|
Despite receiving year-round food assistance, buying groceries in bulk, and even taking free classes on couponing, Zoe and her family of four children always seem to be running low on food. For this reason, Zoe depends on the school breakfast and lunch programs that help feed her three elementary aged children.
"When school is in session, I don't have to worry about my kids going hungry because I'm fortunate enough for my kids to eat breakfast and lunch at school," she said. But when summer comes around and school is out, Zoe finds herself struggling to provide enough food for her kids to eat. "Those months are hard," she said. "Especially when you have more than one child depending on you to put food in front of them, and you're not even sure if you'll have enough." With parents like Zoe in mind, the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana provides free meals to children enrolled in Summer Clubs and Programs like Boys & Girls Clubs, churches and libraries. Throughout the summer months, the Food Bank will provide more than 50,000 meals for children in need. "These are healthy, nutritious meals," said Marleah Walker, the Food Bank's Agency Relations and Program Director. "The meals follow U.S.D.A. guidelines and are made up of well-balanced, nutritious foods, including fruit and vegetables. This summer, Zoe found some peace of mind when her children visited a nearby church and were given meals that included fruit, vegetables, and milk. The children will be able to return to the church all summer long, and Zoe is relieved to know they are getting nutritious food to eat. "Fruit is so expensive," Zoe said. "But it's important for the kids to have it. As a parent, it feels good to know my family is eating healthy food." Click here to read the rest of the summer 2017 Newsletter! One in five children in Northwest Louisiana are food-insecure. That is why the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana is partnering with the Shreve Memorial Libraries to provide free healthy lunches to children as part of the Food Bank's Summer Food Service Program. The Summer Food Service Program provides meals to kids during the summer months when they are at higher risk of hunger.
Lunch will be provided from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the following Shreve Memorial Library Branches:
Meals will be provided free of charge by the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana Monday through Friday through July 31, 2017. Click here to read the rest of our summer 2017 Newsletter. For many of us, summertime means family vacations and cookouts with friends and neighbors. But imagine instead of trying to decide where to go on your trip, you had to decide between putting gas in your car to go to work or feeding your child a full, healthy meal. Or instead of running to the store to pick up groceries for a barbecue, you had to stand in line at a food pantry because your food budget didn't stretch far enough that month.
Unfortunately, that is the difficult situation that faces the families of nearly 27,000 children this summer. When school is out, these children lose access they normally receive at their school cafeteria. These children are worrying about an empty stomach, and their families are trying desperately to stretch already strained budgets. As a result, there are more parents and guardians seeking help to feed their children during a time when food banks across the country see a decrease in giving. Each summer your donations have helped the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana to provide thousands of meals to these children, and we're asking you to join us again to help Stop Summer Hunger. Your donation can make an impact in a child's life this summer. By supporting the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, you make it possible for us to provide breakfast and lunch to children through our Children's Summer Meals Program. Thank you for giving thousands of children the possibility of a carefree summer--an opportunity to just be a kid and enjoy the summer. Click here to read the rest of our summer 2017 Newsletter! The Food Bank's largest fundraiser of the year, Empty Bowls, was held Thursday, June 1 at the ELDORADO Resort Casino Shreveport. This event could not take place without the generous support of our sponsors. The event raised enough funds to provide 254,000 meals for our community.
2017 Sponsors Gold Sponsors: Amerigroup Health ELDORADO Resort Casino Shreveport Enterprise Car Rental Manpower Willis-Knighton Health System Bronze Sponsors: Capital One Kroger Company Painted Bowl Sponsors: AEP Southwestern Electric Power Company Brookshire Grocery Company International Paper Regions Bank Silver Star Smokehouse Soup Bowl Sponsors: The Beason Family Air Force Sergeants Association BancorpSouth Barksdale Federal Credit Union Home Federal Bank HUB International MidSouth Bank Moreman-Moore Vickie and Paul Young In Kind Sponsors: Ace Digital Advance Awards and Gifts Gremillion & Pou Karen LaBeau Magnolia Mae James Marks Plum Nelly Flower Farm Outstanding Agency: St. Matthew's A.M.E. Thanks to all our volunteers who came out for United Way's Day of Caring on Friday, May 12, 2017 to help the Food Bank. Our team of volunteers was led by Aaron Bossenbery from PCL Construction. A team of volunteers from Williams Company painted the exterior of the building while helpers from Heard, McElroy, and Vestal sorted and packed food in boxes. We even had a special ice cream treat provided by Red River Bank Regional President, Bridges Hall. Our thanks to United Way for coordinating a great day and to all of our volunteers, we really appreciate your hard work!
Click here to read the rest of the summer 2017 Newsletter. Our sincere thanks to Letter Carriers Danny Hatchett and Willie Johnson that organized the 2017 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive in Shreveport and Bossier City. We are grateful for the Letter Carriers that provided assistance with the food drive to help the members of our community who are struggling with hunger. This year's Stamp Out Hunger garnered 73,715 pounds of food! Thank you Letter Carriers!
Click here to read the full summer 2017 Newsletter. Help raise awareness of hunger in Louisiana while on your summer road trips! Supporters of Louisiana's food Banks can help fight hunger and show their support with the "Feeding Hope" specialty license plate from the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles. The Feeding Hope specialty license plate costs $25 in addition to regular registration fees and is renewed every two years. Of the $25 fee, $21.50 goes to the Louisiana Food Bank Association.
You can go online to the Office of Motor Vehicles website "Special Plate Viewer" to order your Feeding Hope specialty plate. 1. Visit OMV's website http://bit.ly/feedinghope 2. Enter your current license plate number 3. Click on Special Interest and scroll through the list, click on "Feeding Hope" 4. Click on Ordering Details and follow the instructions on the form 5. Print out the form (there is no online submission) and remit payment as noted **Be sure to enclose a copy of your vehicle registration and proof of insurance! If you have questions, please contact Korey Patty at (225) 308-2038. Click here to read the rest of our summer 2017 Newsletter! All area Kroger and Albertson stores are taking part in the annual nationwide food drive leading up to Super Bowl Sunday. It’s called the “Souper-Bowl of Caring” food drive. These stores have pre-packaged an assortment of canned and dry goods for customers to purchase and donate to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.
|
RSS Feed
