Can Can Fun in the Sun Food Drive!

Covenant Community Outreach and KLBK-TV helped us host our 7th Annual Can Can Fun in the Sun Food Drive last week, capped off with the Too Hot to Run in the Sun Non-Run.

The Covenant Crew helped us raise around fifty-seven thousand pounds of food! KLBK followed us from parking lot to parking lot as our volunteers set up shop at three two United Stores, Market Street, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart. Bodyworks brought their rock climbing wall out for people who donated cans to the drive. I noticed that mostly a younger crowd took advantage of their offer. After the climb, Keva Juice volunteers were handing out healthy smoothes to rock climbers and others who were supporting the drive.

A large crowd was not on hand for our non-run. But on the other hand, a bunch of folks sent in donations to stay at home Saturday and support the South Plains Food Bank by enjoying a lazy morning...

Windy morning at the Farm

It was a windy Friday morning at the Carolyn Lanier South Plains Food Bank Youth Farm where our GRUB Kids were taking a break. I asked them to get together for a group picture. Then they asked Jenifer Smith, the Director of the Farm, Orchard, and Garden Division to join the photo... on the ground.

















In spite of blistering hot days, wind, and a lack of rain, the Farm and Orchard are looking good. The Grub team is working to make sure we have food for the clients served by the South Plains Food Bank and our network of agencies.
Here are a few shots of how the vegetables are growing.

If you would like to see more photos, you can find more at flickr.com page.

Nutty Update

Here are some photos from Just Plane Nutty at Kastman Park this morning. Everyone was having a great time and... collected a bunch of peanut butter. I know the people we serve at the South Plains Food Bank are going to appreciate everyone's hard work.

Southwest Airlines is Just Plane Nutty!

Southwest Airlines and their Peanut Fares first took off thirty-five years ago this month. In celebration of the event Southwest and America's Second Harvest, the Nations Food Bank Network, are teaming up to "Spread the Luv" with a virtual peanut butter drive benefiting food banks in communities served by Southwest, such as the South Plains Food Bank!

Beginning June 1, Southwest Airlines invites you to visit southwest.com and click on the Spread the Luv button to visit the Virtual Food Bank where you can purchase jars (or even cases) of peanut butter to benefit the South Plains Food Bank. Contributions made locally will help us feed hungry families this summer. Southwest is matching all contributions made up to $35,000.

Employees of the local Southwest team are hosting "Just Plane Nutty Day" at Kastman Park (Lynnhaven Drive and South Loop 289) from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Donate a jar of peanut butter and you are entered in a drawing to win two round trip tickets to any destination served by Southwest. In addition, the first 75 kids will get a free Ident-A-Kid card. There will also be activities for the kids such as a bounce house and games.

Kids Lend a Big Hand

Yesterday I saw first hand how eager kids are to help others. We have many church groups that come out to the food bank to lend a hand, and yesterday Lakeridge Methodist Church paid us a visit. Far more fifth and sixth grade children showed up than was expected, and I was a little worried that the food bank would be unable to accomadate that many children! However, we managed to find a job for each child, and the kids were able to accomplish a lot during their short visit to the food bank.

The kids were split into three different groups. One group bagged egg puffs for our freezer boxes we distribute. The second group sorted and boxed hygene products. The last group marked and sorted canned foods to go into food boxes. I was amazed at how hard the kids worked and how much was accomplished. When they first arrived, they were all very excited about the jobs they would be doing and dove right into their tasks. They moved so fast and there were so many kids helping, they were only able to stay and help for a short time because we ran out of things for them to do! In the end, they were a huge help. They sorted and boxed the entire stock of hygene products that had been donated to us throughout the past three weeks. They also sorted two full bins of canned food, as well as bagged half a pallet of egg puffs.

At the end of their visit, the kids were all very excited about their accomplishment. I heard over and over again, "where does this food go to?" "who are we helping?" They wanted to have a sense of their purpose with their volunteer work. They all wanted to know exactly how many cans they had sorted, how many bags of egg puffs they had made, and how many hygene products they sorted. Kids are funny in the sense that they need a number to put with their efforts. They truely were a huge help to our food bank, and their hard work paid off!

Hunger Awareness Day 2006 in Lubbock

The South Plains Food Bank joined with America's Second Harvest Food Banks and hunger relief agencies across the country in honor of National Hunger Awareness Day 2006. The goal of the event is to increase awareness of the needs of the hungry in America. At the same time, it is an opportunity to recognize the partners and volunteers who serve the hungry in our community.

First United Methodist Church in Lubbock hosts the Second Helpings Soup Kitchen. Today we had a picnic complete with hot dogs, face painting, music and health screenings. Our local Albertson's stores provided hot dogs, chips, cookies and beverages for more than 250 people. In addition, 50 of their employees prepared and served the meal. They were joined by guest servers (and news anchors) from KLBK and KAMC. (I think they just liked the hair nets!)

Al Solis was our Chef for the Day, preparing 600 hot dogs. He told me he never wanted to see a hot dog again. Awesome enterainment was provided by "Rendition."

After it was all over, one of the "regulars" at the Second Helpings Soup Kitchen asked if she could say a few words. Speaking on behalf of the people who are served each day by Second Helpings and the South Plains Food Bank, she simply said, "Thank you. You have blessed our lives by making them better." Her comments touched us all.

Standing in Line to Help

This is Jack. He can stack. Which his grandmom thinks is very talented. Jack has ten grandparents- three full sets of grandparents and four great's. And all in the same town and all of us standing in line and taking a number to spend time with Stackin' Jack. And of course we see to it(along with his parents) that Jack has everything he needs and many other things he doesn't even know he wants.

Today I met with three women to discuss a new program for the South Plains Food Bank in partnership with the Junior League of Lubbock. It will be called Food 2 Kids and it will be about providing backpacks of non-perishable, healthy, easy to eat, no-cooking-needed foods. These backpacks will go home on the weekends and holidays with kids who are referred to us by school counselors, principals and teachers. No labels on the backpacks, just pick them up at school and bring them back to be filled again the following weekend.

Food 2 Kids is for children without the luxury of folks waiting their turn to provide them with food, clothes, and other necessities of life. Some have loving families, same as ours, some live in ways most of us can't imagine.

I am glad to have another way to give help to kids. As mentioned in a recent call to our offices by a school counselor, some kids are trying to take care of their families rather than the other way around. She told of three little girls saving half of their food from school lunches to take home to an out of work mom and a sick grandmother. That's not the right order of things, but it is what we hear and see in our community every day. Our kids need to stay kids not elementary-age caregivers.

They need people standing in line to help them and give them what they need.