NEW ARIZONA SEVERE JOB LOSS PROJECTIONS

Arizona is expected to lose about 50,400 jobs this year and gain about 23,100 next year, the Arizona Department of Commerce said Thursday in its twice-a-year job forecast. That is worse than the department projected in its last forecast in October when it said the state was likely to lose 17,300 jobs this year.

In fact, Thursday's forecast is the third consecutive one in which job losses are projected to be worse than previously thought.
Source: The Arizona Republic, by Betty Beard, Apr. 29, 2010
Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2010/04/29/20100429biz-jobforecast0430.html

FIREBIRD RACE FANS donate Food

OVER 1,400 POUNDS OF FOOD COLLECTED AT FIREBIRD TUNER SHOOTOUT EVENT

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance THANKS RACE FANS  from around the Valley who took advantage of the half-price tickets with donated food at the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Modified Magazine Tuner Shootout on Saturday, April 10 at Firebird International Raceway.
Food Drives such as the Firebird event are important as the Food Bank works to keep its shelves stocked and make food available to more than 500 member agencies at 700 locations around the state.
Race fans provided more than 1,400 meals for the hungry of Arizona while taking in a great night of racing – a great win-win for all!
More Firebird info: http://www.firebirdraceway.com/

GRAYING POPULATION with GRAYING WORKFORCE

In an aging population, the elderly are increasingly being taken care of by the elderly.
Professional caregivers — almost all of them women — are one of the fastest-growing segments of the American work force, and also one of the grayest.
A recent study by PHI National, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of caregivers, found that in 2008, 28 percent of home care aides were over age 55, compared with 18 percent of women in the overall work force.
Source: The New York Times, by John Leland, April 24, 2010
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/us/25care.html?src=mv

NO CHILD should go to bed HUNGRY!

St. Marys Food Bank Alliance Kids Cafe® program provides food to sites across the Valley of the Sun, serving many meals every day, especially  during the busy summer.
During the fiscal year 2008-2009, Kids Cafe served a total of  352,885 meals to children 5 to 18 years of age. Kids Cafe partners with area churches, schools, community centers, and city Parks & Recreation Departments to provide a secure and safe environment for children.
More Kids cafe info at: http://firstfoodbank.org/kidscafe.html

PHOENIX PARKS & RECS SUMMER PROGRAMS

The Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department is offering fun, affordable full-day recreation programs at 12 locations this summer to help parents keep their kids active, engaged and safe over the break.
Community centers also are offering a full schedule of general-interest classes an...d programs for people of all ages to get active, learn new skills and have fun.Exact prices, dates, times and other details in the full-day recreation programs vary from center to center, however most are for kids ages 6 up to 12 and run from early June through July.
Prices range from $280 to $350 for the seven-to-eight weeks. Some centers offer shorter duration program options at a reduced price. Many centers also are offering programs for teens.
Registration for the summer session opens May 1 at 10:30 a.m. Participants can register online with any major credit card or register in-person at any department
http://www.phoenix.gov/PARKS/

THANKS Maricopa County Fair 2010!!

Karen & Michael Searle leading their Maricopa County Fair team made a difference again in 2010 in the fight to END HUNGER & CHANGE LIVES in Arizona!

Thanks from Hunger 101AZ & St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance
http://www.maricopacountyfair.org/

Dora Explores Hunger 101AZ

Chet Provorse of Hunger 101AZ and Dora spent the day exploring with children at the Maricopa County Fair Thursday. Beautiful day, wondeful kids and exceptional explorer made for a great time.
www,hunger101az.org

Kids Cafe Recognized

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance Kids Cafe program was proud to be recently recognized for its work in the community at a Phoenix City Council work session as part of the Community Development Block Grant recognition week.

http://www.firstfoodbank.org/kidscafe.html

People don't just need food in the "long run",
They need meals NOW!
Our neighbors can't wait until the next fiscal quarter.

Nearly 400,000 Emergency Food Boxes

In calendar year 2009, the Food Bank distributed nearly 400,000 Emergency Food Boxes (391,761), a 88.26 percent increase over calendar year 2008 (208,092).

And after the first three months of 2010, the Food Bank has already distributed over 90,000 Emergency Food Boxes (90,662), an additional 12 percent increase over last year astounding pace (81,135).

http://www.firstfoodbank.org/

just a thought ...

just a thought ...

“SPRING INTO ACTION” WITH NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY ATHLETES

 ... ON APRIL 16 & 17 FOR ST. MARY’S IN FLAGSTAFF

Join more than 100 volunteers from the NAU athletics department at 10 locations around the city on Friday and Saturday April 16-17 for the “Spring into Action” Food Drive to benefit St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance’s Northern Arizona facility.
Bring your non-perishable food items to Albertson’s, Arizona Music Pro, Fry’s Sam’s Club and Walmart in Flagstaff to help St. Mary’s restock the shelves of their Northern Arizona facility
A big THANK-YOU to our great NAU volunteers and all of the local businesses for their participation in this important spring drive.
NAU Athletics:  http://www.nauathletics.com/landing/index

1.2 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS LOST TO RECESSION

Friends and families are doubling up, ‘overcrowding’ is up fivefold between 2005 and 2008. That number doesn’t include information from 2009, when job losses and foreclosures continued to rise. 

So it's likely that the full impact of the 8.4 million jobs lost and nearly three million homes foreclosed on since the recession began has taken an even bigger toll on the number of American households.
Source: MSNBC, By John W. Schoen with photo by John Makely

msnbc.comFull Story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36231884/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy

PAY YOUR LIBRARY FINES WITH FOOD & HELP ST. MARY’S

National Library Week is April 11th – 17th and the Phoenix Public Libraries is celebrating by helping you get out of debt – at least when it comes to overdue books.
Come into any of the 15 Phoenix Public Library locations from April 12th to April 24th with canned or non-perishable food items for St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance and the library will wipe out any outstanding fines.
During “Food for Fines,” you’ll receive a 50-cent credit per canned or non-perishable food toward your library fines. A maximum of $50 can be paid with donated food. “Food for Fines” does not apply to lost items or collections.
For information on “Food For Fines” or for a listing of the new Phoenix Library operating hours that take effect on April 5. 2010, log on to www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org.

BRIGHT CARING LIGHTS FOR THE FUTURE

HUNGER 101AZ HAS BEEN VERY BUSY sharing information, ideas and resource materials with children of all ages in the past couple weeks. And, the kids' openess to learning about hunger issues and solutions they can support has been SUPPER with every presentation, everywhere and every group across the Valley of the Sun. 
Children clearly are bright caring lights to lead us in the future.
More Hunger 101AZ info at: http://www.hunger101az.org/

Nearly 900,000 Arizonans ...

...  needed to seek emergency food help from charities within the last year.

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance served more than 477,000 of those needing help, providing the bulk of charitable emergency food service in the Valley and throughout the state.
http://www.firstfoodbank.org/

New Local Data Available on Hunger, Dropout Rates and County Health Rankings

Municipal officials in large metropolitan areas can access new sources of data to learn about the local prevalence of hunger and the economic benefits of halving the local dropout rate.
In January, the Food Research and Action Center released a new report on “Food Hardship: A Closer Look at Hunger” that, for the first time, provides localized data for the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The data on food hardship rates are also broken down by national, state and congressional district levels and by households with and without children.
The report shows that the proportion of Americans who at some point during the year did not have enough money to buy needed food for their family rose from 16.3 percent in early 2008 to 18.5 percent at the end of 2009. Among the 50 largest MSAs, 15 had more than one in four households with children reporting food hardship.
View the full report and find a city’s MSA food hardship rate on pages 12-13 at http://frac.org/pdf/food_hardship_report_2010.pdf.

It would be nice ...

if  the recession’s impact had lessened and the resources at the Association of Arizona Food Banks were more than plentiful to meet the need. Unfortunately that is not the case. Many Arizona families remain devastated. The numbers are hard to contemplate - 939,000 Arizonans living in poverty ($22,050 or less annual income for a family of four); 265,000 Arizona jobs lost since December, 2007…
Source: Association of Arizona Food Banks Newsletter, March 2010
http://www.firstfoodbank.org/

A YEAR TO FORGET!

MORE THAN 3,000,000 AMERICANS JOBLESS FOR MORE THAN A YEAR .........an All-Time High
That represents 23 percent of the roughly 14.8 million Americans out of work and looking for a job -- a post-World War II high. For those 3.4 million Americans, the consequences from such a long time out of work -- a cost of the Great Recession -- can be calamitous.

"[T]he likelihood of finding a job declines as the length of unemployment increases," notes the team led by Ingrid Schroeder, director of the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative, a program of the Pew Economic Policy Group and the Pew Charitable Trusts. "People who are unemployed for a long time can lose their job skills. A long unemployment spell can mark them as undesirable, making it more difficult to compete against other job candidates. [Federal] data suggests that workers who are jobless for the longest duration incur the largest reductions in weekly earnings upon returning to work."

Full Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/unemployment-more-than-3_n_526900.html?igoogle=1Source: The Huffington Post, by Shahien Nasiripour, April 6, 2010

“GET IN BED WITH MARK” PROVIDES OVER 116,000 MEALS FOR ARIZONA’S HUNGRY

Congratulations to KSLX (100.7 FM) and Sleep America who combined to make the fourth annual “Get in Bed with Mark” Food Drive a rousing success as they collected more than 18,000 pounds for non-perishable food and over $14,000 in cash to provide more than 116,000 meals for St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance to distribute to the hungry of Arizona.
Food Drive Info:  http://www.firstfoodbank.org/fooddrive.html

LET's BE FAIR ABOUT THIS ...

...  MARICOPA COUNTY FAIR 2010 that is...

The Maricopa County Fair is once again supporting St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance with a canned Food Drive at the fair for 2 days only!
Bring a donation of 3 cans of food to the fair on April 14th or 15th after 3pm and receive 1/2 OFF admission.
Help families in need while helping your family save at a GREAT FAMILY EVENT.

Regular fair admission is $8 Kids under 8 FREE. (Does not include parking)

Fair  Details http://www.maricopacountyfair.org/