America's Second Harvest Network Prepares for Hurricane Season 2006 Response

NEW ORLEANS --- August 27, 2006 --- As predictions for tropical storm Ernesto making landfall on US soil rise, and demands for emergency food in the Gulf Coast are as much as 50 percent higher today than before the landfall of hurricane Katrina one year ago, America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network is prepared to meet the needs for emergency food assistance nationwide.

The America’s Second Harvest Network, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, distributes more than 2 billion pounds of food each year to more than 25 million Americans living on the brink of and everyday disaster—hunger.  In response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, Network Members distributed a total of more than 82.5 million pounds of food and grocery products to help feed hundreds of thousands of people in all of the impacted areas, as well as displaced evacuees.

“When natural disasters strike, our Network is able to respond immediately and efficiently by stepping up our operations, moving more food, and feeding more people everyday,” said Vicki Escarra, president and Chief Executive Officer of the America’s Second Harvest Network.  “Our Network responded immediately in the critical first hours after the impact of Hurricane Katrina, and we continue to provide unprecedented relief services to those impacted by the 2005 hurricanes in Louisiana, the Gulf region, and across the nation.. We are prepared to respond as needed to Hurricane Season 2006.”

The America’s Second Harvest Network has staged grocery products, including family emergency boxes, energy bars and bottled water, in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.  Additionally, the America’s Second Harvest Network is working closely with donors and government partners, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and members of the National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) to coordinate specific disaster preparedness activities.

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana increased food distribution from 14 million pounds annually to more than 50 million pounds of hunger relief in the 23 parishes it serves across coastal Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina.  Before Katrina, the food bank distributed food through nearly 300 agencies, such as soup kitchens, food pantries, community centers and churches. Today, only 119 remain in Southern Louisiana, aided by 60 disaster-relief agencies to feed those in need.

“The Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana is working closely with New Orleans city officials to ensure we are as prepared as possible for hurricane making landfall in the area,” said Natalie Jayroe, executive director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana.  “We have increased our inventory of food and water, and we are committed to continue meeting the increased needs of our neighbors in the Gulf Coast area.”

The Baton Rouge Food Bank and the Bay Area Food Bank serving southern Alabama and Southern Mississippi are also poised to help support Gulf relief efforts.
 
Donations to the America’s Second Harvest Network in response to Hurricane Season 2005 have provided more than 64.4 million meals across the Gulf Coast states and southern Florida, but there is a great and continued need for emergency food throughout the gulf coast region. Of the more than 6 million Americans requesting emergency food assistance following Katrina’s landfall, 72 percent were seeking food assistance for the first time.

“Demands for emergency food assistance from the Mississippi border throughout Louisiana all the way to the North Texas border remain at close to twice pre Katrina and Rita levels,” said Jayroe.  “At this point, our biggest challenge is making sure that we have enough food, human resources and agency capacity to get the food out to people in need.”

Many agencies affiliated with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana have made truly heroic efforts to feed their neighbors. Lift Up My Name Higher, a food pantry located in the gutted out home of its director, is serving residents trying to return to their homes in the Ninth Ward of
Orleans Parish. The director, a senior woman, used her personal, limited funds to renovate her home to be able to provide for her neighbors.

Celebration Church served people in the parking lot of its flooded-out church in Jefferson Parish for several months after Katrina. They now have two sites, one in New Orleans operating out of a home and the second in St. Bernard Parish operating out of a tent. A third site is being set up in a gutted out home in St. John Parish.

Adullam Christian Fellowship operated its food pantry out of the parking lot of a flooded-out Wal-Mart in St. Bernard Parish for months after Katrina hit. At the time it was one of the few locations in St. Bernard Parish where residents who were trying to return home could get food and water. It has now relocated back inside its church.

The America’s Second Harvest Network needs financial donations to maintain a strong disaster response program and to assist people affected by hunger everyday.  To make a financial donation, visit www.secondharvest.org or call 800-344-8070.  To make a financial donation directly to your local America’s Second Harvest Network Member, visit www.secondharvest.org to locate the food bank serving your area.

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America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network, Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, and the Bay Area Food Bank (Mobile) staff, volunteers, donors and clients are available to share their incredible stories and experiences from the past year. These include:
  
Vicki Escarra
President and CEO
America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network

Natalie Jayroe
President and CEO
Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana
 
 
America's Second Harvest — The Nation's Food Bank Network is the largest charitable domestic  hunger-relief organization in the country with a Network of more than 200 Member food banks and food-rescue organizations serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  The America's Second Harvest Network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually; and supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs and Kids Cafes. Last year, the America's Second Harvest Network provided food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.  For more on the America's Second Harvest Network, please visit www.secondharvest.org.

Contact:
Ross Fraser / Maura Daly
Fraser cell: 312.307.8470
Daly Cell: 301.943.3733