Feeding America
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| Formation | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit |
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL |
| Coordinates | 41°53′11.4396″N -87°37′36.3972″W / 41.886511°N 86.373223°E |
| Region served | USA |
| Membership | Over 200 food banks |
| President & CEO | Vicki B. Escarra |
| Main organ | Board of Directors |
| Website | http://feedingamerica.org |
Feeding America (formerly named America's Second Harvest) is a United States-based non-profit organization. It consists of a nation-wide network of more than 200 food banks and food rescue organizations[1] that serve virtually every county in the United States as well as Puerto Rico. It is the nation's leading hunger-relief charity,[1] headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The current president and CEO is Vicki B. Escarra.[2] Until August 31, 2008, Feeding America was known as America's Second Harvest.[3]
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[edit] History
In the late 1960s, John van Hengel, a retired businessman in Phoenix, Arizona began volunteering at a local soup kitchen, and began soliciting food donations for the kitchen. He ended up with far more food than the kitchen could use in its operations. Around this time, he spoke with one of the clients, who told him that she regularly fed her family with discarded items from the grocery store's garbage bins. She told him that the food quality was fine, but that there should be a place where unwanted food could be stored and later accessed by people who needed it, similar to how banks store money.
Van Hengel began to actively solicit this unwanted food from grocery stores, local gardens, and nearby produce farms. His effort led to the creation of St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix, the nation's first food bank.[4]
In 1975, St. Mary's was given a federal grant to assist in developing food banks across the nation. This effort was formally incorporated into a separate non-profit organization in 1976.[5]
In 2001, America's Second Harvest merged with Foodchain,[6] at that time the nation's largest food-rescue organization.
In May 2007, it was featured on American Idol, named as a charity in the Idol Gives Back charity program.[7]
In September 2008, the organization name was changed to Feeding America. The new name conveys the mission—providing food to Americans living with hunger—and will be supported through expansive public outreach campaigns that will raise awareness of domestic hunger and Feeding America's work.
Feeding America has an "A" rating at charitywatch.org.[8]
[edit] Food banks in the network
- Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock, Arkansas
- Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C.
- Food Bank For New York City in New York City
- Food Bank of Delaware in Delaware
- Food Bank of Western New York in Buffalo, New York
- Good Shepherd Food Bank in Maine
- Greater Boston Food Bank in Boston, Massachusetts
- Greater Chicago Food Depository in Chicago, Illinois
- Northern Illinois Food Bank in St. Charles, Illinois
- Houston Food Bank in Houston, Texas
- North Texas Food Bank in Dallas, Texas
- Redwood Empire Food Bank in northern California
- Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, Texas
- Kansas Food Bank in Wichita, Kansas
- God's Pantry Food Bank in Lexington, Kentucky
- Harvesters of Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri
- Food Lifeline in Shoreline, Washington
- Food Bank of the Rockies in Denver, Colorado
A list of all affiliated food banks in the nation can currently be found on the organization's website.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Carroll, B. Jill (2001). The savage side: reclaiming violent models of God. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 374. ISBN 0-7425-1281-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=VK6j1qMh1BUC&pg=RA1-PA374&dq=%22America%27s+Second+Harvest%22&ei=jMGESNjxJ6aijgHblviiCA&sig=ACfU3U2tSEB_FHm93ndj-B_NS5J-jaKrLQ.
- ^ "VistaPrint and America's Second Harvest Collaborate With Procter & Gamble to Offer Exclusive Holiday Cards". 2007-10-15. Archived from the original on 2008-07-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5ZU2ynVOY. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ http://www.secondharvest.org/about_us/feeding_america.html
- ^ "Transitions". 2005-10-09. Archived from the original on 2008-07-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5ZU1jNFDI. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ Patricia Sullivan (2005-10-08). "John van Hengel Dies at 83; Founded 1st Food Bank in 1967". Archived from the original on 2008-07-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5ZU1xZW3h. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ O'Connor, Alice; Mink, Gwendolyn (2004). Poverty in the United States: an encyclopedia of history, politics, and policy. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. p. 389. ISBN 1-57607-597-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=40Zv8DC4g38C&pg=PA323&dq=%22America%27s+Second+Harvest%22&ei=jMGESNjxJ6aijgHblviiCA&sig=ACfU3U0ZThkHbFqX9rmQx2_xiMU_EI6EzQ#PPA389,M1.
- ^ "'Idol' Charity Donations Top $60M - washingtonpost.com". 2007-04-26. Archived from the original on 2008-07-21. http://www.webcitation.org/5ZU2LCNkH. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
- ^ http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html
[edit] External links
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