Millions of pounds of food are distributed each year to food insecure families in the area through Second Harvest Community Food Bank in St. Joseph.
Second Harvest relies on several events and donations throughout the year to be able to help those families through programs such as Backpack Buddies and No Hunger Summer.
Michelle Fagerstone is the Chief Development Officer for Second Harvest. Fagerstone said to help 100% of the food insecure all the time in their 19-county service area they would need 12 million pounds of food. Last year, Second Harvest distributed 5.5 million pounds of food.
Fagerstone said one of the programs they offer, No Hunger Summer, works with churches and area organizations to set up feeding sites throughout communities in the area where anyone up to 18-years-old can go to receive a free lunch Monday through Friday.
“When school is let out, then a lot of families who are food insecure, that’s an added burden on them as to how they’re going to feed the kids while they’re out of school,” Fagerstone said. “So we give them the option to come and visit one of the sites and hopefully they get a nutritious meal and they get a little bit of relief off of their grocery bill.”
The No Hunger Summer program runs from the week after summer school gets out until about a week before school starts up again.
During the school year, the Backpack Buddies program helps students that receive free or reduced-price lunches at school.
“The kids on Friday as they’re getting ready to leave for the weekend, receive a package of food that has a breakfast, two entrees, some snacks, juice and shelf-stable milk in it and so it’s just enough food to tide them over for the weekend,” Fagerstone said. “It’s mainly meant to be used as a supplement to food that hopefully they’re getting at home also.”
Fagerstone said they have provided as many as 3,490 backpacks per weekend through the Backpack Buddies program in 18 of the 19 counties they serve.
Some of the ways Second Harvest is supported through the community include events such as the Canned Film Festival. The event each year is put on by Regal Hollywood 10 Theaters and Eagle Radio along with Midwest Data and Mosaic Life Care.
“The idea is that anybody, whether they’re truly a kid or a kid at heart, can enjoy a movie on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for just the price of a can of food,” Fagerstone said.
According to Fagerstone, the event last year collected 11,400 pounds of food and they estimate that this year, with the event being extended two weeks, they will collect over 15,000 pounds. The Canned Film Festival runs through August 8th and this week, movies being shown include the Lego Batman movie and Trolls. Doors open at 9 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. You can find more information at ourcommunityfoodbank.org.
Another food drive and fundraiser comes during Hunger Action Month in September.
“We do what is called, ‘The Corporate Food Fight,’ and we invite corporations and businesses here in the St. Joseph area to compete in food and fund drives,” Fagerstone said. “They compete all month long… we bunch them up according to size and all month long they bring us funds and they bring us food. At the end of the month, we tally everything up and we give out four ‘Golden Can Awards’ to the top four performing businesses and they really have a blast with that. It brings us in about 65,000 pounds of food every year.”
Fagerstone said the largest fundraiser of the year is the Mayor’s Thanksgiving Dinner and in a few weeks they will be announcing some details about that event.
For more information about Second Harvest Community Food Bank, their programs, how to set up a food drive and more, click here.