The mission of Food for All is to find and implement solutions to the problem of hunger in Western New York.
The Goals of Food for All
- To educate the community to the reality of hunger and poverty.
- To research the causes of hunger and act as advocates/agents of change.
- To maximize the availability of nutritionally adequate food.
- To assist needy people in securing available nutritional resources.
Our staff of consists of two: Bruce Davidson, Public Policy Coordinator and Kelly Ann Kowalski, Nutrition Outreach Coordinator. We rely on volunteers for office assistance and Work Study students from Erie Community College to assist our Nutrition Outreach Coordinator. Food for All has two committees: the Steering Committee and the Public Policy Committee.
Hunger Facts
- 1 out of 4 children in New York State lives in poverty.
- 13% of Erie County’s population lives below the poverty line.
- 22% of the County’s children live in poverty. (2000 Census data)
- 53,000 children in Erie County are hungry or at risk of hunger. (Nutrition Consortium of New York State)
- More than 90,000 Western New York residents turn to food pantries and soup kitchens for assistance; more than half are children. (Food Bank of Western New York)
- Households with children receive 82% of Food Stamps.
Hunger Has Many Faces
- Hunger is a child waiting with her mother at a food pantry for a bag of food because her mother’s paycheck doesn’t stretch far enough to put food on the table
- Hunger is a single, childless adult who lost his/her food stamps because of 1996 welfare changes.
- Hunger is a family of four struggling to live on two low paying jobs that offer no health insurance.
- Hunger is the face of a senior citizen whose fixed income is barely above the federal poverty level and yet does not qualify for food stamps.
Food for All Responds
- Nutrition Outreach and Education Program Food for All conducts outreach activities designed to increase participation in three federal nutrition programs: Food Stamp Program, the Summer Food Service Program for Children, and the School Breakfast Program. We provide:
- free confidential Food Stamp prescreening
- food Stamp application assistance
- technical training to agency staff
- promotional items for the School Breakfast Program
- technical assistance for the Summer Food Program for Children
- Advocacy and Public Policy ActivitiesFood for All believes that the problem of hunger will only be solved through a long term effort and commitment to systemic policy and program changes that meet the food needs of poor and hungry people. Our advocacy activities include:
- Organizing local community support around state legislation i.e., Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program.
- Organizing community support around federal legislation i.e., reauthorization of Food Stamps.
- Organize and sponsor workshops and forums to educate religious groups how to advocate for action against hunger and poverty i.e., Mobilizing Faith Communities to End Hunger.
- Educate the general public to the reality of hunger and poverty through our newsletter and other organizations’ newsletters, the Media and presentations at various community groups.
- Continue to represent hunger concerns on local coalitions who share a common task.
- Emergency Food Providers Directory Food for All publishes and distributes the Emergency Food Providers Directory. The directory lists the more than 140 food pantries and dining sites in Erie County by ZIP code and details information about each provider and how to make a referral to a food pantry.
For more information about our program please call 716-882-7705.
or e-mail : [email protected]