food forIssue 4 • 2015

Community FOOD BANK of Eastern Oklahoma

Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope

HUNGERAMONG OURHEROES

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Together, we...Thanks to your support, the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma

is able to fight hunger and feed hope throughout our communities.

2 Food for Thought

Join Breadwinners, our recurring giving plan, and help feed families every day of the year! Joining is easy and convenient. To get startedor learn more, contact Justin Jones at918-936-4556 or jjones@okfoodbank.org.

“We care about families who are hungry and didn’t know how to help, but then we found the

Food Bank. Now we give what we can every month.” -Susan

2015 - 2016Board of DirectorsPresidentEric KunkelCCK StrategiesVice PresidentMike McAndrewsMariner Wealth AdvisorsTreasurerJason SmithFlight Concepts, LLCSecretaryMonica GibbsAgape Bible Fellowship ChurchImmediate Past PresidentColleen Almeida SmithTulsa World

MembersDr. Eloy A. ChavezNortheastern State UniversityLori DryerPeople’s Pantry of Tulsa, Inc.Brent EdstromReasor’sRich FickenWPX Energy Marketing, LLCJason GlassSavage Baum & Glass, PLLCVanessa Hall-HarperTulsa Health DepartmentCynthia HubbardWilliams Companies, Inc.Tom HutchisonGableGotwalsTeresa JohnsonCommunity VolunteerKurt KazmierskiArvest BankDr. Kathy LaFortuneTulsa County Juvenile BureauScott LewisOptimus Industries, LLCAnthony PhillipsBank of OklahomaJohn SilvaMorton ComprehensiveHealth ServicesSteve SwetohaTulsa Shock

Executive DirectorEileen Bradshaw

Dear Friends–

I hope you are enjoying this change of season as much as I am–I am happy to feel fall in the air! The months ahead are dotted with holidays, giving us reasons to reflect, remember and celebrate.

One of those holidays is Veteran’s Day, which falls this year on November 11th. It is a time we as a nation stop and express gratitude for the commitment and sacrifice veterans have made on behalf of us all. My father, a Korean War veteran, was delighted each Veteran’s Day by the opportunity to enjoy a complimentary meal in recognition of his service. Many restaurants offer this opportunity to vets and it is a fun and thoughtful expression of gratitude.

Though my father certainly enjoyed the free meal and sentiment it represented, he didn’t really need it. However, for too many other veterans in our country, the need for food assistance is real and persistent. According to a recent study, more than one in four Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are classified as food insecure. Additionally, our active duty military are impacted by hunger and food insecurity as well. According to Feeding America, approximately 620,000 families with at least one member actively serving in the U.S. military sought food assistance from a pantry last year.

We have so many brave men and women who have put their lives on the line in hostile territory. Active duty families often find the struggle with food insecurity compounds the worry of a loved one’s deployment. Veterans often return home to find their earning potential has been impacted by injury or the transition to civilian job market is more challenging than anticipated.

In this issue, you will hear from a graduate student who spent time on base as a military spouse and saw the issue first hand. Many of our Partner Programs serve veterans each day, and the Food Bank has just added a staff member to help coordinate our efforts on behalf of veterans and their families, to ensure we are reaching them in the most effective ways. We appreciate your partnership in this effort.

Thanks you for all you do–we literally couldn’t do any of our work without you.

On behalf of the hungry,

Eileen Ryan BradshawExecutive Director

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Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma 3

We’re so grateful for the foundations, corporations and programs who choose to support our mission by providing grant funding. These grants provide critical support to our many programs and we appreciate the partnership of the following:The Common Bond FoundationGeneral Operating

Schwan’s Corporate Giving FoundationFood for Kids

*Grants listed are $10,000 and above, received between August 1-September 15, 2015.

During September, more than 50 restaurants participated in the largest Tulsa Restaurant Week in history. Thanks to your support, 10 percent of every Tulsa Restaurant Week menu item purchased was donated to the Food Bank’s Food for Kids Program. Donations up to $25,000 were generously matched by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, making your donation go twice as far. The Food for Kids Program now includes the Backpack Program, Free Family Farmers Markets, Extended School Holiday Feeding Program and School Pantry Program to help children and their familes fight hunger year-round.

Dined out to fight hunger

Together, we...Thanks to your support, the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma

is able to fight hunger and feed hope throughout our communities.

Celebrated the BackpackProgram’s 10th birthday

This year, our Food for Kids Backpack Program celebrates its tenth birthday! You helped us kick-off the celebration with the Backpack Birthday Bash at the Food Bank in September. With your help, the Backpack Program has grown to serve more than 5,000 children each week during the school year in Tulsa County. Our Partner Programs facilitate the program to serve an additional 4,000 students outside of Tulsa County.

Join honorary ambassadors Lorri & Pat Quinn and Jean & Mike Quinn for Giving Spirits, a one-of-a-kind whiskey tasting experience, benefiting the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.

The Grand Tasting offers guests samples of a collection of fine spirits from a variety of distillers, breakout sessions focusing on the nuance and craft of whiskey-making and local chefs demonstrating the art of cooking with spirits. For the connoisseur, the event will also offer a limited-access VIP Tasting, guided by master distillers and showcase rare and exceptional whiskies from some of the most elite distilleries. The evening also includes wonderful food, cigars, music and more.

To purchase tickets, please visit okfoodbank.org. To become an event sponsor or receive more information, contact Heidi at 918-934-4544 orhewing@okfoodbank.org.

Join us for Giving SpiritsFriday, November 6

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Did you know approximately 20 percent of families served by the Feeding America network are military families, made up of at least one active duty, Reserveand National Guard or veteran?

In a 2014 estimate by the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities, approximately 26,300 Oklahoma veterans received Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP)benefits, an increase of 1,700 recipients from 2013. Despite the stigma often attached to food assistance, the users are not lazy and jobless. Many of them represent some of the hardest-working individuals in this nation, including military service members willing to die for our country.

Contributing factors Food assistance programs, such as SNAP and Women, Infants and Children (WIC), are designed to be supplemental in nature and are utilized by a large number of working class individuals. This assistance provides families with an enhanced ability to pay utility bills, cover medical costs, go to school, all while keeping food on the table. Military families are no exception.

Many may look at the benefits received by military members, such as health insurance and basic housing allowance and wonder how additional assistance is needed. However, this doesn’t account for service members’ low pay, additional living costs, as well as

the lack of long-term planning afforded for by military education initiatives.

Education According to a 2013 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs report, only 32 percent of post 9/11 veterans held a college degree or higher. This means a majority of those entering the military lack an advanced education and do not continue traditional studies during their service.

Although service members receive job training during military commitments, many service members face difficulty transferring these skills to the civilian sector. Some competencies have been accounted for, yet the gap leaves veterans without a transferable skill set and further financial burden of paying for additional certifications to make these jobs possible. Ultimately, the lack of education by military service members results in veterans with access to lower paying jobs, greater unemployment and continued risk of further government assistance, particularly in the form of food assistance or cash benefits.

Pay scale In 2015, WIC Income Guidelines use a monthly paycheck of $3,098 for a family of three. A new low-mid ranged Enlisted 4 (E4) makes $2,019.60 and on promotion to Enlisted 5 (E5) makes $2,202.90—additional allowances for housing, uniform and occasional separation pay not included.

4 Food for Thought

HUNGER AMONG OUR HEROESContributing Author: Elizabeth Armstrong

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Allowances are offered to compensate for additional stresses, such as unannounced moving requirements limiting a spouse’s ability to work, limited and expensive housing options, high childcare costs, uniform changes elected by higher officials, etc. The need for assistance is not just an “enlisted” problem. Officer 1 (O1) and Warrant Officer 2 (W2) families of three also qualify for food subsidy.

This shows low pay is a universal issue among most lower ranking military service members. Furthermore, this problem of low wage is recognized; yet instead of providing for military pay increases, small-scale supplemental income programs are available specifically for military families, such as the Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA) program. This was designed to provide military families with an additional source of income without raising pay for all service members and reduce the number of service members using stigmatized food assistance.

Chronic Food Assistance Use by Military Personnel The military community is in many ways one of the most supportive family environments; however, that same support remains unmatched in financial, public and political support. Instead of increasing military pay, military families contribute $100 million dollars annually in food assistance redemptions. Parts of the issues supporting systemic need for food assistance are fixed pay scales and lack of education and transferable skills acquired by service members resulting in further assistance upon exiting the military. Although more than 50 percent, or $598.5 billion, of the discretionary budget is dedicated to military spending, the allocation of those funds leave little room for military pay increases, leaving the task of securing supplemental income to an already stressed military family.

The numbers mentioned in this article only include a portion of the eligible population and do not even touch upon the thousands of homeless veterans in need of long-term assistance. If we continue to pay our military service members below a living wage, refuse to educate our community and continue to ignore veteran homelessness, the number of military families needing food assistance can only be expected to rise.

HUNGER AMONG OUR HEROES

The Community Food Bank of EasternOklahoma recently launched an outreach

program to address the issue of hungeramong veterans in our communities.

“My father served in WWII, my daughter iscurrently serving and I served during the Vietnam conflict, so veterans issues are important andpersonal to me,“ said Steve Lehto, rural hunger and veterans outreach manager at the Food Bank. “I’ve met humble, yet proud, veterans of every era and some with a lost look in their eyes. These men and women served so you and I can be free and theyoften seem under-served as veterans. More than 27 percent of veterans are considered food insecure in our nation. We can do better and I’m excited for the Food Bank to become more engaged in this area.”

26,300OKLAHOMA VETERANSRECEIVE SNAP ASSISTANCE

68%VETERANS HAVE AHIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA, GED OR

SOME COLLEG EEDUCATION

THE NUMBERS

According to the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities

According to a 2013 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs report

$2,019.60

$2,202.90

$3,098.00

According to WIC Income Guidelines and military pay charts

Contributing Author: Elizabeth ArmstrongActive Duty Enlisted & Reserve Officer Military Spouse 2011-2015. Currently in her 2nd year of her Master’s in Geography at OSU, researching political representations by state legislators surrounding the ACA. She currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant at OSU and as a Research Intern at the Oklahoma Policy Institute. Her free time is spent outside and active with her family.

Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma 5

Contributing Author: Elizabeth Armstrong

Federal WIC Monthly Income Guidelines

Enlisted 5 (E5) Monthly Salary

Enlisted 4 (E4) Monthly Salary

For a family of three

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The holidays are upon us!

6 Food for Thought

Let us do the cooking this holiday season

Looking for the perfect gift for the people in your life? Make a contribution in their name to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and send one of our Food Bank holiday cards! It’s a great way to honor your friends and family, give back to the community and help ensure hungry Oklahomans will have enough to eat this holiday season.

For your convenience, we offer three pricing levels and all contributions are tax-deductible. You can purchase up to 100 cards for $10 each, 100 to 499 cards for $7 each or

purchase more than 500 cards for $5 each.For an additional $1 per card, we will mail the cards to each person on your mailing list.

Visit our website at okfoodbank.org to view our 2015 holiday cards, which include Christmas, Chanukah, general holiday and New Year’s cardsand download the order form.

If you have questions or would like to orderover the phone, contact Katy Dorais atkdorais@okfoodbank.org or 918-936-4506.

Orders must be placed by Wednesday, December 9 at 4 p.m. and may be picked up from theCommunity Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma beginning Thursday, Dec. 17 through Tuesday, Dec. 22.

To place your order, contact Deb Hughes at dhughes@okfoodbank.org or 918-936-4507.

Let us do the cooking for your family or business holiday parties! A variety of meats are available from the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma’s Culinary Center, smoked in our professional smoker. All items are fully cooked and then frozen, with reheating instructions included in each order. Your order benefits the Food Bank and helps us fight hunger in our community.

Type Price WeightServing Size

(6 oz. servings)Smoked Brisket $55 7 pounds 15-17

1/2 Smoked Pork Loin $30 4 pounds 9-10

Full Smoked Pork Loin $45 8 pounds 18-20

1/2 Smoked Prime Rib $100 7 pounds 15-17

Full Smoked Prime Rib $145 14 pounds 30-35

Smoked Pulled Pork Butt $30 5 pounds 15

Help feed families this fall and winter by hosting a food and fund drive for the Food Bank! Contact Katie Lepine at klepine@okfoodbank.org or 918-936-4511 for more information or to host your own food drive.

Host a food and fund drive

Happy Chanukah

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The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma serves 450 Partner Programs in 24 counties in eastern Oklahoma. In the 2014 Hunger in America Report, Feeding America conducted a study of clients of our Partner Programs, including how hunger affected their clients’ health and access to healthcare. You can learn more about hunger in eastern Oklahoma by visiting map.feedingamerica.org.

EFFECTS OF HUNGER ON HEALTH

27%Rx

SIXTY-NINE PERCENTCHOSE BETWEEN FOOD & MEDICINEIN THE LAST 12 MONTHS

FACE THIS CHOICEEVERY MONTH

6 IN 10HAVE MEDICAL BILLS TO PAY

35%HAVE A HOUSE HOLD MEMBER WITH DIABETES

MORE THAN HALFHAVE A MEMBER WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

HEALTH STATUS AS RATED BY CLIENT

POOR FAIR GOOD VERY GOOD EXCELLENT26% 28% 24% 16% 6%

HUNGERISN’T HEALTHY

Meet Benita While visiting the doctor last year, they told me my high stress level was impacting my blood pressure. They said if I didn’t stop stressing, I’d end up in the hospital.

I didn’t have a job. I needed to eat. I needed to pay my bills. I was constantly worried every day.

People say I’m a strong woman, I don’t see that I have a choice. I have days where my hole feels too deep, but I put on a smile. I’m doing my best to focus on my health, without good health I won’t be able to make my situation better.

To say we greatly appreciate a warm meal and groceries from the food pantry is an under-statement. Not having the constant worry of where we’ll get our next meal is one less thing I have to stress over. We know it’s the kindness of strangers that helps get us through. At least we know we havesomeone who cares, even if we don’tknow who they are.

Food insecurity can impact children, adults and seniors inmany different ways. But there’s one thing medical professionalsagree on—hunger isn’t healthy.

In my medical experience, I have definitely seen food insecurity impact the health of my patients. Of course, at the most basic level, we need food and proper nutrition to survive and patients without adequate food are lacking in the basic nutrients they need to thrive. Many of my patients suffer from chronic illnesses, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and kidneydisease. Appropriate diet is a critical part of managing these conditions. Mental health is also significantlyimpacted by food insecurity. Depression and anxiety are found to be higher in individuals and families who struggle with hunger. I have experienced all of these issues firsthand in my practice.

Hunger presents a tremendous challenge to individuals and families, as well as the medical providers seeking to care for those who are food insecure. In my opinion, there are many cases in which providing adequate nutrition could have a greater impact on patient health than many of the other treatment modalities we might utilize to care for a patient.

Kara M. Beair Butler, DOClinical Instructor of Internal Medicine/Pediatrics at the OU School of Community MedicineDirector of the Heart Improvement ProjectMedical Director of the OU Clinic at Youth Services of Tulsa

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Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma1304 North Kenosha AvenueTulsa, OK 74106

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDTulsa OK

Permit No. 2370

Faces around the Food Bank

1304 North Kenosha AvenueTulsa, OK

Community FOOD BANK of Eastern Oklahoma

Fighting Hunger, Feeding Hope2119 North Main Street

McAlester, OK

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