What a crew! Thanks to Bob Redell of NBC 11 for putting me up to this 5 AM makeover on the morning news.

San Jose, Beware! The zombies will be crawling tonight, and toting along their non-perishable food donations for Second Harvest for the second year in a row. With over a thousand people expected to show up, the group behind this expects to bring in several thousand pounds of food.

Participants will meet-up at Gore Park around 5 PM. There are details about where the zombie-friendly businesses are on the Zombie-o-Rama website. The Starlight Cinema will have an 8:30 PM free showing of the 2009 Zombieland with Woody Harrelson, but come early for a fashion show to die for.

In these uncertain economic times, nothing shows community support quite like a massive Zombie Crawl through the heart of Silicon Valley.

From zombieorama.com:

Since you as a non-living, quasi-breathing returnee no longer need to eat anything but brains, why not bring all of your now unneeded canned goods to Gore Park during this years zombie-o-rama. Once again the dead will help the living as we turn the zombie apocalypse into a force for good. Bring a canned food item to Gore Park (or Zombie Ground Zero as we call it) for donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank. Donations will also be accepted at the SLG Art Boutki during make-up or at anytime before the crawl.

In all honesty, bringing your goods to the Boutiki saves us the hassle of having to drag it there after the movie. Those cans are heavy.

What would you eat with just $4.50 a day? We encourage you to take the Challenge and share your experience, even if you are unable to stick to the budget.

Could you feed yourself on $4.50 a day? That’s the average amount that a Californian receives through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. Nearly 1 million households in California participate in SNAP each month, and 71% of those households have children.

Starting on Monday, September 20th, we invite you to join the five-day Challenge (even for a day) and experience first-hand life what life is like living on a food stamp budget and share your experiences on our challenge blog (coming soon).

Check back in September to sign up for the Challenge, but if you would like more info or to get an email when it’s time to sign up, please email hungerchallenge@shfb.org.

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Each person should only spend a total of $4.50 on food and beverages for each day of the Challenge.
2. All food purchased and eaten during the Challenge week, including fast food and dining out, must be included in the total spending.
3. During the Challenge, only eat food that you purchase for the project. Do not eat food that you already own (this does not include spices and condiments).
4. Avoid accepting free coffee and food from friends, family or coworkers, including at receptions and meetings.
5. Try to include fresh produce and healthy protein each day.
6. Keep track of receipts on food spending and share your experiences on our blog.

Energy Savings Expected to Fund Nearly Six Million More Meals for the Local Community Over the Next 25 Years

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA, SPWRB) today announced a joint donation to Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties valued at $1.1 million for the purchase of a SunPower rooftop solar system. The 322-kilowatt (kW) system will be installed at the non-profit organization’s headquarters, located on Curtner Ave. in San Jose, California. It is expected to save the food bank nearly $3 million over the 25-year life of the system—translating into nearly six million meals for the local community.

“We are distributing more than 20 percent more food than last year at this time,” said Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Kathy Jackson, whose organization serves an average of 231,000 individuals each month in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. “The rooftop solar system so generously donated by Cypress and SunPower will help us to continue meeting the needs of our community, even if this trend should continue.”

“Second Harvest Food Bank is one of the most efficient non-profit organizations in the country, giving $0.95 out of every dollar it receives back to the community,” said T.J. Rodgers, president and CEO of Cypress. “Cypress is pleased to help reduce the organization’s operating expenses so that it can focus on what it does best—feeding the community.”

“SunPower is pleased to support the Second Harvest Food Bank with its efforts to help end hunger in our community,” said Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower Corp. “We hope this unique solar gift will shine a light on hunger, and encourage other businesses to support this worthy cause.”

The 322-kW system on the 1.4 acre roof at Second Harvest Food Bank is comprised of the SunPower T10 Solar Roof Tile and the SunPower T5 Solar Roof Tile. Both solar roof tile products use SunPower’s high-efficiency solar panels that are tilted at 10-degrees and 5-degrees respectively to increase energy capture. The T5 Solar Roof Tile integrates a solar panel, frame and roof mounting system into a single unit, reducing installation time and costs. The system will generate enough electricity to meet more than half of the organization’s electrical needs. System installation is expected to be completed in September.

Money earmarked for this project includes more than $700,000 that was raised by Cypress and its employees through fundraisers and corporate giving initiatives during the holiday food drive this past Fall. Since 1989, Cypress has donated nearly $5 million in cash and more than one half-million pounds of food to Second Harvest Food Bank, driving 19 consecutive victories for Cypress in the Food Bank’s Corporate Food Bowl Challenge.

Exerpts from the Time Magazine report:

In the new analysis, the scientists found that children who went hungry at least once in their lives were 2½ times more likely to have poor overall health 10 to 15 years later, compared with those who never had to go without food. “Our research shows that hunger and food insecurity are really damaging in terms of children’s life chances,” says lead author Sharon Kirkpatrick, a visiting fellow at NCI.

The study supports earlier findings that multiple episodes of hunger are more likely to cause ill health than an isolated experience of starvation: children in Kirkpatrick’s analysis who experienced two or more periods of hunger were more than four times as likely to report poor health than those who never went hungry. The relationship, she says, remained strong even after the team accounted for other factors that could influence health, such as age, sex and household characteristics like income.

Even one experience of hunger can have lasting effects on a child’s health, a fact that is especially troubling in light of the sobering rise in U.S. households that were forced to do without food in 2008: 15% of American families reported some compromise in the amount or quality of food they consumed, up from 11% the previous year.

While this study did not delve into the specific mechanism by which hunger affects long-term health, Kirkpatrick speculates that both psychological and physiological factors may be at work. Aside from the obvious negative impact that missing key nutrients and calories can have on growth and development, she says, the psychological stress of food insecurity — not being able to afford a consistent and high-quality source of food — can be harmful to youngsters as well.

In an editorial accompanying the study, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, pediatricians propose enhancing and expanding existing child-nutrition programs made possible through legislation like the Child Nutrition Program Act, which provides funding for food and nutrition efforts, including the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, to ensure that more children get the food they need. “The research really pushes us to look at the impact that various policy interventions on food insecurity can have on health,” says Kirkpatrick. “It’s unacceptable that in countries like the U.S. and Canada, we’re talking about millions of children living in households with uncertain food access.”

Please take action to ensure we continue to strengthen our food safety net.
Learn how easy it is.

Calling your senators is easy and quick!

Call the Capitol switchboard: 202-225-3121. The toll-free number is 866-277-7617.

The operator will ask you which elected official’s office you would like to be connected to. A staff member will answer your call and you can either leave your message with them, or ask them to be transferred to the staff member who handles child nutrition. If that staff member is out of the office, leave a message and try calling them back later.

• Don’t know who your Representative is? Find out here (look in the upper-left hand corner for “Find Your Representative”).
• Don’t know who your Senator is? Find out here (look in the upper-right hand corner for “Find Your Senators”).

The child nutrition reauthorization bill cannot become law until the Senate and House have reconciled their versions of the bill. While the Senate has voted (and passed) its version of the bill, the House has neither voted on its version nor that of the Senate.

That means there is still time to influence the House’s decisions – rejecting the Senate version of the child nutrition reauthorization bill and supporting the House version of the bill. (Check out this chart to find out more about the differences between the bills).

Taking action NOW is urgent because the House will only have a few weeks after it returns from its August recess to vote on the bill by the September 30^th deadline. If the September 30^th deadline is not met, the bill may not be passed at all this year, depriving child nutrition programs of critical improvements that will help alleviate hunger and improve nutrition among America’s youth. 

• Get the details – read the blog post about the issues surrounding this action:
  Senate and House Bills Cut Billions of Dollars in SNAP Benefits

THE SENATE
On Thursday, August 5^th, the Senate voted on two important bills, both of which included large cuts to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly “food stamps”), totaling $14.1 billion in lost benefits.

Bill 1:
Federal Aviation Administration Bill (FMAP)

What does aviation have to do with food stamps? This bill actually includes a lot of social service related benefits, such as aid to states, funding for teachers’ salaries, and FMAP, better known as Medicaid – and the version passed Thursday has the unique distinction of being the first bill to have ever reduced SNAP benefits from one period to the next.

Proposed cuts to SNAP are meant to generate $11.9 billion to pay for other elements of the bill. SNAP benefits were increased through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Senate wishes to eliminate that increase beginning in April 2014.  For example, a family of four would see their SNAP benefits fall by $59 starting in April 2014.

Bill 2 – the most urgent:
Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill)

This bill proposes to end the ARRA increase to SNAP payments by November 2013, with the savings adding up to $2.2 billion, to be used for other child nutrition programs (such as school breakfast and lunch). A family of four would thus see their SNAP benefits fall by $59 starting in November 2013.

The impact: Both of those dates seem so far in the future – surely by then the economy will be better and these cuts will have been worth it, right? Wrong.

Both of these decisions are classic cases of robbing Peter to pay Paul, because the beneficiaries of the other programs mentioned in the bills are also likely to be SNAP recipients, particularly in the case of the child nutrition bill.

The Senate version of the child nutrition bill has many great features. However, the very same low-income youth that the bill targets are also likely to be members of households that already benefit from or are eligible for SNAP. The net impact of this bill will not be to reduce childhood hunger, but rather to shift the deficit in adequate nutrition from school to home. These bills do not increase funding for much-needed anti-hunger programs, but simply move monies around.

SNAP has also proven to be a great investment in the economy, generating $1.84 in economic activity for every $1 in benefits. These cuts are being justified because of the state of the economy, but cutting SNAP seems to foreshadow an even slower economic recovery, not a faster one.
–––––

THE HOUSE
This week the House was called back from August recess and made decisions on both bills highlighted above.

Bill 1:
Federal Aviation Administration Bill (FMAP)
The House passed the Senate version of the bill and President Obama has signed it into law. That means that $11.9 billion in SNAP benefits were cut in order to pay for Medicaid assistance and teacher salaries.

Bill 2 – the most urgent:
Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill)
The House did not vote on child nutrition, so there is still time to prevent further SNAP cuts ($2.2 billion).

Take Action! Calling your senators is easy and quick!

Photo of the Capitol Building by WallyG

Kaitlyn plays violin next to her hand-written sign: "Please donate to Second Harvest Food Bank. $1 = 2 healthy meals"

9-year-old Kaitlyn found out about hunger in her community, and decided she needed to do something to help.  When she came in for a tour of Second Harvest with her family, she learned that a $1 donation will provide 2 meals for hungry neighbors.  Kaitlyn decided she would have the greatest impact as a Food Bank Fundraiser.

All summer long, Kaitlyn and her younger sister Emily worked toward their vision of helping those in need. They went through all their clothes and toys to find things to sell on Craigslist, and also collected recyclables to increase the donation.

This past Sunday, Kaitlyn bravely played songs on her violin in front of a Lucky’s store, and in just 90 minutes had collected $85!

This week, Kaitlyn and Emily donated all the money they raised this summer – a total of $788 – which is enough to provide 1,576 meals for people in need.

Hats off to Kaitlyn and Emily, and their supportive parents!

Calling your senators is easy and quick!

STOP CUTS to SNAP / Food Stamps!
Tell Congress that the middle of a recession is not the time to cut food stamps – don’t roll back the fight against hunger.

Sign the online petition:

• http://j.mp/bbaY9S (individuals)
• http://j.mp/arDs8R (nonprofits)

Use the phone:
It only takes 3 minutes to call our representatives in the Capitol!

• The White House: 202-456-1414
• Senator Boxer: 202-224-3553
• Senator Feinstein: 202-224-3841

Ezra Klein lays it out in his Washington Post article:

Senate cutting food stamps to pay for Medicaid and teacher funding

It’s the Sophie’s choice of budget decisions: Should we cut Medicaid? Fire teachers? Or slash food stamps?

How about all three? In order to get less Medicaid and teacher funding than we actually need, we’re cutting food stamps by $6.7 billion (and closing some foreign tax loopholes, rescinding some spending decisions and changing Medicaid’s drug pricing).

The Recovery Act included an immediate 13.6 percent increase in food stamps (which are now known as SNAP). That increase equals out to a maximum of $80 per household — and these are not rich households. But the price of food has leveled out, and in some cases decreased, in the recession. Meanwhile, the number of people who needed help skyrocketed to more than 40 million. For that reason, the program’s costs ballooned from an expected $20 billion to about $65 billion. The new price tag scared some, so people began talking about cutting the benefits back.

And here we are. Democrats needed to offset spending on two worthy, important programs. So they’re cutting another important, worthy program. But you really can’t think of a worse program to cut than SNAP. SNAP is an extraordinarily well-targeted stimulus. It goes to poor households, for something they need to buy. According to Mark Zandi’s numbers, it’s literally the most stimulative way to spend a dollar: Better than state and local aid, or unemployment insurance. You get more than $1.70 of economic activity for each buck you put in.

Read the full article on WashingtonPost.com