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Giving Thanks: Food bank treats supporters who came to the rescue
More are asking for help
Journal photo by Lauren Carroll
V. Taylor Foster of Winston-Salem looks at pieces of art designed by children in the Second Harvest Food Bank's Kids Cafe program during the food bank's second annual "Blue Jean Bash" Sunday, November 15, 2009.
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Published: November 16, 2009
After shelves ran bare in July, community support helped the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina to rally.
Last night the food bank thanked its major donors for their help in a tough year and emphasized the need to attract new support for its programs.
Clyde Fitzgerald, the food bank's executive director, said that food supplies are up about 15 percent over last year, but that demand from the food bank's partner agencies is up 75 percent.
"It's been a very challenging year," he said, "but thanks to people in the community, it's been a good year. The people put us back in business."
About 250 people attended the Blue Jean Bash at the food-bank offices. They ate, admired the winning holiday cards designed by children in the Kids Cafe program and listened to music by Chris Sparks, a singer from Greensboro, who was moved to get involved with the food bank.
Fitzgerald said that about 100,000 more people than last year have requested help in 2009.
Many of the people who are driving the increase in demand are first-time clients, he said. They have been laid off from manufacturing jobs and they don't have skills that easily transfer to other types of work. He doesn't see the situation improving anytime soon.
"The people we serve are the first to get hit when times are tough and are the last to benefit," he said.
Sparks said that after hearing about how many hungry children there were in Guilford County he started approaching area organizations about how he could help.
He and food-bank executives hit it off over a lunch meeting, he said. Sparks is working toward doing a benefit concert for the food bank in the spring.
He attended last night's event to perform a few songs.
Quiara Martin, a fourth-grader at Northwood Elementary School in High Point, was one of four children in the food bank's Kids Cafe program whose artwork was chosen to appear on holiday cards.
Kids Cafes are part of a national program that offers children a meal, tutoring and enrichment activities three nights a week.
Martin said that her card, which shows people surrounding a Christmas tree, captures the excitement of the season.
Fitzgerald said that community support usually picks up around the holidays, but that come the first week of January, people will still be hungry.
"Hunger doesn't take a holiday," he said.
mgiunca@wsjournal.com
727-4089
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