video: RI Food Bank Wins RI Foundation Community Leadership Award
Saturday, June 02, 2012
"Doing good work the right way"
“This is an organization that for 30 years has been characterized by doing good work the right way: with great respect for all the organizations it touches and all the people those organizations serve,” said Neil Steinberg, President of the RI Foundation. “While it would be easy to feel discouraged by the increased need for its services, the entire food bank board and staff find a way to focus on solutions rather than problems."
“We salute the Food Bank for their determination to stamp out hunger and for the creative approaches they take in battling this enormous challenge in Rhode Island," added Daniel Kertzner, Vice President for Grant Programs at the Rhode Island Foundation.
Keeping up with the unprecedented increase in demand for food assistance
“It means a great deal for our work to be recognized with this prestigious award," said Andrew Schiff, CEO of the RI Community Food Bank. "Over the last few years, we’ve been challenged to keep up with the rapid and unprecedented increase in demand for food assistance in Rhode Island. More and more people are seeking help at emergency food programs because they simply have nowhere else to turn. The Rhode Island Foundation – with timely and generous grants for strategic planning, capacity building and most importantly, food – made it possible for us to meet this high level of need in the community. We’re indebted to the Foundation for their support and very honored to receive this award.”
The RI Food Bank continues to be at the center of life in the state, particularly as the economy continues to create challenges for Rhode Islanders and their families. Consider:
- The demand for emergency food assistance has risen 58% in the last four years.
- The Food Bank’s network of emergency food programs now feeds 60,000 people every month.
- One in three served by the Food Bank’s member agencies is a child under the age of 18.
- The Food Bank has 180 member agencies with 248 sites across the state of Rhode Island, including 163 emergency food programs.
To see the Food Bank in action, check out this video created by the RI Foundation for its 2012 Leadership Award honoree.
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Comments:
Christy Millette
12:36pm on Monday, June 04, 2012
The RI Community Food Bank also has an amazing program called Community Kitchen, which teaches culinary and life skills. They're not only feeding Rhode Islanders in need, they're changing people's lives.