In conjunction with the grand opening of its new corporate headquarters in Orem, Food for Health International (FFH) donated 10,000 meals to Community Action Services and Food Bank. The donation stemmed from  a company-wide wellness challenge called “Miles For Meals”— with one serving of food being donated for every mile walked by participating employees.

Local media and community members particpated in an open house on October 9, 2012 at the new FFH Corporate Headquarters at 800 N 800 E, Orem, UT 84097, where FFH representatives presented the donation to Community Action Services and Food Bank. The donation comes at a very important time as the holiday season quickly approaches and the number of service recipients typically increases by 50 percent.

 

PROVO, Utah— Seventy-two community leaders will experience the virtual realities of a low-income standard of living in a unique poverty simulation on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

The poverty simulation is designed to help people better understand the stress and difficulties which come from living in poverty. Community Action Services and Food Bank (CASFB) will be hosting the simulation for civic and community leaders, including Becky Lockhart, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives and Mayor John Curtis of Provo.

“This program helps people understand the complexities and frustrations of living in poverty day- to-day,” said Joan Dixon, Circles Coach for Community Action Services and Food Bank. “With a greater awareness of its impact, we can more effectively address the poverty issues in our community.”

Using a simulation kit, participants will role-play the lives of low-income families. Some will play recipients of government programs, while others may be disabled or senior citizens living on Social Security benefits. Additional roles will also be played by civic leaders. Each participant will shoulder the stressful task of providing basic necessities and shelter on a limited budget during the course of four 15-minute “weeks.” Participants will interact with human service agencies, grocers, pawnbrokers, bill collectors, job interviewers, police officers and others.

Poverty is a growing concern for many Utah families. Currently more than 316,000 Utahns are living at or below federal poverty level and 12.2 percent of children in Utah live in poverty.

“This is the everyday reality for thousands of Utahns,” Dixon said. “Understanding what these individuals experience each day will help us have the knowledge to change it.”

According to Jane Carlile, Circles Project Manager for CASFB and an organizer of the event, “This poverty simulation will allow community leaders to look at poverty from a variety of angles and then to recognize and discuss the potential changes within their local communities.”

The simulation is designed to sensitize those who frequently deal with low-income families as well as to create a broader awareness of poverty among policymakers, community leaders and others.

“We hope those that participate will walk away with a greater understanding of the complexity of poverty here in Utah and that they will use this experience to foster change in the community.” Carlile said.

The simulation will be held in the Clark Auditorium of the Northwest Plaza at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center from 2 -4:30 p.m. For more information on the poverty simulation, contact Eric Lafferty at 801-691-5237 or at elafferty@CommunityActionUC.org.

Springville, Utah— Local organizations are joining forces with Cosmo and Sesame Street to raise awareness of childhood hunger.

On Sunday, May 20, 2012 KBYU 11 will air Growing Hope Against Hunger, one of Sesame Street’s newest productions. The program, which begins at 6 p.m., introduces children to a new character whose family turns to a food pantry as they struggle to make ends meet. In the show, Elmo and friends learn about hunger and how they can help others through various activities such as hosting a food drive or planting a garden to donate fresh produce to their local food bank. 

To raise awareness, KBYU 11, the Community Action Food Bank, Pepsi and Walmart are hosting the “Grow a Row with Cosmo” event on May 19, 2012 from 9 to 11 a.m. The event will take place at the Walmart in Springville.

As part of the event, 200 children will have the opportunity to create their own terrarium alongside Cosmo. The purpose is to help children understand more about gardening and how they can donate fresh produce through the Grow a Row Program at the Community Action Food Bank.

In addition, the first 200 families will each receive a Sesame Street Workshop kit. Each kit provides a valuable resource to help parents teach their children about hunger and food related issues. The kits are free and each contains a Sesame Street DVD and a magazine discussing a variety of topics, including:

• Family Food Talk offers ways for families to talk together about food and any related worries parents and children may have
• Healthy Food on a Budget has ideas to help plan, shop and save money
• Healthy Choices Anytime offers tips for making healthy choices anytime, anywhere
• Making Connections includes ways to reach out for support

Cosmo will also be available for photographs between 9 and 11 a.m. The event is free to the public and all are invited to attend.

Hunger is a growing problem throughout the United States and the state of Utah.  The Food Research Action Center reports that nearly 1 in 5 (23%) Utah households with children experience food hardship.

To find out more about hunger in Utah, visit utahcap.org.

 PROVO, Utah (March 2, 2012) – On Thursday March 8, Feed The Children will deliver two semi tractor-trailers full of food and essentials to Community Action Services and Food Bank. The food and essentials will be distributed to families in need at 10 a. m. in the LDS Church parking lot at 888 South Freedom Blvd. in Provo.

The event is part of Feed The Children’s Americans Feeding Americans Caravan, which has helped more than 340,000 families across the country since it began in 2009.

Feed The Children’s partner agency Community Action in Provo has identified the recipient families. Each family will receive a 25-pound box of food and a 10-pound box of personal care items. The boxes are designed to help a family for up to one week.  Nu Skin will generously provide families with nutritious VitaMeal^®, a food specifically formulated to meet the nutritional needs of malnourished children.[*]

More than one in six children living in Utah is considered impoverished.  The number of impoverished children in Utah (135,565) could fill Brigham Young University’s Marriott Center nearly six times.

Feed The Children’s corporate partner Nu Skin will have employees on hand to help unload the semi tractor-trailers and distribute the food and essentials.  The Nu Skin family of customers and distributors has donated more than 250 million servings of VitaMeal through the Nourish the Children initiative to Feed The Children for distribution to malnourished children around the world. VitaMeal is a nutrient-dense food with 25 essential vitamins and minerals. In addition, Nu Skin has consistently supported Community Action with food donations each year.

“We are so thankful to Nu Skin and Community Action for their cooperation in helping to provide food and essentials to so many families in need this year,” said Tony Sellars, spokesperson for Feed The Children. “A lot of these people considered themselves middle class just a few years ago and are now unable to provide for their families. This distribution will provide relief for them at a crucial time.”

Feed The Children

Since 1979, Feed The Children has consistently ranked as one of the largest international charities in the U.S., based on private, non-government support. Our mission is providing hope and resources for those without life’s essentials. In FY 2010, Feed The Children distributed more than 133 million pounds of food and other essentials to children and their families in all 50 states and internationally. For more information, visit www.feedthechildren.org  

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[*] These statements have not been evaluated by the FTC.  VitaMeal is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

As the holidays quickly approach, many families throughout the U.S. are thinking less about what will go under the tree and more about keeping a roof over their head, employment and if there will be food to eat.

The latest census data reported that nearly 1 in 2 Americans now find themselves living in poverty or low-income.  The U.S. Census Bureau also reported some 49 million individuals now find themselves living in poverty.

Much like the national landscape, Utah has more families living in poverty than ever before. In 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau reported more than 316,000 Utah residents lived in poverty, an increase of 19.8 percent from the previous year. Today, more than 359,000 Utah residents live in poverty and the numbers continue to rise each day.

As the poverty rates continue to rise, so does the need for help. Non-profits and other organizations that serve the low-income population are seeing a record number of people seeking assistance, while donations become increasingly more difficult to come by.

In a recent study done by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, researchers found 33 percent of non-profits have seen a reduction in donation income this past year, while 24 percent have stayed the same. The report also indicated that larger organizations were more likely to see growth than smaller ones.

Community Action Services and Food Bank (CASFB) in Provo serves as the primary food bank for Utah, Wasatch and Summit counties.  In addition to food assistance, the agency also provides several services to help low-income families meet their basic needs.                                                            

Since the downturn of the economy, the organization has seen the number of clients more than double, while funding sources and donations have decreased.

“Last month we served more than 2,300 households through our pantry in Provo,” explained   Myla Dutton, CASFB executive director. “It’s not just families that are struggling. Agencies such as ours, are trying to help more people with less resources.”

As resources become increasingly scarce, smaller organizations are looking for new ways to make the best use of what they have available. As a result, organizations are modifying or creating new programs that focus on meeting a basic need, while also providing long-term solutions to the issue of poverty. 

At CASFB a new program, known as the Circles Initiative, has been adopted to help more individuals help themselves.  The program, which is the first of its kind in the state of Utah, partners community volunteers with low-income individuals to help provide emotional support in addition to basic services. 

“Through our research, we have found that many people living in poverty lack many basic resources. Money isn’t the only one,” said Jane Carlile, coordinator of the Circles Initiative. “Emotional support plays a major role in one’s ability to overcome the barriers to poverty and Circles helps address this need.”

With a focus on solving the barriers to poverty, Circles helps families find ways to improve their situation for good. Early results indicate for every dollar invested into the program, $2 in welfare and food stamp subsidies were returned to the government and $4 to the community as new earned income.

 “These are the types of results our community needs to see,” Carlile said. “So many programs are focused on the symptoms of poverty such as homelessness and hunger, but there isn’t a real focus on the root causes of poverty and so the problem continues. Circles changes that.”

Volunteers in the program meet with participants on a weekly basis to understand and solve difficult challenges that prevent the participants from overcoming their barrier to poverty such as childcare, transportation, education and employment.

As the economy continues to struggle, many organizations will be faced with the challenge of being able to help the record number of individuals living in poverty that will be seeking assistance in the near future.

“Until the economy improves and donations start to increase, non-profits will need to implement new strategies or the poverty rate and the number of clients will continue to rise,” said Dutton. “As difficult as things are right now, this provides an opportunity for organizations to improve. We’re doing our best to take it full stride.”

To learn more about the Circles Initiative, or to make a donation, visit CommunityActionUC.org.

SAVING HOMES

Local Poverty Campaign Offers Class in Spanish

National poverty fighting campaign offers assistance to Provo’s Impoverished Spanish speakers

The Hispanic population of Utah County has risen dramatically over the last ten years. Because there is a high poverty rate among this group, a national poverty fighting campaign has chosen to offer their assistance in Spanish in an effort to better serve the community.

PROVO, Utah—Oct. 11, 2011—The Circles Initiative, a national poverty fighting campaign, is now offering its first class for local Spanish speakers.

Circles is a program designed to help individuals and families lift themselves out of poverty by developing two-way mentoring relationships.

“Circles is a program that connects people in powerful ways,” said Jane Carlile, Circles Coordinator. “It brings a common understanding and respect for each other and moves us all to becoming our best selves.”

Reports released by the 2010 census show that the Hispanic population in Utah has increased by 77.8 percent in the last 10 years. This is the largest growth among any race in the state.

Nearly 62,000 Utah County residents live in poverty. The poverty rate among Hispanics is double the poverty rate of Caucasians in Utah County. Census statistics show that although 10 percent of Utah County’s population is Hispanic, they account for 20 percent of Utah County’s overall poverty.

To help solve this problem, Provo’s Circles program managers have found and trained volunteers to teach Circles classes in Spanish and have recruited Spanish speaking individuals from the Boulder’s apartment complex to participate.

Class participants set personal goals working toward self-reliance. This is achieved through newly developed social networks that help them understand the hidden rules of other economic classes.

Understanding these hidden rules helps individuals further their education, sustain themselves and their families and eventually be able to contribute more to the community.

National statistics on the Circles program shows that for every $1 invested in the Circles program $2 are returned to the state in the form of cash assistance and food stamp subsidies. That dollar has been shown to generate $4 of new earned income in the community.

The program is continually in need of long-term volunteers to act as Allies for participants, committee members and instructors to teach desired skills to improve the lives of those enrolled in the class.

“The success of Circles really depends on the support and involvement of the community,” Carlile said. “It’s a community issue that needs a community solution. Circles is a critical part of that solution.”

Circles staff is currently seeking partnerships with companies around Provo that have an interest in improving the community. These partnerships could be as minimal as promotion by distributing Circles information at company entrances or providing funding to expand the program.

“Our current source of funding has required us to focus our efforts specifically on the Boulders,” Carlile said. “With more community support and participation we should be able to get the funding to help more people beyond the Boulder’s.”

The majority of the program’s current funding is through a grant from Provo City, which will not continue into 2012.

For more information on how you can get involved, contact Jane Carlile by calling

801-691-5287 or at jcarlile@CommunityActionUC.org.