Second Harvest Food Bank to begin distribution of 'Safety Net' resources through Family Boxes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Second Harvest Food Bank of North Florida will begin distribution of 3,000 Family Boxes at no cost to its member agencies over the next two months through a $110,000 grant provided by The Community Safety Net Fund.

A Family Box provides a four-day supply of healthy, protein-rich food for a family of four. Each box contains 37 items and weighs between 35 and 40 pounds. Family Boxes are especially beneficial to food pantries that hand out food to people in their neighborhoods who are struggling but not yet homeless.

Workers load Family Boxes into their vehicle.The Community Safety Net Fund is a short-term emergency funding pool supported by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and a host of private donors. Housed at The Community Foundation in Jacksonville, its resources are intended to provide financial assistance to nonprofit organizations that are considered the community's 'Social Safety Net' for people in need - specifically ones that provide food, shelter, clothing and assistance paying rent and utilities. Since its creation in December 2008, The Community Safety Net Fund has received contributions of $1.4 million and awarded more than $1 million in grants.

Second Harvest has seen a 32 percent increase in demand over the past year - providing more than 7 million pounds of food to those in need in 2008. The Safety Net Fund grant will allow the Food Bank to allocate resources for nearly a fourth of that 32 percent increase over the two months it will be distributed.

After experiencing an alarming drop in donations and inventory in September as demand soared due to the economic downturn, the Food Bank finds itself in a much better position today, Executive Director Wayne Rieley said.

Second Harvest saw food and monetary donations dramatically increase over the final four months of 2008 - helping the agency to overcome the severe shortage of resources. Local food drives contributed an average of more than 35,000 pounds of food each month from September through December, an increase of more than 400 percent from food drive contributions earlier in the year. Monetary donations also increased by more than 50 percent from the same time period in 2007.

In addition, the 24th Annual Empty Bowls Luncheon - an event designed to place a focus on and raise funds to fight hunger in our community - saw record returns with more than 1,200 attendees generating more than $76,000 in proceeds.

"The response from this community over the last four months has been tremendous," Rieley said. "Through the efforts of local food drives and many timely donations, we were able to restock and place ourselves in a position to meet the needs of the hungry people who live among us. We want to keep this momentum going, however, and not let our guard down. The need is always present, and we want to maintain our diligence in reaching out to those who won't make it without our help."

Distribution of the Family Boxes will begin on Wednesday at the Food Bank, with a maximum of 400 boxes being moved per week until the boxes have been exhausted. Member agencies will be provided with one no-cost Family Box for each 35 pounds of food they would normally "share" at the Food Bank - up to a maximum of 14 boxes per week. The concept of the grant from the Safety Net Fund is to move additional food into the community, above and beyond what agencies would normally provide.

The Family Boxes have been specifically designed for distribution to more than 300 eligible food pantries in a five-county area - Baker, St. Johns, Duval, Nassau and Clay. In addition to buying resources for the 3,000 Family Boxes, Second Harvest is also purchasing bulk quantities of critical food supplies for distribution to local soup kitchens that serve hot meals on site - agencies such as the Salvation Army.

"The increased number of people and families who are struggling in our community has created a need for more unique and efficient ways to procure food products to help them," Rieley said. "Second Harvest has already begun supplementing the surplus food that we are able to recover and distribute with purchased food from other food banks in the Feeding America network. We are able to leverage dollars and make them stretch an incredibly long way. This grant is a great illustration of that."

The retail value of the Family Box contents is $65.92 if purchased in a local grocery store. Through its available resources, the Food Bank was able to create each box for just $26.98 per unit - a 60 percent savings.

A member agency that secures 500 pounds from the Food Bank for the standard 12-cent sharing fee per pound would normally pay $60. With the 14 no-cost Family Boxes added to the total, the same agency will secure 1,000 pounds of food for just $60 during the next two months, a mere six cents per pound.

About Second Harvest Food Bank of North Florida

Second Harvest Food Bank of North Florida is the oldest and largest program of Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida. LSS was founded in 1979 by area Lutherans and business leaders to fill gaps in services offered in the community for people in need. The Food Bank gathers food from local and national sources, shares these resources with 515 nonprofit organizations in 18 north Florida counties and helps thousands of people each year who are hungry or at risk of not having being able to provide food for themselves and their families. In addition to collecting and distributing food, the Food Bank serves children in after-school programs through its Kids Cafe and in summer camps through its Summer Lunch program. It also takes Mobile Pantries filled with Family Boxes of food to people living in neighborhoods with the greatest needs. Call 904.730.8234 for more information about any of these programs and services.

About the Jessie Ball duPont Fund

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund makes grants to more than 330 eligible organizations identified by Mrs. duPont in her will. The Fund has assets of more than $315 million and has awarded $265 million in grants since 1977.

About The Community Foundation in Jacksonville

The Community Foundation in Jacksonville works to stimulate philanthropy in order to build a better community. The oldest community foundation in Florida, is has assets of $161 million.