Fighting Hunger - Feeding Hope
With an unprecedented demand for food assistance, the Valley Food Bank has finished another record breaking year with more than 2.8 million pounds of food distributed to those in need. Through our network of pantries, we now reach more than 34,500 families or, put another way, 138,300 individuals in the Valley.
A continuing goal of the Valley Food Bank is to put a high priority on the nutritious content of the food we distribute. Again in 2011, fresh fruits and vegetables were a top food category, comprising 55% of all food distributed. The Valley Food Bank focuses on produce since this may be recipients’ only access to fresh food. Even though there are significant logistical issues with distributing fresh fruits and vegetables, we have worked to increase our ability to distribute even more nutritious food.
In 2011, our pantry network saw more first-time recipients come into their food pantries. Even though our distribution increased 32% over the previous year, the Valley Food Bank continues to receive increased requests for more food resources.
The year 2011 was challenging in many ways…more people than ever before were provided assistance in hopes of avoiding the painful consequences of hunger. The assistance was due to the efforts of our “heroes” – that would be you, our partner in the fight against hunger that provides hope.
As the unemployment rate remains excessively high, the outlook for 2012 from the Valley Food Bank’s perspective is similar to last year. With high unemployment and more budget cuts being planned at every level of government and the private sector, we expect demand for assistance to remain high. In 2012, we plan to increase fresh produce and nutritious food distribution, reach more individuals in crisis, and investigate expanding our warehouse capability. Thank you for partnering with us in Fighting Hunger and Feeding Hope.
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