fed, but van Hengel saw the potential for feeding large numbers of poor people with food that was salvageable. He asked a store manager if he
could have the food that was being discarded before it went into the dumpster. The manager said yes, and the food bank concept was born.

How big an impact has van Hengel's simple concept had? The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 10 percent of Americas receive assistance through food banks. What a profound impact from a simple idea. And the efforts of Stufh continues this work.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest estimate is that America ultimately wastes 27% of all its food, and that food adds up to approximately 10% of what ends up in landfills. So the "other" side of food banking is keeping food out of the landfills.

One of the most memorable sites to visit in Washington DC is the Roosevelt Memorial. This memorial is divided into four outdoor rooms, one for each of FDR's terms in office. One site focuses on President Roosevelt's second term and depicts the Depression. This poignant wall shows people standing in line outside a soup kitchen with the following quote: "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

What strikes me is that this image-standing in line-is a familiar one. We see it regularly at our agency distribution sites. While we have moved forward in technological and medical advancements, one area remains the same. There are Americans that still need help feeding their families. There are children that are still missing meals. There are seniors that can pay for their medicine but cannot also pay for their food. There are working families that find their wages inadequate to cover their living
expenses.

For me the bottom line with regard to the work of Stufh is what's not to love? You are helping to eliminate waste and helping to feed people.

Martha Faupel, Executive Director
Food Bank of East Alabama
375 Industry Drive
Auburn, Alabama 36832
334-821-9006
www.foodbankofeastalabama.com