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News Reports from the Food Bank

Canstruction

See winners of 2011 Canstruction® Competition and Exhibition.

Robert Egger visits

Robert Egger, founder of DC Central Kitchen, the first community kitchen, visited the Food Bank Thursday, March 31, 2011 and met with Community Kitchen students and Food Bank staff to share his story before speaking at TCU's Hunger Week.  www.robertegger.org.  See a photo from his visit.

Kick the Can launches 2010 Holiday Food/Fund Drive

FORT WORTH (November 8, 2010) — Some 300 friends of Tarrant Area Food Bank Kicked or boxed hunger at our zany lunch-time Kick the Can November 5 on Main Street in downtown Fort Worth. 

Our thanks for a highly successful launch of our 2010 Holiday Food and Fund Drive go to the organizing committee, sponsors and food donors:

• Presenting Sponsor Capital One
  
• T-shirt Sponsor PepsiCo Worldwide Flavours

• Donors of 20,000 pounds of food, including the four pallets on the race course—Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), Campbell's Soup, Saddle Creek/Del Monte, Gatorade and Quaker Oats

• Kick the Can Committee of representatives from businesses and organizations, including Capital One, PepsiCo, AWG, Campbell's Soup, CGI/Universal Insurance, Edward Jones, Haltom's Jewelers (also hosted the pick-up of boxed lunches), Saddle Creek Corporation/Del Monte, Southern Union Gas, Spoiled Pink (boutique), The T, Tarrant County Bar Association and Tarrant County Credit Union.

Food donations can be dropped off during November and December at most fire stations in Tarrant County (call the station or town's fire department before you go), Capital One Banks and the Food Bank's warehouse at 2600 Cullen Street, Fort Worth 76107.  See Food Bank hours and map.

Second-graders raise more than $5,000 for Food Bank

FORT WORTH (October 15, 2010) - Remember Will and his buddies who formed FROGs (Friends Reaching Our GoalS) to help Tarrant Area Food Bank?  (See article below for background.)

Yesterday, these ambitious boys came to the Food Bank and presented the donations from their FROGs On the Field contests—"Hits Against Hunger" for baseball and softball players and "Kicks Against Hunger" for soccer players.  For these contests, they recruited other boys and girls from their school at a rally attended by no other than Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief and the wife of TCU Coach Gary Patterson. 

The 110 youngsters who participated in the FROGs' "Hits and Kicks Against Hunger" contests asked parents, relatives and friends to sponsor them and make a donation for each baseball/softball hit and soccer kick they made.  The results:  $2,845. 

But, that's not all. They had also collected canned food and raised $1,000 during the summer with a yard sale and lemonade and popsicle stands and $446 with a car wash. To top off their success in exceeding their summer goals of 1,000 cans and $1,000, Coach Patterson and his wife, Kelsey, announced that their foundation would give the FROGs a matching grant of $1,000 toward their fund-raising campaign. 

Ultimately, the FROGs donated 1,300 cans of food and $5,291 to Tarrant Area Food Bank!

THANK YOU!!! FROGs for setting a magnificent example of teamwork and generosity.

See more about the FROGs, including their visit with the TCU Football Team at Cowboys Stadium, www.fortworthfrogs.com.

Canstruction© 2010

Juried awards announced for this unique Competition and Show. See winning sculptures. . .

Dannon Next Generation Nutrition Grant

FORT WORTH (July 21, 2010) – Tarrant Area Food Bank was presented today with a $30,000 check as part of the fifth annual Dannon Next Generation Nutrition Grant. This is the second consecutive year that the Food Bank has received the grant in support of the Operation Frontline program.

The check presentation was preceded by a community nutrition forum, "On the 'Frontline' of Nutrition Education: Teaching Our Families How to Eat and Cook Well for a Lifetime," which was held in Tarrant Area Food Bank's Hub.

(ABOVE) Panelists discuss the importance

of hands-on nutrition education.

The forum was moderated by Gayle Binney, manager of corporate responsibility, The Dannon Company. Panelists included Dr. Lyn Dart, associate professor and director of the food management program, Texas Christian University; Annamarie Saavedra, program coordinator, Operation Frontline; Chef Tom McGrath, volunteer with Operation Frontline and owner of McGrath Gourmet Enterprises; and Laurie Castles, graduate of Operation Frontline’s "Eating Right" and "Side by Side" courses and coordinator of Operation Frontline courses at Alameda Villas Apartment Complex.

Guest speakers included (pictured above, left to right) Dr. Mark Shelton, representative, 97th District, Texas House of Representatives; Lou Brewer, director of public health, Tarrant County Department of Public Health; Roger Post, senior plant director, Dannon Fort Worth; Bo Soderbergh, executive director, Food Bank; moderator Gayle Binney; Philippe Caradec, vice president for regulatory and corporate affairs, The Dannon Company; and Daniel Scarth, mayor pro tem, Fort Worth.

After the presentation, guests toured The Food Bank and sampled Dannon yogurt.

(ABOVE) Food Bank employees enjoy samples

brought by the local Dannon plant.

Fort Worth-Dallas food banks receive major donation from Chase

FORT WORTH (July 15, 2010) – Tarrant Area Food Bank and North Texas Food Bank were each presented today with a refrigerated delivery truck from Chase Bank to supply hungry Texans with fresh and frozen foods.

Media Event

Speaking for Tarrant Area Food Bank during the presentation held at North Texas Food Bank in Dallas was Jim Macphearson, food industry liaison.

He told the audience of Chase volunteers, board members of both food banks and television reporters that the two trucks represent one million more meals that the two food banks will be able to provide during a year.

Key to Trucks

A symbolic Chase key for the trucks was presented by Chase to the two food Banks.

Pictured, l to r., are Anne Motsenbocher, president of Chase in Dallas; Jan Pruitt, President/CEO of North Texas Food Bank; Danny Smith, chairman of Chase in Fort Worth; Jim MacPhearson, food industry liaison, Tarrant Area Food Bank; and Charlie Morrison, chairman, North Texas Food Bank Board of Directors.

Store Donation Program

Tarrant Area Food Bank’s truck will be one of its fleet picking up fresh and frozen foods like produce, deli prepared foods and frozen meats from grocery retailers participating in the Store Donation Program.

Currently, the Food Bank picks up product from 74 stores in Tarrant, Denton and Johnson counties.

Truck Facts

The refrigerated box of the Chase truck is 24 feet long and can hold 10 pallets, single stacked. It has a lift gate and is tall enough to allow forklifts to operate inside of it.  Both features shorten the time needed to load and unload product.  The relatively short length of the truck, compared to 48-foot or 53-foot 18-wheelers, shortens the time it takes to maneuver it up to docks and in an out of grocery store parking lots.

Chase Food Drive

In addition to the truck, large amounts of food from a Chase employee food drive have been coming into the Food Bank this week.

Past Chase Gifts

Chase Fort Worth's generosity to Tarrant Area Food Bank extends back at least two years during which the JP Morgan Chase Foundation awarded grants to the Food Bank for its Operation Frontline nutrition education program and its Community Kitchen culinary job training program.

Second-grader organizes FROGS team to raise food this summer, fall

Soon-to-be second-grader Will Lourcey of Fort Worth wanted to do something to help others.  He eventually settled upon raising food for Tarrant Area Food Bank.  Being a sociable sort, Will recruited 10 of his buddies for Friends Reaching Our Goals (FROGs).  Their motto:  Having Fun while Helping Others.

(LEFT) Will conducts the FROGs first meeting, filmed by a team from the SLANT 45 documentary.

The FROGs' first meeting, held in the board room of the Food Bank, and their tour of the warehouse was videotaped for possible inclusion in a video documentary about the SLANT 45 youth volunteer program of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. SLANT stands for Service Learning Adventures in North Texas.  

(RIGHT) The FROGs take a tour of the warehouse,

including a stop at Quality Control, or "QC." The boys

will return on July 7 to volunteer in QC.

The FROGs' plans include selling lemonade at two garage sales this summer and, in the fall, having FROGs On the Field contests—"Hits Against Hunger" for baseball and softball players in their group, and "Kicks Against Hunger" for soccer playing members.  For each contest, players will find sponsors (grandparents, neighbors, local businesses or any other persons) who will donate a dollar for every baseball hit or soccer goal they make during September.

Read about the FROGs' gift to the Food Bank.

More News Reports from Tarrant Area Food Bank >>