Montana Food Bank Network Partner Agency News February 2012

In this Issue:PAGE 2

PAGE 5

PAGE 4

Avista Grant Opportunity

Tax Help for Clients

SNAP Myths

For more updates and information visit us at:

insidemfbn.org

The Farm Bill is a piece of federal legislation that sets the policies for TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program), CSFP (Commodity Supplemental Food Program) and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The current Farm Bill is set to expire September 30, 2012. Discussions are starting in Washington DC on the new Farm Bill. Feeding America and Montana Food Bank Network will be working hard to advocate for a strong Farm Bill. Cuts to SNAP, TEFAP, CSFP and other programs would cause increased demand at food banks and exacerbate the challenges faced by low income families. Food Banks receive food from the TEFAP program, and despite the growing demand for emergency food, TEFAP has been reduced. Why? TEFAP allocations are based on the strength of agriculture markets. Since agriculture markets have been strong, the result is less available TEFAP product. Feeding America and Montana Food Bank Network are supporting a change in how TEFAP product is allocated by proposing that TEFAP funding is indexed to the status of the economy as measured by the unemployment rate. Stay tuned for more updates on the Farm Bill and for opportunities to get involved.

What’s Happening With the Farm Bill

February is a great month to stock up on good food that goes great together! This month’s featured products are diced or whole peeled tomatoes (I5978 or I6018) and medium shell pasta (I5910). Combine these two ingredients with some ground beef or wild game (I5934) and your clients have a ready meal right in their food box! You can find the tomato products on your Free Food Shopping List and wild game burger on your Donated Shopping List. Be sure to check out this month’s recipe on the back of The Affiliate for a tasty way to use these products! Also available to you, though not included on your shopping lists are miscellaneous product pallets compiled and sorted from food donations to MFBN. Each of these pallets includes different varieties of food; some have mostly grains, some mostly canned goods, some mostly drinks, etc. and are available for 0.19/lb. Shared Maintenance Fee. If you are interested please contact Stacey at ext. 251 / sgrimes@mfbn.org.

FEATURED PRODUCTS: Tomatoes and Pasta

THE AFFILIATE www.insidemfbn.org2

The Avista Foundation has once again provided an unsolicited grant to the Montana Food Bank Network which includes equal support for six of our Partner Agencies in the Northwest corner of the State. These agencies include: Community Services Fellowship in Noxon, Community Harvest Food Bank in Thompson Falls, Heron Senior Citizens, Noxon Senior Citizens and Thompson Falls Senior Citizens. This is the 4th year Avista has partnered with the Montana Food Bank Network to provide support for these agencies. As stated in its letter to MFBN, “The Avista Foundation Board of Directors recognizes the extraordinary need that exists for families this year and would like to support you in your efforts of providing food for those in need.” MFBN is pleased to report that the six Partner Agencies listed above have received a credit on their account here at MFBN in the amount of $340.00 each which must be used by the end of June 2012. MFBN is proud to partner with funders in securing more food for your agency. We hope to continue to encourage funders who may not normally fund on a local level, but would do so as a statewide project, to work with us to provide more support in the form of food and funds for our Partners.

Avista FoundationGrant Opportunity

Meet Jerry! Jerry is a stand-out Volunteer and we are very lucky that he shares his time with us at MFBN. He volunteers Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesday from about 8:30am to Noon, every week. He has quickly taken on tasks like repacking bulk foods, and is even helping train new Volunteers! This helps immensely as it allows more time to build the volunteer program. In addition, he has taken on a morning route with the box truck, delivering Backpacks to schools and picking up donations from places like Walmart. Jerry is always smiling, has a great sense of humor and makes a bee line for the coffee every morning when he arrives! Jerry is a retired Dean and College Professor. He found MFBN through our local food-drives, fundraisers and advertising and decided it was something he wanted to be a part of. In addition to MFBN, he volunteers for the Red Cross and as an election judge. In his free time, Jerry enjoys his garden and flower beds and stays active running and hiking. We are lucky to have Jerry and look forward to working with him more in the future. Thanks Jerry!!

HJR8 Child Hunger Study Resolution

The Children, Families, Health and Human Services Legislative Interim Committee met on January 23rd to review and discuss options for action on their study of child hunger. It was requested that the committee consider legislation to mandate school breakfast in all Montana schools. This did not pass; however, the committee did approve (in a 5 to 3 vote) that legislation be drafted to fund the start-up of school breakfast programs for some schools as well as pay the 30 cent difference in the cost of the free and reduced price meal. This would result in eliminating the reduced price category. This would be an important support for families between 130% and 185% of poverty and would allow their children to receive free meals at school. The Interim Committee also approved that legislation be drafted directing up to $50,000 of TANF surplus funds be used to fund home support or backpack programs. This was approved unanimously. The Interim Committee will review the draft legislation at their next meeting. If approved, the legislation will be brought to the next Legislative Session starting in January 2013.

MFBN Volunteer Spotlight: Jerry

Montana Food Bank Network Partner Agency News February 2012 3

All delivery times will be published online and in the Affiliate concurrently to scheduled delivery dates. If for any reason your scheduled delivery time changes from what has been published, MFBN staff will notify you immediately.

FEBRUARY/MARCH DELIVERY SCHEDULE

Date Time City-Partner Agency

14-Feb 9:00-9:45 Stevensville—Pantry Partners14-Feb 10:00-10:15 Victor—Victor School Backpack14-Feb 10:30-11:00 Victor—House of Praise14-Feb 11:15-11:45 Hamilton—Bitterroot Valley Calvary Chapel14-Feb 11:45-1:15 Hamilton—Haven House, WMMHC Eddy Meuchel Group Home, WMMHC New Beginnings ADT14-Feb 1:30-2:00 Darby—Darby Bread Box

16-Feb 10:00-10:45 Bozeman—Gallatin Valley Food Bank, Headwaters Area Food Bank, West Yellowstone Food Bank, Yellowstone Social Senior Center, Gardiner Food Pantry, Big Sky Youth Center16-Feb 12:45-1:15 Helena—Helena Food Share, Helena Pre-Release, Montana Youth Homes, Elkhorn Treatment Facility, Transitional Living Facility, Salvation Army, Rocky Mountain Development Council, Lewis and Clark Group Home, Alternative Youth Adventures

21-Feb 8:30-9:00 Dillon—Beaverhead Community Food Pantry, Dillon School Backpack21-Feb 10:30-11:30 Butte—Butte Emergency Food Bank21-Feb 11:30-11:45 Butte—Butte Rescue Mission21-Feb 12:30-1:00 Anaconda—Project Care, Discovery House21-Feb 1:45-2:15 Maxville—Granite County Food Bank

23-Feb 9:00-9:30 Thompson Falls—Community Harvest Food Bank, Thompson Falls Seniors, Thompson Falls AOG Church, Thomp son Falls, School Backpack23-Feb 10:00-10:30 Trout Creek—Open Gate Ranch Youth Group, Trout Creek Seniors,Trout Creek School Backpack23-Feb 10:45-11:30 Noxon—Community Services Fellowship, Noxon Seniors, Heron Seniors, Noxon School Backpack23-Feb 12:15-1:15 Troy—Troy Food Pantry, YAAK Food Cupboard23-Feb 1:30-2:00 Troy—Troy Community Baptist Church Food Pantry23-Feb 2:15-3:30 Libby— Libby Food Pantry, Libby Christian Church, Kootenai Valley Head Start, Libby Seniors

28-Feb 10:15-10:30 Livingston—Livingston Food Pantry28-Feb 12:00-12:30 White Sulphur Springs—Meagher Country Nutrition Coalition28-Feb 3:00-3:30 Lewistown—Central Montana Community Cupboard, FCCOA, B/G of Lewistown28-Feb 5:00-5:30 Roundup—Musselshell County Food Bank28-Feb 5:30-6:00 Roundup—Youth Christian Home

29-Feb 7:15-7:45 Hardin—Helping Hands, Set Free Ministries29-Feb 8:15-8:45 Garryowen—Center Pole Foundation29-Feb 10:00-10:45 Billings—Family Services INC., Alternatives/Passages, Montana Rescue Mission, Salvation Army29-Feb 11:15-11:45 Laurel—Community Hope, Joliet Food Pantry29-Feb 12:15-12:45 Columbus—Project Hope29-Feb 1:30-2:00 Big Timber—Big Timber Community Food Bank

2-Mar 8:00-8:15 Alberton—Alberton Seniors2-Mar 8:15-8:45 Alberton—Alberton Community Food Bank2-Mar 9:15-9:45 Superior—Community Food Bank of Mineral County, Superior Seniors2-Mar 11:00-11:45 Plains—Plains Community Food Bank, Shekinah Kitchen, Plains-Paradise Seniors, Plains School Backpack2-Mar 12:30-1:00 Hot Springs—Hot Springs Food Pantry, Hot Springs School Backpack, Camas Hot Springs Community Senior Center2-Mar 1:30-1:45 Dixon—Dixon Senior Citizens Center, Dixon School Backpack2-Mar 11:30-12:00 Seeley Lake—Seeley-Swan Food Bank

THE AFFILIATE www.insidemfbn.org4

Events and Reminders

ORDERS DUE:February 10

MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORTS DUE:February 15

Date Time City-Partner Agency

6-Mar 8:00-8:15 St. Ignatius—St. Ignatius Seniors6-Mar 8:15-8:45 St. Ignatius—Mission Valley Food Pantry6-Mar 9:15-9:45 Ronan—Ronan Bread Basket, Mission Valley Seniors6-Mar 11:30-12:15 Columbia Falls—Columbia Falls Food Bank, Columbia Falls Schools Backpack6-Mar 12:30-1:00 Whitefish—North Valley Food Bank, Whitefish Four Square Church6-Mar 1:00-1:15 Whitefish—Whitefish Schools Backpack6-Mar 2:15-3:00 Eureka—Tobacco Valley Food Pantry, Eureka Four Square Church, Tobacco Valley Seniors

8-Mar 8:00-8:15 Polson—Polson Seniors8-Mar 8:30-9:00 Polson—Polson Loaves and Fish Food Pantry, Polson School Backpack8-Mar 9:45-10:15 Lakeside—Westshore Food Bank8-Mar 10:45-11:30 Kalispell—Flathead Food Bank, Lighthouse Christian Home, Samaritan House8-Mar 11:45-12:00 Kalispell—North West Montana Veterans Stand Down8-Mar 12:30-1:00 Bigfork—Bigfork Food Pantry8-Mar 2:30-2:45 Arlee—Arlee School Back Pack

13-Mar 8:30-9:30 Great Falls—Great Falls Food Bank, Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul, FISH, Great Falls Schools Backpack13-Mar 10:30-11:00 Choteau—Teton County Food Pantry, Pondera Food Pantry13-Mar 12:15-12:45 Browning—Blackfeet Food Bank

20-Mar 12:00-12:15 Lame Deer—Boys Girls of the Northern Cheyenne Nation20-Mar 12:45-1:15 Ashland—St. Labre Food Pantry20-Mar 2:00-2:15 Colstrip—Colstrip Community Food Bank20-Mar 3:30-3:45 Miles City—Custer County Food Bank

21-Mar 8:45-9:15 Wibaux—Wibaux Food Bank21-Mar 10:00-10:30 Glendive—Dawson County Food Bank, Boys & Girls Club of Dawson County, Glendive School Backpack21-Mar 12:15-12:45 Culbertson—Culbertson Food Bank21-Mar 1:30-1:45 Poplar—New Life Mission21-Mar 2:15-3:00 Wolf Point—Wolf Point Thrift Store & Food Bank, Wolf Point Seniors21-Mar 3:15-3:30 Wolf Point—Basket of Hope21-Mar 4:30-5:00 Glasgow—Valley County Council on Aging21-Mar 5:00-5:30 Glasgow—Valley Community Food Bank21-Mar 7:00-7:30 Malta—Malta Food Bank, Malta Opportunities, INC.

22-Mar 8:00-8:15 Harlem—Harlem Food Pantry, Harlem Area Senior Citizens Center22-Mar 8:45-9:15 Chinook—Chinook Food Pantry22-Mar 9:45-10:45 Havre—Havre Food Bank, Feed My Sheep, Boys and Girls of the Hi-Line, Havre Schools Backpack

??-Mar TBD Missoula—Missoula Agencies begin scheduled pick ups

HUNGER RELIEF FORUM

May 18, 2012

It’s tax time! Help your clients get help with their taxes. VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, and AARP are helping to provide tax assistance to low and moderate income households across Montana. All sites are staffed by IRS certified volunteers trained to file both state and federal tax returns and help taxpayers claim valuable tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Child Tax Credit (CTC), and the Montana Homeowner/Renter Credit for the Elderly. In addition, many sites offer free electronic-filing, allowing clients to receive their refunds much sooner than with paper filing.

To find your nearest tax assistance site:-Visit montanafreefile.org -Visist taxhelpmontana.org-Call 1-800-666-6899

SAVE THE DATE:

Help Clients Get

TAX HELP

DELIVERY SCHEDULE CONTINUED

More Details to come!

Montana Food Bank Network Partner Agency News February 2012 5

Cory comes to the Montana Food Bank Network with years of warehouse experience. He worked at Summitt Beverages here in Missoula for eight years or as Cory words it, “A long, long, long, long, long time.” But, Cory lives by the old adage echoed by his father, “If you like your job, you won’t work a day in your life.” He likes doing work that’s not just production line work and likes knowing that with his work he’s helping people in need. In his free time Cory enjoys hanging out with his three children, ages 7,6, and 3. They enjoy fishing amongst many other activities. As Cory noted, “The kids don’t live in our house, we live in the kids’ house.” Cory has a great sense of humor and we’re excited to have him on our Operations team. Join us in welcoming Cory to the Montana Food Bank Network.

Food stamps are an important program in the fight against hunger in Montana and nationwide. However, recent comments made during the national presidential debates have drawn attention to myths about the program. We wanted to provide some information to debunk these myths. 1.) “We don’t need food stamps because obesity rates are so high.”

Poverty and obesity are in fact related. Yet there is no evidence linking food stamps to obesity. Calorie dense foods are generally cheaper than nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. Individuals with a small food budget often choose calorie dense and less nutritious foods in order to stretch their food dollars. Food stamps allow people to increase their food budgets and access more nutritious foods.

2.) “I don’t have a problem with drug-testing welfare recipients.” First, there is no correlation between drug use of those on welfare and those not on welfare. Also, an argument is often made that, “If I have to be drug tested for my job, people should be drug tested to get food stamps.” The issue with drug testing all food stamp recipients is cost. It would be much more expensive to test all of the Americans that receive food stamps than it would be to simply provide food stamps to the very few numbers of people who use drugs and also receive food stamps.

3.) “Food stamps (and other social welfare programs) should be returned to the states.” Some people would like to make food stamps a block grant program, in which money is allotted to the states and each state administers a specific program such as food stamps. The problem with block grants is states are given a set amount of money by the federal government. And when that money is gone, it’s gone. In the event of a recession or natural disaster there might be an increased need for food stamps. But, with a block grant people may be left not served because of the inflexibility of block grant programs.

4.) “I want to be a paycheck president, not a food stamps president.” The increase in food stamp spending during Obama’s presidency is mostly a result of the economic downturn. The program grew by 14.7 million participants during the Bush Administration. During the Obama years, the increase has been an additional 14.2 million. While funding was expanded under Obama’s administration, it did not increase the number of recipients. The goal of the food stamp expansion was to increase the amount of food dollars given to each recipient.

As emergency food providers in the state of Montana, we hope that you see the value of food stamps in helping to put an end to hunger in our state. And we hope that as the Presidential campaigns continue you will defend this important program!

SNAP Myths Appear in Political Debates

WELCOME NEW STAFF!Cory Crocker, Lead Warehouse and Driver

For the latest information and updates on new products,

special offers, delivery schedules, shopping lists,

Pioneer Food Buying Service, grants, media featuring issues

in food banking today and current outreach programs, log on to our website www.

insidemfbn.org. You can even submit your monthly activity

report and grocery rescue numbers online!

Chief Executive Officer Peggy Grimes x225Chief Development Officer Kathryn McCleerey x244Development Coordinator Ben Darrow x226Development Coordinator Kattie Kingsley x228Chief Finance Officer Clark Tower x223Accountant Morgan Brennan x224Chief Policy Officer Kate Devino x231Public Policy Manager Lorianne Burhop x230Public Policy VISTA Courtney McGuire x227Chief Operations Officer Brent Weisgram x233Transportation Manager Rob Shipley x240Inventory Control Coordinator Stacey Grimes x251Agency Relations Manager Jeff Gutierrez x232Agency Relations & Volunteer Coordinator

Nate Merkt x252

Agency Relations Assistant Diane Matthews x222Warehouse Chuck James x237Lead Warehouse/Driver Cory Crocker x237

MFBN Staff

THE AFFILIATE www.insidemfbn.org 6

The Montana Food Bank Network

5625 ExpresswayMissoula, MT 59808

Phone: 406-721-3825800-809-4752

Fax: 406-542-3770agencyinfo@mfbn.org

MISSION:To end hunger in Montana through food acquisition,

distribution, education, and

advvocacy.

CORE VALUES:

JusticeRespectIntegrity

TrustExcellenceDiversity

www.

.orginsidemfbn

VISION:A Montana free

from hunger where everyone has

equal access to nutritious food.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

~Dr. Seuss

Ingredients1 tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil1 onion, chopped3 cloves garlic, minced1 tsp (5 mL) dried sage1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper

1 can (19 oz/540 ml) tomatoes1/4 tsp (1 mL) hot pepper sauce1 can (19 oz/540 ml) lentils, drained and rinsed5 cups (1.25 L) small pasta shells1/4 cup (60 mL) coarsely chopped fresh parsley

Lentils and Tomato Sauce with Pasta Shells

DirectionsIn large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic, sage, salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.Add tomatoes and hot pepper sauce, breaking up tomatoes with spoon; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until spoon scraped across bottom of pan leaves gap that fills in slowly, about 20 minutes. Add lentils; heat through, about 5 minutes.Meanwhile, in large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, drain and return to pot. Add sauce, parsley and enough of the reserved liquid to moisten; toss to coat. Makes 6 servings.To substitute ground beef or wild game for lentils, first brown the meat in the pan, then remove and set aside. Follow the recipe, add the meat at the same time as the lentils would be added and simmer to heat through for 5-10 minutes.

Nutrition Info: Per each of 6 servings: about - cal 405 pro 17 g total fat 4 g sat. fat 1 g carb 76 g fibre 7 g chol 0 mg sodium 589 mg % RDI: - calcium 5 iron 32 vit A 5 vit C 24 folate 105