Dear Hunger Fighter:

We are at a critical point in the fight against hunger and we’re calling on you to use your voice.

The need remains high. Remember: Texas ranks 2nd in the nation for childhood hunger; our poverty rate is three points higher than the national average; 57 percent of the clients in NTFB’s service area must choose between food and paying their utility bills; I could go on and on. The bright spot for so many who find themselves in what many tell us is the lowest point of their lives, are the programs our Food Bank can offer to ease their stress. After all, the only way to get back on your feet is to start by having something to eat-- plain and simple.

We’re in a tough economy, and with shortfalls and deficits we know changes must be made, but did you know that for the last two fiscal years, the North Texas Food Bank has received approximately $2 million per year from the government? Our Food Bank works best when we have a public-private partnership and with the chronic hunger we see, we need to keep working in the best, most efficient, and most effective way possible.

Please take the time to read over the information included in this newsletter and familiarize yourself with the issues facing the food bank - like the effect these cuts will have on the elderly and children. Then, please, pick up the phone and use your voice - elected officials really do listen to YOU!

With gratitude,

Jan Pruitt
President and CEO

National Legislative Summary:
There are two budgets under debate right now, one is the FY2011 Continuing Resolution - or “CR” - that covers the government’s operating expenses March through September of 2011. If a CR isn’t passed, the government must shut down. The other up for debate is the 2012 budget, relating to next year’s expenses.

The Food Banking network is currently focused on the FY2011 CR. Among the cuts, the House has approved cutting $20 million in funding to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, or CSFP, which provides boxes of nutritious food to about 600,000 people, most of whom are low-income seniors. Individuals who qualify can have incomes of no more than about $14,000 a year. The cut means that about 80,000 people - 5,500 in Texas - will be eliminated from the program, which serves our nations' most at-risk population - the impoverished elderly.

Eliminating a single box of food each month may not seem like a significant loss, but not if you are one of the seniors who rely on that box of food to make the difference between eating three square meals a day or going hungry.

Please direct your calls and letters to Senators Cornyn and Hutchison for the next two weeks.

The CR made the following cuts to anti-hunger programs:
$747 million cut from WIC ( - 10%) (Women, Infants and Children program)
$585 million cut from unspent USDA funds
$305 million cut from Community Services Block Grants ( - 44%)(in Texas, this funds Community Action Agencies)
$98 million cut from FEMA/EFSP ( - 50%) (Emergency Food and Shelter Program)
$20 million cut from CSFP ( - 12%) (Commodities program that provides food packages to seniors effecting 5,500 in Texas)
$6 million cut from TEFAP infrastructure grants ( - 100%) (Infrastructure grants help with building capacity to improve emergency food distribution.)
$5 million cut from Hunger-Free Communities grants ( - 100%)

Total, that’s over 1.7 BILLION in cuts for hunger relief.

Remember: These cuts will affect the coming 2012 budget discussions too, so your voice is vital to the future of the Food Bank!

ACTION ITEM: We are asking you to call your Senators and tell them that we cannot balance our budget while leaving our children, the elderly and working poor unprotected. Keep the Food Safety Net in place that helps our national food banking system!

Call this toll-free number and you will be automatically sent to your Senator’s office: 877-698-8228

State Legislative Summary:
The last time we had a budget shortfall this big was in 1987, and Gov. Clements had to sign the largest tax increase Texas had ever seen because of it. This time, says Bill Allaway of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, our shortfall is between 25 to 50 percent higher.

“This is a very serious situation,” Allaway said at a recent Dallas Chamber luncheon.

Scott McCown of the Center for Public Policy Priorities wrote about the problem this way: “To put the shortfall in perspective, if we closed 75 state government agencies, including the governor’s office, legislature and courts, plus Departments of Public Safety and Criminal Justice, we still couldn’t close the gap. Only through unprecedented cuts to public education, higher education, and health and human services, which make up ¾ of our budget, could we balance the budget through cuts alone.”

Also, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Texas food banks distribute millions of pounds of Texas-grown produce to families in need each year. The food banks also assist Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) in easing access to critical nutrition programs like food stamps for thousands of hungry Texans.

Proposed cuts to Health and Human Services will not pay for caseload growth or higher costs. In 2009, HHSC faced federal sanctions and a class action lawsuit over its inability to provide services to hungry families in a timely or consistent manner. Since then, HHSC has made significant improvements to deliver services to eligible families.

We need to keep Texas moving in the right direction by supporting HHSC’s requests to raise staffing levels, simplify existing eligibility processes and expand community partnerships.

ACTION ITEM: The North Texas Food Bank urges you to call your elected leaders today and tell them it is unacceptable to leave the children, elderly, disabled and poor unprotected, and that cuts to health and human services should not be in the social safety net used by those who have fallen on hard times.

Find who represents you here: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/