Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501090039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The matching-funds grant is part of the corporation's ``Helping the Helpers'' program, a 4-year-old nationwide effort to alleviate hunger. This week, the corporation brought the program to Virginia, donating a total of $115,000 to six hunger agencies across the state, including the Roanoke-based food bank.
Judy Jones, manager of corporate affairs for Philip Morris, estimated that more than 1 million emergency meals are served in Virginia each month. About half of that food comes from one of the state's regional food banks, she said.
``During the holidays, everyone becomes very benevolent and gets the food out of the pantry, makes up a basket, gives it to the church,'' Jones said. ``And when the holidays are gone, everybody forgets about the hungry people.
``So this is an effort to do this today and now and remind people that people are still hungry all year long.''
The food bank, a branch of Roanoke's Total Action Against Poverty, expects to convert the $15,000 grant into $150,000 by soliciting matching grants and gifts from other sources, said Ted Edlich, TAP's executive director.
``We're not talking about a $15,000 gift but a $150,000, at least, impact, which is a fairly incredible contribution,'' Edlich said. ``This is a good example of the private sector, both the for-profit private sector and the nonprofit private sector, working with others in the community to do what government alone could not do.''
The grant will help the food bank purchase needed food in bulk at reduced rates ``because there's not enough product that's coming from the private sector,'' Edlich said. ``And we will be trying to get some vehicles to use for transportation of food to rural areas.''
The food bank endured tough times in 1994. Food supplied by U.S. Department of Agriculture programs slipped 55 percent. Food supplied by Second Harvest, the nation's largest charitable food program, dropped 44 percent.
The food bank also has had to cope with companies selling their products through the second-day market for cash, a lack of new donors and technological strides that have cut down on overordering by grocers.
As a result, the food bank has been forced to look for alternative food resources. The food bank has hired a resource development officer, a move made possible by the Philip Morris grant, to identify those alternative resources and develop fund-raising efforts.
Already, the development officer - K. Robin Laing - is overseeing a large project called Field to Family, a community-supported agricultural plan that will create a more direct flow between food production and distribution to needy people.
``In terms of producing the food and distributing the food, there are opportunities for churches to participate, opportunities for people out of the court system that need to spend time in community service to help us out,'' Laing said.
``There's been a tremendous response in our service territory about this type of project, and we're going to be aggressively pursuing funding for this project.''
The food bank serves 25 counties and 11 cities. Ten of those localities are among the poorest in Southwest Virginia.
The food bank, housed in a 30,000-square-foot warehouse in Northwest Roanoke, operates like a giant grocery store for its 425 nonprofit member agencies - homeless shelters, halfway houses, soup kitchens and food pantries. It receives donations from food companies and other sources and sells the donated food to its member agencies for a small per-pound price.
Last year, the food bank delivered 3 million pounds of food, which translated into 1.3 million meals for low-income people in Southwest Virginia.
by CNB