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How Well Can You Eat on $4.90? Take the Cal Fresh Food Challenge!

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Think you can get enough to eat on $4.90 a day? Now is your chance to find out! Take the Cal Fresh Food Challenge.

$4.90 is what individuals who receive Cal Fresh benefits (formerly known as food stamps) have to spend per day per person. This week, join the Sacramento Hunger Coalition, a project of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, to see if you can make it on that budget by joining the Cal Fresh Food Stamp Challenge, which ends Thursday, November 15, 2012 – exactly one week before Thanksgiving.

Here’s how it works:

  • Commit to spend no more than $4.90 on food for at least one day between now and Thursday, Nov. 15
  • Share your stories, recipes, photos and videos on RCFB’s Facebook event page
  • Try to only eat food that you purchase for the project. Do not eat food you already own (this does not include spices or condiments) unless you factor the cost of that food into your daily budget
  • Avoid accepting free food or beverages from friends, family, or at work, including at receptions, briefings, or other events where food is served

By participating, you’ll help raise awareness about hunger in our region and encourage year-round support for food banks, which often serve Cal Fresh clients when they can’t stretch that $4.90 per day far enough. We expect to distribute over 80,000 pounds of food to more than 5,000 people this month – people who are still unable to secure steady jobs that provide enough healthy food for themselves and their families. Last month, we provided food for more than 1,000 children and more than 200 infants in addition to seniors, disabled people and adults.

Click here to read what Amber Stott of Awake at the Whisk created for $2.27 per serving as her first meal while taking the food challenge: pumpkin oatmeal (recipe included)!

The Challenge will culminate in a press conference on November 15, 2012 at 9 a.m. at River City Food Bank. If you can, please consider joining us and donating healthy food or the money you saved.

Remember: please share your stories, recipes, photos and videos with us on Facebook or by emailing us: email@rivercityfoodbank.org!

Co-Sponsors include:

- Awake at the Whisk

- California Emergency Foodlink

- California Food Literacy Center

- Health Education Council

- River City Food Bank

- None Go Hungry

- Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op

- Sacramento Vegetarian Society, Grange #8


Second Saturday Artistic “Yes We Can!” Contest Benefits RCFB

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Love art? Love helping people in need, especially during the holidays? Love Second Saturday? The Yes We Can! contest and exhibition this Saturday, December 8, is for you!

Six artists are competing to construct a can-based sculpture that will culminate in judging and an exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento (CCAS) at 1519 19th Street. The adjudication and hunger awareness event is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. in conjunction with Second Saturday. You can not only view this artistic project but be a part of it by bringing signed, canned foods to donate to an artistic display of stacked cans.

The exhibition’s visionary and guest curator, Dwight Head, will compete in the Yes We Can! Show and has invited artists Taylor Gutermute, Todd Head, Barbetta Lockart, Stacey Wong-Hilton and Rhett Neal to participate.

Gutermute has already completed a sculpture in the window of University Art (2601 J Street) to kick off the exhibition at CCAS. His creation is a colorful, oversized model of a paint can and brush constructed out of Dole pineapple and Campbell’s tomato soup cans.

The jurors will be: Darla Givens of Channel 10; Oliver Ridgeway, Executive Chef of Grange Restaurant and Bar; Kerrie Kelly, owner and founder of Kerrie Kelly Design Lab; Natalie Nelson, Director/Curator of the Pence Gallery; and Tre Borden, Director of Flywheel and Tapigami Business Manager.

Exhibition visitors will also have the opportunity to chat with RCFB’s Executive Director, Eileen Thomas, about hunger issues in Sacramento and the Food Bank’s new Virtual Food Bank tool.

Cans brought by event attendees will be donated to the River City Food Bank at the end of the exhibition’s run on December 18th.

Grange Restaurant and Bar has also extended a 10% discount to visitors of the exhibition redeemable only on the evening of Second Saturday, December 8th.

Sponsors of the exhibition include:  River City Food Bank, Grange Restaurant and BarWayne Geri Academy SchoolUniversity Art, Nugget Market and Costco Wholesale.

LOCAL ARTISTS COMPETE IN THE YES WE CAN! EXHIBITION CONTEST TO BENEFIT THE HUNGRY

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Community members collaborate to celebrate art, locally, and help feed the people facing hunger, locally.

 

SACRAMENTO, CA, December 8, 2012 – Every December, the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento (CCAS) at 1519 19th Street presents an exhibition that benefits another non-profit organization. This year, CCAS has garnered the support of patrons across all industries to participate in the competition and help feed Sacramento’s hungry.  The exhibition visionary and guest curator, Dwight Head, has invited artists, including himself, Taylor Gutermute, Todd Head, Barbetta Lockart, Stacey Wong-Hilton and Rhett Neal to participate in the Yes We Can! exhibition, benefiting River City Food Bank (RCFB).

 

To kick off the exhibition at CCAS, Gutermute constructed a sculpture in the window of University Art (2601 J Street), currently on display.  The remaining 5 artists will be challenged to construct a can-based sculpture in one week that will be judged by a diverse panel of community members on Second Saturday, December 8th.  The jurors will be Darla Givens of Channel 10; Oliver Ridgeway, Executive Chef of Grange Restaurant and Bar; Kerrie Kelly, owner and founder of Kerrie Kelly Design Lab; Natalie Nelson, Director/Curator of the Pence Gallery; and Tre Borden, Director of Flywheel and Tapigami Business Manager. Following the judging, the public is welcome to visit the museum to admire and discuss the work with the artists and judges from 6:00-9:00pm.  Exhibition visitors will have the opportunity to chat with RCFB’s Executive Director, Eileen Thomas, about hunger issues in Sacramento and the Food Bank’s new Virtual Food Bank tool.

 

Additionally, patrons are encouraged to share a personal message wishing the Food Bank’s clients a happy holiday season by bring signed, canned foods to donate to a community wall, an artistic display of stacked cans, which will also be donated to the River City Food Bank at the end of the exhibition on December 18th.

 

Grange Restaurant and Bar will also extended a 10% discount to visitors of the exhibition redeemable only on the evening of Second Saturday, December 8th.

 

Sponsors of the exhibition include:  River City Food Bank; Grange Restaurant and Bar; Wayne Geri Academy School; University Art, Nugget Market and Costco Wholesale.

 

About CCAS:

The Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, founded in 1989, is a member-supported, nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and appreciation of new and experimental art by international, national and regional artists.  The museum is located at 1519 19th Street in Midtown, Sacramento.

 

About River City Food Bank:

River City Food Bank is the only Sacramento-area food bank open every weekday to anyone experiencing hunger, from anywhere in Sacramento County. Operating for over 40 years, the RCFB offers nutritionally-balanced three-day emergency food.

 

Grange Restaurant and Bar:

Grange Restaurant and Bar is a celebration of California, showcasing food that is simple, seasonal and soulful.  Organic meats and poultry are paired with the freshest produce from the Central Valley.  Sustainable coastal seafood is complemented with a spectacular all-California wine list.

Why Give to River City Food Bank Over the Holidays?

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Caring people have been behind the mission of our feisty little food closet since our founding in 1968. Today, your support — through volunteering and donating — continues to be the driving force behind what we do.

There’s no way to get around the stark fact that we really need the extra boost of holiday spirit to keep funding our health- and life-giving emergency food program, especially when demand spikes during the months of November and December. So we hope when you are counting your blessings that you will share with others in need.

We are blessed to have become a part of many of our donors’ lives, even a part of who they are. We feel fortunate when we meet or hear from those of you give. Kind, compassionate, helpful, generous… these are just a few of the adjectives that describe you.

When Stefanie Cruz of Fox 40 decided to participate in the Cal Fresh Food Challenge, she said an amazing thing about why: “This is a matter of trying to understand the challenge facing the people who we call our neighbors and even our friends.”

So we’ll add the adjective “empathetic” for people like Stefanie who get involved because they realize the people in need in our community aren’t “others.” They are people, many like us, who are really struggling.

Why give to River City Food Bank over the holidays? Because there is great need. Because that need is right here in our city. And because you’re YOU: a caring person who notices and does something about it.

We can’t say thank you enough for making the mission of River City Food Bank possible.

 

 

What’s a Virtual Food Drive? Just the Easiest, Greenest Way to Help!

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Making a difference in the fight against hunger is now as easy as a mouse click! River City Food Bank has just launched Sacramento’s first Virtual Food Drive. It’s a fun, new way to get involved — and invite your friends to join you. Our goal is to raise $10,000 before Dec. 31 so please give this a try!

With our volume shopping discounts and merchant relationships, we’ll really be able to stretch your donation dollar… and we’ll be better able to purchase perishable, healthy foods in addition to shelf-stable food bank standards. And for the first time, the Virtual Food Drive will allow us to offer holiday meal packs to our clients.

Our Virtual Food Drive allows you — or a team that you register — to donate food items online to River City Food Bank.

Click on the shopping cart icon that is our feature image on the home page and start shopping!

Here’s how it works:

Step One: Pick out the foods you’d like to donate on the shopping page. In the example below, we selected tunafish, mac & cheese, oatmeal and veggies. Voila! $10.45 is now displayed in our shopping cart. Can’t decide? Hit “click here to make a donation” and we’ll purchase what’s needed most.

Step Two: Review your shopping cart. You can add or remove items for your cart.

Step Three: Check out. You can still add a general donation or add items at this point. On this page you can also register a team, or identify yourself as part of a team that someone else has created. There are lots of creative possibilities here – like team competitions!

The Virtual Food Drive also gives you an opportunity to honor or remember someone through a gift to River City Food Bank. If you provide us with the information, we will send a note acknowledging your gift and its impact. It’s the perfect option for families who want to do something for the holidays, but who have decided to stop giving more things to each other.

Your Virtual Food Drive purchase is a tax-deductible charitable donation! We will send you a letter thanking you for your gift that you can use for tax purposes. River City Food Bank is the only Sacramento-area food bank open every weekday to anyone experiencing hunger, from anywhere in Sacramento County.

Attention Whole Foods Shoppers! Grab and Give to Benefit RCFB!

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Last week, Whole Foods, located at 4315 Arden Way, launched “Grab & Give” to “Help us feed our local community.” Their goal is to raise $13,000 to help the many people who turn to River City Food Bank!

Whole Foods shoppers can “grab” a meal card at the beautiful display in the front of the store for a $5 or $10 or $25 donation, hand it to the check-out clerk who adds it to the shopper’s bill, and Whole Foods will donate the meal items to RCFB.  It is easy, fast and very friendly.  Friends report that the clerk will sometimes ring the bell and add a special “Thanks!”

For $5 you can feed a family in need a healthy breakfast:

  • Organic Raisin Bran Cereal
  • Organic Almond Milk
  • Mixed Berry Cereal Bar

For $10 you can feed a family in need a healthy lunch:

  • Organic Macaroni & Cheese
  • Tuna in Water
  • Organic Mild Chicken Chili
  • Creamy Peanut Butter
  • Golden Round Cracker
  • Organic Apple Juice

For $10 you can help feed a family in need a healthy dinner:

  • Spaghetti
  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • Marinara Sauce
  • Organic Black Beans
  • Organic Short Grain Brown Rice
  • Organic Cut Green Beans
  • Organic Unsweetened Applesauce 6 pack

For $25 you’ll help feed a family in need a healthy Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner! Get those bells ringing!

Please let Whole Foods know how much you appreciate their generous support by heading to their Facebook page and liking their Friday, Dec. 7 post about Grab and Give.

Get ready for Empty Bowls 2013

Sacramento Press: The FUNdraiser Feature: Empty Bowls Luncheon

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Sacramento Press Article – The bowl is a visual symbol of the empty bowls in the community, a reminder of the hunger those less fortunate face on a daily basis. Each month more than 5,000 people receive food from the River City Food Bank, which is seeing a surge in elderly clients, according to its executive director… READ MORE

 


Why Empty Bowls? I could give you 60,000 reasons but I’ll start with two.

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Yesterday a young mother came to the food bank for the first time.  She had one baby girl in a front papoose carrier and was pushing an identical little girl in a stroller.  As the mother of 19 year-old twins, my mind took a quick detour down memory lane…and it made me remember how tired I was for the first 3 years of their lives.  I remember countless diapers, forever formula, and never a moment to simply relax.

This young woman came to the food bank for the basic necessities…healthy food, formula, and diapers.  Waiting for her at home were two more children and her husband.  A family of six.  I can only imagine.  She was so grateful for the food, diapers and goodies she received.  There was no question that River City Food Bank was a godsend to this woman and her family.

So once again, why Empty Bowls?  Because without the funds generated by Empty Bowls, River City Food Bank would be greatly reduced.  We simply couldn’t continue to buy, collect and distribute over 90,000 pounds of healthy food.  We simply couldn’t serve over 6,000 people, one fourth of whom are children, every month.

Tickets are still available.  Have you purchased yours and treated a friend?

 

A successful Empty Bowls 2013!

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Our tenth anniversary Empty Bowls event was everything we had hoped! Over 1600 bowls including traditional ceramic, glass, fiber, and wood filled the display tables. On Monday evening, 600 guests enjoyed fabulous soups from our Presenting Sponsor, Classique Caterers, while over 700 guests on Tuesday enjoyed soups from 7 of Sacramento’s finest restaurants. Our total ticket sales were 1330 and we brought home a net profit of over $102,000.

Our anniversary turned out to be an opportunity to recognize and be recognized! All of us at RCFB were surprised and thrilled when our Councilmember, Steve Hansen, presented us with a Resolution from Mayor Kevin Johnson and the City Council for “raising hunger awareness in Sacramento while supporting essential programs in food aid and nutrition.” We all felt proud and honored by this Resolution and I can’t wait to frame it and hang it for all to see. We also enjoyed being able to give a shout out to past Empty Bowls Chairs and past Board Presidents who grew a humble fundraiser into a much anticipated community tradition, supported by hundreds of artists, businesses, restaurants, community leaders, and people who care about providing healthy food for those who struggle.

Just call River City Food Bank “very grateful” for another successful event! Check out the photos from the event!

Presenting Sponsor:

Classique Catering Logo

Strategic Sponsors:

Western Health Advantage Logo

Bonney Plumbing, Heating, Air and Rooter Service Logo

 Jerry and Marilyn Burke, Lucinda Woodward

Sustaining Sponsor:

Comcast Logo

Sacramento Delta Property Managements

Community Sponsors:

Linn Family / Sarah Aikenhead

Lisa Campodonico

Steve Szalay & Diane Cummins

The Rev. Canon Britt Olson, The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California


Dan Chamberlain and John Frisch

Clement and Melinda Kong

Al & Norma Lammers

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

KCM – Judy Cruz

Dave & Connie Wright

Gill & Margo Hayes

Sloat Higgins Jensen & Associates

Karen and Barry Brokaw

Lang, Hansen, O’Malley & Miller

Hunter Johnson Insurance

Susan Timmer

In-Kind Sponsors

Phawnda Moore & Ronald Greenwood, M.D.

ARC

National Volunteer Month: A Month to Celebrate!

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Good help comes from the most unlikely places. A few months ago someone contacted us at the food bank because he needed court appointed hours to complete before his next court date. We can always use a few extra hands in our day-to-day operations, and so we welcomed “Jason.” (Not his real name.)

It didn’t take Jason long to fulfill his required hours, and then he asked to continue as a regular volunteer. He was a hard worker and put in almost as many hours as I put in on a daily basis. He was consistent, reliable and got along well with our other volunteers. We were thrilled he wanted to stay.

All of our volunteers come to us with a certain amount of compassion for the work here at the food bank. But Jason showed his compassion and selflessness in extraordinary ways. When our toiletry supplies were exhausted, he quietly brought in bags of soap, toothpaste, and shampoo. When a client lost his cell phone, Jason took the time to listen and actually found and returned the phone. No matter what happened in his personal life, including an automobile accident where he suffered a broken nose, Jason never brought it up at the food bank. When he volunteers, his entire heart and soul goes into his work.

Sometimes the Food Bank is a place not just for clients; sometimes it is a place for other folks struggling to make it who find that “giving back” makes them feel good and whole. Maybe working here keeps some of our volunteers from going back to an alcohol or drug addiction; keeping busy keeps them sober. Feeding hungry people in Sacramento not only helps alleviate our clients’ hunger, but also feeds a need to unburden the past and start over. And that’s work worth doing.

Happy National Volunteer Month!

Summer Garden? Grow for RCFB

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Is your summer garden “in?” Does it include an extra row of veggies for RCFB?

When you bring in summer produce we give you a complimentary t-shirt and lawn sign to proudly proclaim that you “Grow for RCFB.” Last year our friends and neighbors brought us 55,427 pounds of produce, sometimes, quite frankly, one tomato or zucchini at a time. Does it make a difference? Just ask the little girl who made a smiley face out of her slice of honey dew melon. Her smile says it all!

But you say you don’t garden? You can still help us out by visiting our booth at the Wednesday Cesar Chavez Park Farmer’s Market and donating fresh produce. Our “Giving Fresh” program encourages you to buy from local farm vendors and donate an extra pound of anything fresh and in season to River City. Drop it by our booth and we’ll make sure it is enjoyed by clients within 24 hours. So get growing any way that you can!

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In 2012, we served more than 31,000 working families struggling to make ends meet. You can help.

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More than 16,500 volunteer hours keep us going!

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River City Food Bank is the oldest, continuously serving food bank in Sacramento and the only Sacramento-area food bank open every week day to anyone experiencing hunger from anywhere in Sacramento County.


Hunger Action Week Features Acclaimed Documentary ‘A Place at the Table’

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Click here to view the Press Release: Hunger Action Week Features Acclaimed Documentary ‘A Place at the Table’ (PDF)

“One out of every two children in the U.S. will be eligible for Food Stamps at some point in their lives (Feeding America).” That means there is a 50% chance of our own kids being one of them.

My oldest son qualified for food stamps when he was struggling to find work in 2003.  He lived on his own, but I knew he didn’t have money for food after the rent had been paid.  So I did what all mothers would do if they could. I went to the super market and bought two sets of groceries: one for our family at home and one for him.  In many ways, his circumstances led me to accept my job at River City, because I asked the question, if I did not help, who would feed him?  How could he find work if he was hungry?  How could he stay healthy without healthy food?

Join the Sacramento Hunger Coalition and come to one or all of the Hunger Action Week Activities, including the special screening of A Place at the Table.  Learn about hunger, and the dangers and implications of a “hungry” country.  Find out what is being done and what NEEDS to be done to really address the hunger issues locally and nationally.


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We’re hiring a new CalFresh Outreach Director!

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Do you have a background in community outreach or social services? Are you passionate about food assistance to ensure everyone has access to nutritional food?  Do you speak both English and Spanish fluently?

If your answer is “yes”, we have an opening on our team that just may be your best career move.  Check out the CalFresh Outreach Program Director (PDF) job description and if you feel you qualify, please follow the instructions to apply by June 5th.

Sacramento Press: The FUNdraiser Feature: Empty Bowls Luncheon

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Sacramento Press Article – The bowl is a visual symbol of the empty bowls in the community, a reminder of the hunger those less fortunate face on a daily basis. Each month more than 5,000 people receive food from the River City Food Bank, which is seeing a surge in elderly clients, according to its executive director… READ MORE

 

Welcome our new CalFresh Outreach Director!

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Help us welcome our new CalFresh Outreach Director, Jenny Dominguez.

Jenny Dominguez comes to River City Food Bank with a strong background in community service and collaboration. She served as a community representative on the Modesto City Schools Leadership Council, the Stanislaus County Headstart Council and the Stockton Food Bank, and also volunteered with Catholic Charities, UC Cooperative Extension and Family Resource and Referral. Before coming to Sacramento, Jenny was a Health Educator for Stanislaus County’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, where she taught a class in nutrition and also provided food demonstrations for CalFresh recipients.  When not helping CalFresh recipients, she spends time working with Central California Youth Academy, Inc., a non-profit organization focused on keeping at-risk youth in school and off the streets.

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