1. food and drink

around
Fall 2010
P a s s i o n a t e ly P u r s u i n g a
Hunger-Free Community
North Texas
Children
are Full and
Focused,
Thanks
to You!
A Member of Feeding America
ntfb.org
Kids in our
community are
poised for success,
thanks to your gifts...
see inside!
Board of Directors
Executive Committee
You Help
Close the Gap!
Charlie Morrison, Pizza Inn, Inc. (Chairman)
Stephen Chase, KPMG LLP (Chair Elect)
W. Lee Coleman Jr., CB Richard Ellis (Past Chairman)
Tom Black, Black, Mann and Graham LLP
Gary Huddleston, Kroger Food Stores
Debra Tippett, Cardinal Company
Jon A. Wolkenstein, Grant Thornton LLP
Carole S. Young, Carole S. Young & Associates
Members at Large
Eric Bushnell, Walmart
Sally Cullum, Crystal Charity Ball Committee
Christina Durovich, Community Volunteer
Mitch Fadel, Rent-A-Center
Jess Hay, Texas Foundation of Higher Education
Thomas Huffhines, SYSCO Food Services of Dallas
Karen Lukin, Whole Foods Market
Frank Roby, Concero Global
Greg Schaffner, US Food Service
Steve Schenkel, Schepps Dairy
Chris Sliva, Dean Foods
Katherine Stoneham, Junior League of Dallas
Cynthia Wenban, Lockheed Martin
Julie Yarbrough, Yarbrough Investments
Connie Yates, Tom Thumb Food and Pharmacy
General Counsel
James R. Nelson, DLA Piper US LLP
Jonathan A. Kohl, DLA Piper US LLP
Life Board Members
John Beckert
Jerry Ellis, Community Volunteer
Louise Gartner, Community Volunteer
Bette Perot, Perot Foundation
Teresa Phillips, TPHD, LLC
Stephan Pyles, Stephan Pyles Concepts
Founders
Ambassador Kathryn Hall, Hall Wines
Liz Minyard, Community Volunteer
President & Chief Executive Officer
Jan Pruitt
Jan Pruitt: President & Chief Executive Officer
Dear Friend,
This fall, the North Texas Food Bank heads into the third and final
year of our campaign to Close the Gap on hunger. Our goal of providing
our neighbors in need with access to 50 million meals annually by 2011 is
now closer than ever – and we have you to thank.
The second year of our Close the Gap initiative has not been without
its challenges. Tough economic conditions have affected us all, creating an
unprecedented need. But you responded when our neighbors needed help.
You gave when children and families were depending on you. You helped
Close the Gap on hunger in our community. And together, we were able to
surpass our distribution goals by 1.5 million meals!
This has been a challenging season – but we’ve come out of it even
stronger. Now, as we look ahead to our final year of the Close the Gap
campaign and into the future of sustaining and growing our service to
those in need, our goals are even bigger than ever. We’re counting on the
support of this community to help us build the solution to our North
Texas neighborhood’s chronic problem of hunger.
Your ongoing support makes a real and significant difference in the
lives of so many North Texas individuals and families. I hope you’ll be as
encouraged as I am by the stories you read and pictures you see in this fall
issue of Around the Table.
Thank you for joining us in the passionate pursuit of a hunger-free
community. As long as there are hungry people in North Texas, we’ll work
together to serve them.
2
You Give Hope
to Families in Need
Joanna is a single mom to 3-year-old Trey and
2-year-old Janean, whom the family lovingly calls
“NeNe” for short. Joanna feels lucky and blessed to have
two beautiful, healthy children – especially now that she
knows what it’s like to lose a child.
Joanna was devastated when she
lost her third child at birth just a
few months
ago. She
says
it’s still
incredibly
painful to
talk
about, and she doesn’t know how long it will be before
she feels healed from it all – but she knows she has to be
strong so she can provide for Trey and NeNe. But lately,
it’s been a challenge just to make ends meet.
Joanna and the kids live with her sister, who is also a
single mom. With five growing kids to feed, the two
women really struggle to keep enough food in
the house. Oftentimes, Joanna finds herself
skipping meals so the kids can eat.
“This means
everything
to me...
Thank you!”
“I don’t worry about myself. As long as
they have what they need, I’ll go without.
It’s worth it to see a smile,” she says.
Joanna has been taking job training
courses and is actively looking for a job so
she can better provide for her family. But in
the meantime, she just needs a little extra help to
make sure her children have enough to eat.
Fortunately, she’s found the help she needs
at the Salvation Army of Dallas. Thanks to the
gifts of friends like you, Joanna can take home
nutritious groceries from this North Texas
Food Bank Member Agency. She’s especially
thankful for all the fresh produce she receives
because the kids love fruits and vegetables.
She says Trey’s favorite food is oranges and
NeNe loves bananas.
Joanna is so grateful for the food she
receives – and she knows it’s your generosity
and compassion that make it all possible.
“This means everything to me. It’s the
hope that my kids don’t have to go without,” she
says with genuine appreciation. “Thank you!”
Joanna with son Trey, nephew Jaylan
and daughter NeNe
3
Thank You!
You Bring Hope to
Russ Noland Memorial
Golf Tournament
Sachse First United Methodist Church’s 5th
annual golf tournament raised $15,000 for
the North Texas Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids
backpack program on April 24. To date, this
tournament has raised more than $74,700
for Food 4 Kids – enough to provide more
than 14,940 backpacks for hungry children
in North Texas! Thank you to all who
participated to make this annual event a
success, and special thanks to Lisa Morgan,
Victoria Shaw and Stephanie Noland for
their leadership and passion.
Thank You!
Dean Foods
North Texans in Need
Your gifts mean
nutritious groceries for
our hungry neighbors.
Kidd Assist – Presented
by Kroger
You enable children to
take home backpacks
full of nutritious
weekend food through
Food 4 Kids.
Seniors in need are
so grateful for your
compassion.
We’d like to thank
Dean Foods for its
generous $300,000
grant to the Food
Bank, which will
be used to support
our Feeding Kids
programs! This
significant gift will also focus on implementing
a nutrition toolkit for our Kids Cafe program,
emphasizing the importance of healthy eating
and including nutritious foods in a daily diet.
Thank you to everyone at Dean Foods for
their continued partnership in the fight
against hunger! Special thanks to Food Bank
Board Members Chris Sliva, COO of Dean
Foods and Steve Schenkel, general manager
of Schepps Dairy for their passion and
commitment to closing the gap on hunger.
National Association of Letter
Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger
Food Drive
Food Bank President & CEO Jan Pruitt,
Jason Kidd and Kroger’s Rebecca King
Thank you to Kroger, the Dallas
Mavericks and Dallas Maverick Jason
Kidd for giving back to fight childhood
hunger! For
every assist Jason
made during the
2009-2010 NBA
season, Kroger
donated to the
North Texas Food
Bank’s Food 4 Kids program. With fans
donating $2,524 through the Kidd Assist
Virtual Food Drive and Kroger giving
$18,275 for Jason’s assists in conjunction
with donation coin boxes at local Kroger
stores, the Food Bank received a total of
$20,799. That’s 83,200 meals for hungry
children in North Texas!
4
Hungry kids are
all smiles, thanks
to you!
Parents in need
can provide for
their children
because of you.
The National Association of Letter Carriers’
Stamp Out Hunger food drive, locally
sponsored by Kroger, is the largest oneday food drive
in the nation. On
May 8, North
Texas residents
were encouraged
to donate nonperishable food
items and place
them by their
mailboxes for their
letter carriers to
collect. Letter carriers then delivered the food
to the Food Bank. This year, we received
276,736 pounds of food and $535 from Stamp
Out Hunger, which translates into 218,343
meals for North Texans in need - a 79 percent
increase over last year! Thank you to all who
participated!
5
Save the Date!
KRLD Restaurant Week | Now –
September 5
Don’t miss out on
the 13th annual
KRLD Restaurant
Week presented by
Central Market,
now through
September 5! More than 100 of the area’s
best restaurants are offering special threecourse dinner menus for $35 (beverage, tax
and gratuity not included). For each dinner
served, $7 will benefit the North Texas
Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. Check
ntfb.org for more information and a list of
participating restaurants.
Hunger Action Month | September
September is Hunger Action Month! Find
out how you can help fight hunger in North
Texas by checking out 30 Ways to Make a
Difference and by taking the Hunger Action
Month Pledge. Visit nftb.org for more
details. There are great ways to get involved
as a family, youth or community group,
office co-workers or faith community. Make
September YOUR Hunger Action Month!
Taste of the NFL Dinner Series
September 13 – November 14
Award-winning Dallas chef Kent Rathbun
and a few of his North Texas culinary friends
have teamed up to create the Taste of the NFL
Dinner Series. This series of exquisite dinners
will coincide with the beginning of the 2010
NFL season and runs through mid-November.
The cost of each dinner is $125 plus tax and
20 percent gratuity and will feature several
courses paired with Gallo wine. Reservations
can be made by calling each restaurant
directly. All proceeds will benefit the North
Texas Food Bank and Tarrant Area Food Bank.
Visit ntfb.org for a list of dates and restaurants!
6
To volunteer or to
host a Virtual Food Drive,
contact Sophia Sindalovsky
at [email protected]. To schedule
a Canned Food Drive, contact
Jerrye Hall at [email protected].
Creative Passion Makes a Difference
You won’t find many companies here in the Dallas area – or anywhere, for that
matter – that advertise weekly events like “Macaroni Monday” or “Protein Push Friday.”
But these aren’t office-wide celebrations of pasta or tunafish. These are just a couple of
the creative ways the associates of Ashford Hospitality Trust and Remington Hotels are
getting involved in the fight against hunger in North Texas.
Ashford Hospitality Trust and Remington Hotels, sister companies based in Dallas,
have been involved with the North Texas Food Bank since 2009. Remington Hotels
Senior Vice President Amy McDaniel says the companies have worked with many
other nonprofit organizations throughout the years, but they wanted to support the
Food Bank because they knew everyone would feel connected to the cause.
“It’s such an easy
charity to partner with,”
says Amy. “Whatever
you do, you know you’re
making a difference.
Everyone feels like they
can contribute.”
Whether it’s
virtual food drives,
canned food drives or
volunteering at the Food
Bank’s warehouse, the
employees of Ashford
Ashford Hospitality Trust and Remington Hotels CEO
Hospitality Trust and
Monty Bennett with friend Will Young
Remington Hotels truly
go above and beyond to creatively engage each other and their community in the fight
against hunger. The aforementioned “theme days” encourage employees to donate boxes
of non-perishable macaroni one day and much-needed protein products another.
“We use healthy competition to keep the spirit going,” says Amy. “Creativity
helps a lot.”
The companies’ innovative fundraising efforts for the Food Bank have produced
remarkable results. For maximum impact, CEO Monty Bennett decided the
companies would match every dollar employees donated through virtual food
drives and 50 cents for every can donated through canned food drives. Last year,
all 166 employees helped raise an incredible $30,000 to feed North Texans in need.
This past spring, they raised $37,000. That’s a total of 268,000 meals for our hungry
North Texas neighbors!
Ashford Hospitality Trust and Remington Hotels truly stand out as a creative and
passionate corporate partner in the fight against hunger. In fact, the companies are
working with the Food Bank to share their innovative best practices for successful food
drives with other corporations who want to become involved like they have.
“This enriches the lives of all our associates,” says Amy. “It’s mutually beneficial. The
Food Bank gets the funds, but we get a lot out of it. We get camaraderie, teamwork and
the spirit in our office.”
We are endlessly grateful for the steadfast support of the employees of Ashford
Hospitality Trust and Remington Hotels as we work to fight hunger in our community.
thanks
with thanks
Pound for Pound Challenge
You stepped up to the challenge – and it paid off for the North Texas Food Bank! For
its second year, the Pound for Pound Challenge partnered with NBC’s The Biggest Loser,
General Mills, Subway, 24 Hour Fitness and Walgreens to encourage Americans to “Lose
Nationally, Feed Locally.” For every pound pledged in our service area, 14 cents will be
given to the North Texas Food Bank!
Because of your involvement, the North Texas Food Bank ranked 17th among the
202 participating food banks across the country and was one of ten food banks to receive
a $10,000 grant from Feeding America for this campaign. Thank you to all the sponsors
who made this campaign possible, including singer Nick Jonas and Kroger and Chase for
their local participation. We’d also like to thank The Biggest Loser Season 8 contestant
and weight-loss success story Abby Rike for helping promote this campaign, and all the
participants who shed pounds while helping their neighbors in need!
Jan Pruitt Wins John van Hengel Award
We’re so proud of President & CEO
Jan Pruitt’s accomplishment that we
thought you’d want to know about it!
This past April at Feeding America’s
National Conference in Austin, Jan was
awarded the national organization of
food banks’ highest honor given to an
individual, the John van Hengel Award.
Named for the founder of the very
first food bank, this award recognizes
significant contributions to advancing
the art and science of food banking.
“This award has humbled me,” Jan said after receiving the award. “I believe strongly
in the public and private partnerships created by food banks that can eliminate hunger
in local communities - not just here in North Texas, but worldwide. To receive an award
modeled after the founder of food banking is overwhelming, but it’s also empowering.
When the hungry can’t speak up for themselves, it is our job in the food banking world
to do it for them. This award just reminds me to greet each day even more energized than
before to passionately pursue a hunger-free community.”
We couldn’t be more proud of our leader. Congratulations, Jan!
Full on Faith
The North Texas Food Bank’s “Full on Faith”
program is a year-long celebration and awareness
campaign intended to focus North Texas faith
organizations and their members on the issue
of hunger and the very real needs of so many in
our community. Learn about special volunteer
opportunities for your faith group, including food
and fund drives during Hunger Action Month in September. Don’t miss an opportunity
to get involved today! Visit www.ntfb.org/fof for more information.
Save the Date!
State Fair of Texas | Opening Day and
Wednesdays this Fall—September 24
and 29, October 6 and 13
Join us at the State
Fair of Texas each
Wednesday for “It’s a
Fair Deal” sponsored
by Kroger. Shop at
your Kroger store and bring three canned
food items to receive admission into the fair
for $2. Also, get in opening day (Friday,
September 24) for just $4 when you bring
a 20-ounce or larger unopened Coca-Cola
product to the State Fair of Texas to donate
to the Food Bank!
canstruction© | October 9 - 24
Save the date for Dallas’s annual
canstruction© at NorthPark Center, October 9
through 24. The best architecture and design
firms compete to build structures made
entirely of non-perishable food items. Come
out and vote for your favorite sculpture and
watch the teams at work October 9.
Resounding Harmony Fall Concert
November 10
Resounding Harmony will
hold its 3rd annual fall
concert benefiting the Food
Bank at the Meyerson
Symphony Center on
November 10. Check ntfb.org for more details!
Coppell ISD’s Kids 4 Turkeys
Thanksgiving Turkey Drive | November 19
Coppell ISD’s annual Kids 4 Turkeys frozen
turkey drive allows the entire community
to come together for a great cause. Last
Thanksgiving, the drive provided nearly
41,000 meals for North Texans in need.
Stop by any Coppell school the morning
of November 19 to make a frozen turkey
donation this holiday season!
Taste of the NFL | February 5, 2011
The Taste of the NFL
is coming to North
Texas the night before
Super Bowl XLV! This
national event will be
held February 5, 2011
and will feature dishes from the best chefs
in the country! All proceeds will benefit the
Tarrant Area and North Texas Food Banks, as
well as other food banks in the Feeding America
network. Visit tasteofthenfl.com
for more information and to
purchase tickets.
7
Full Backpacks Mean Full Stomachs
At 11 years old, Scott is taller, faster and stronger than his
8-year-old brother Christopher. But despite their age difference,
the two get along like peas in a pod. Scott feels it’s his duty to
protect his little brother. So sometimes, when Christopher is
hungry, Scott shares his lunch with him.*
Scott and Christopher have been hungry a lot more lately.
That’s because their parents have been really struggling to make
ends meet ever since their dad lost his job. Oftentimes, there just
isn’t enough food at home to go around.
Fortunately, your gifts to the North Texas Food Bank are
keeping kids like Scott and Christopher full and focused this
fall. Thanks to your support, they can participate in the Food 4
Kids program at their school, McWhorter Elementary School in
Mesquite. Every Friday, they’ll each get to take home a backpack
full of nutritious, kid-friendly snacks to last through the weekend.
And thanks to McWhorter’s partnership with the Exchange
Club of Mesquite, these snacks include whole, fresh fruit.
Stephanie Noland has been serving as McWhorter’s Food
4 Kids coordinator since the program first came to the school
in 2006. Though she has seen the program dramatically impact
many students over the past four years, she says she still sees an
enormous need. Nearly 90 percent of McWhorter’s students
participate in the school’s free or reduced-price meal
program and come from families who really
struggle to provide for them.
each Friday, his demeanor changed. Stephanie says he began to
realize this food was something he could rely on – and so were
the teachers and staff who gave it to him.
It’s your gifts to the North Texas Food Bank that enable
schools like McWhorter Elementary to provide backpacks full
of nutritious food to hungry children each weekend. These kids –
and those who serve them – are so grateful for your partnership.
“Thank you for taking the time and having the heart to care
about other people’s children,” says Stephanie. “No kid should
worry about what he or she is going to eat.”
*names have been changed to
protect the children's identities.
“Thank you for
taking the time and
having the heart to
care about other
people’s children.”
“Many of the students come
from generational poverty, but
a lot of kids are in poverty
temporarily,” she says. “I
know there are kids who
are in great need.”
Stephanie says the Food
4 Kids program has made an
incredible difference in the lives
of these chronically hungry
children. She shares the story of
a second-grade boy who used
to never trust adults because his
parents aren’t around to take
care of him. But once he began
receiving a backpack of food
T h e N o r t h Te x a s F o o d B a n k i s P a s s i o n at e ly P u r s u i n g a H u n g e r - F r e e C o m m u n i t y
Physical Address:
4500 S. Cockrell Hill Road
Dallas, Texas 75236-2028
P 214.330.1396 F 214.331.4104
A Member of Feeding America
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 676059
Dallas, TX 75267-6059
Visit us on the web at ntfb.org, and stay up
to date on Food Bank events by signing up
for our online newsletter, Around the Table:
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