Food Bank Affiliates of America's Second Harvest Declared Victory Against Hunger Award Winners

Contact:
Susan Hofer, 312-263-2303, ext. 127
Jyl Hall, Congressional Hunger Center, 202-547-7022, ext. 28

For the eighth consecutive year, Victory Wholesale Grocers of Springboro, OH, and Boca Raton, FL, and the D.C.-based Congressional Hunger Center have teamed up to recognize local anti-hunger organizations that have worked effectively to fight hunger in their communities. Every member of the Congress was given the opportunity to nominate organizations in their own community to receive one of the $1,000 prizes that are underwritten by Victory Wholesale Grocers. The Congressional Hunger Center received 51 nominations and made 22 awards. This year's competition marks a total of $100,000 that has been awarded through the Victory Against Hunger Awards Program.

Rep. Tony Hall (D-OH), co-chairman of the Congressional Hunger Center, said, "No issue begs leadership more than hunger. The purpose of this contest is to link our nation's leadership to those who are fighting hunger in their communities. I salute all those members of Congress who dedicated the time and energy to nominate an anti-hunger organization in their district for this award and the organizations that provided such critically important services for poor and hungry people."

America's Second Harvest winners: South Plains Food Bank, Lubbock, TX; Community Food Bank, Fresno, CA; Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, Watsonville, CA; Association of Arizona Food Banks; Community Food Bank, Tucson, AZ; Alameda County Community Food Bank, Oakland, CA; and Gleaners Foodbank of Indiana, Inc., Indianapolis, IN.

"The award selection committee consisted of Ellen Vollinger, the Legal/Food Stamp Director of the Food Research and Action Center; Lou Pastura, the Director of the Program Accountability Division of the USDA, Food Nutrition Service, Food Stamp Program; Max Finberg, Legislative Assistant to Congressman Tony Hall on domestic poverty issues; and Liz Wroe, Mickey Leland/ Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow.

The panel was specifically looking to highlight organizations who best fulfilled this year's theme: "Fighting hunger through maximizing use of the Food Stamp Program." This theme was chosen because twelve million people are eligible for, but not participating in, the Food Stamp Program. An example of the high quality of work exhibited by these awardees is the Florida Impact Education Fund, in Tallahassee, FL. This group has done remarkable education and research to identify the extent of hunger in Florida, especially among children. They provided a matching fund, along with the Florida Department of Children and Families to conduct a state Food Stamp outreach campaign.

After careful consideration of many excellent nominations, the Congressional Hunger Center is pleased to announce the following organizations as the 22 recipients of the Eighth Annual Victory Against Hunger competition: