You’re Invited to the HQB Food Shelf Fundraising Breakfast!
Olivia is a 41 year old paralegal student at St. Paul College. When a back injury put her out of work, she and her son moved into transitional housing, where she first heard about Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf. Olivia has been coming to us for over a year, first as a client and later as a volunteer, saying she appreciates that we’re here for her no matter what. For her diabetic son, eating right is especially important. With our help, he is eating fruits, vegetables, and organic pastas regularly – which have stabilized his blood sugars and helped him lose weight.
Olivia says volunteering at the food shelf has taught her leadership, social skills, and empathy for people from diverse backgrounds – skills she hopes to use upon completion of her paralegal degree. Additionally, she says her son has learned that visiting a food shelf is nothing to be ashamed of; that “it’s just help you need.” With that help, Olivia is confident that her son will one day achieve his dream of becoming a lawyer.
In order to continue to meet the needs of Olivia and an increasing number of others like her, Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf is holding a fundraising breakfast at the MLK Center (map here) on Tuesday, January 24th from 7:30 to 8:30 am. The event will feature live music, a client testimonial, a short video on hunger in Minnesota, and a few short speeches from HQB staff and supporters in the community.
Please consider attending the HQB Food Shelf fundraising breakfast on January 24th. Guests are not expected to make a donation. However, we have $1,000 in matching funds available, so the impact of all contributions that morning will be doubled up to that amount.
If you do decide to attend, please RSVP by contacting our Executive Coordinator Jeff Bartlett by email (jbartlett@hallieqbrown.org) or phone (651-224-4601). You are also welcome to contact us with questions or for additional information.
For a video of Olivia giving her personal testimony, click here.
HQB Food Shelf Calendar of Drives
In order to meet the rising demand for food support, HQB has created a calendar of food drives for 2012. The calendar allows us to meet our various needs throughout the year — from fruits and vegetables in January to noodles in December.
Businesses, schools, churches, and other groups that commit to holding a food drive on a given month will receive a Food Drive Toolkit. The Toolkit includes a variety of marketing materials, such as food shelf photos, newsletter blurbs, and a flyer. In addition, we will provide collection bins for the drive and pick them up at the end of the month.
The Calendar of Drives is as follows:
January Fruits and vegetables
February Basics/Breakfast
March March Campaign food drive
April Personal care and household items
May Canned goods
June Noodles
July Protein
August Rice
September Sauces
October Personal care and household items
November Canned goods
December Noodles
For details on adopting a month, contact our Development Coordinator by phone (651-224-4601) or email (jgrinolds@hallieqbrown.org). If you have other ideas as to how to support our work, please do not hesitate to share them.
Are Food Drives a Bad Idea?
In a recent piece at Slate, Matthew Yglesias makes the case that, economically speaking, they are. For one thing, it is cheaper to purchase food in bulk than at retail price, so food shelves are likely to get better deals than consumers. Yglesias also points out that the food industry often has surplus food that emergency food providers are able to obtain for a small fee. Finally, food donations create extra work for food shelf staff, who have to inspect and sort items — some of which do not meet nutritional requirements or other client dietary needs.
Yglesias concludes:
In-kind donations still help, of course, and nobody’s turning away boxes of food. But a fundamental issue is that many organizations feel that asking for money—like requesting cash as a gift—seems somewhat gauche. So, let me be rude on their behalf: Find well-managed charities in your community and trust them to know how to do their job. They have access to food at a fraction of the price. They know their clients, and they have better things to do than to sort through your canned goods.
As Development Coordinator for Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf, I certainly wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from making a cash donation. However, from my perspective – I can’t claim to speak on behalf of other food shelves, either locally or nationally – there is more to the story.
Of course it is true that bulk is cheaper than retail price and that many food banks are partnering with the food industry to reduce food waste. An MPR article a few months back reported that
Over the last four years, Second Harvest Heartland more than quadrupled the amount of perishable food it gets from grocery stores like Cub, Walmart, and Target, to 12.3 million pounds in 2010. That’s enough for more than 9 million meals.
The cost savings a food bank like Second Harvest gains by partnering with grocery stores in turn gets passed along to food shelves such as ours – which are able purchase food from local food banks at a steep discount.
Note, however, that food banks (through no fault of their own) do not always have the specific items we need the most. Here is where a food drive can be highly effective. This month, for example, Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf is having partner schools request sugar, flour, cereal, and a few other items – items which local food banks do not currently carry. A few other items that we have requested – canned fruit and meat – are simply too expensive for us to purchase regularly. And then there is the over 6,000 lbs of fresh local produce that Minnesota farmers donated to us this growing season.
All of this is to say that I believe there is indeed a place for food drives — and that it is an oversimplification to call them “economically speaking . . . totally insane” as Yglesias does. Certainly, food shelves can do more with dollars directly provided to them, but a targeted food drive can do a lot of good.
Here’s the other thing. Food drives are about more than just economics. A food drive provides the opportunity for us to establish and strengthen partnerships with businesses, churches, and others, in a way that cash contributions just don’t. Also, for K-12 students, food drives provide a valuable opportunity to learn about helping those in need and other essential values. Most importantly, food drives provide a way to get people involved and connect to nonprofits in a way they are comfortable with. I think it is a mistake to insist that people can only donate to organization and help people in a monetary way or to dismiss such efforts as trivial. People help out in the ways they can, and we will never turn away assistance that will make a difference to our clients.
So are food drives a bad idea? Not at all. But if you’re still unconvinced, you’re always welcome to make a donation to Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf by clicking here!
The Impact of Public Sector Layoffs on African Americans
In the past year, state and local governments have shed over 142,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department. An article recently reprinted in the Pioneer Press suggests that this downsizing of the public sector is hitting middle class African Americans especially hard:
Although the continuing economic downturn has been devastating to the American middle class as a whole, the 2-1/2 years since the declared end of the recession have been singularly harmful to middle-class blacks in terms of layoffs and unemployment, according to economists and recent government data. About one in five black workers have public-sector jobs, and African-American workers are one-third more likely than white ones to be employed in the public sector. Jobless rates among blacks have consistently been about double those of whites. In October, the black unemployment rate was 15.1 percent, compared with 8 percent for whites. In the summer, the black unemployment rate hit 16.7 percent, its highest level since 1984.
Full article here.
The Difference Giving Makes
At Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, we work to make the St. Paul community better every day:
- Our Food Shelf and Clothing Closet provides necessities for those most in need;
- Early Learning Center and After School Enrichment programs help educate and shape the minds of our future, from infants to middle schoolers; and
- Senior Programming helps seniors in our community live active lives.
HQB is one of many nonprofit organizations throughout the state encouraging fellow Minnesotans to participate in the third annual Give to the Max Day — which started at midnight on November 16th and runs through midnight on November 17th.
Your support will make an important difference in the lives of the people we serve. Simply click here to contribute.
Online Tour of HQB Food Shelf
Race and OccupyMN
According to BET, the black unemployment rate has dropped from 16% in September to 15.1% last month. While this is an improvement, 15.1% is still staggeringly high, especially when compared to overall unemployment rate of 9%.
Given these numbers, one would expect African Americans and other people of color to be well represented at OccupyMN — which is, after all, supposed to be a protest on the part of the 99% against the increasing concentration of power and money at the very top. As it turns out, the Occupy movement is, for the time being at least, dominated by whites. Dwight Hobbes at the Spokesman-Recorder explains that
Though author-activist Cornel West has twice been arrested while taking part in Occupy Wall Street activity, there is not what one would call a notable presence of color. Similarly, thus far, Black participation in Occupy Minneapolis has been less than overwhelming.
To their credit, the occupiers seem aware of the problem and have taken steps to address it. Moreover, the decision on the part of occupiers to camp out in the foreclosed home of North Minneapolis resident Monique White may help make the movement “more diverse, and more relevant,” as an article in the Uptake put it. The Uptake article continues:
The largely white and college-educated demonstrators now stand with White and north-side African American activists, who have been hit harder by the home foreclosure crisis than other Twin Cities neighborhoods. In the eyes of north-side activist Anthony Newby, Occupy MN’s movement just gained more credibility.
What are the likely effects of greater inclusivity? Mahmoud El-Kati, the Macalester professor who was recently a panelist for the SPIN dialogue series hosted here at HQB, takes somewhat of a dim view, remarking in the Spokesman-Recorder that
“We’ve got a pattern of race relations in this country, [from] a caste system background, that Black people don’t readily, in the area of politics and so forth, respond to White-initiated things, basically, outside of the formal political structure [of] being Democrats and Republicans.
“It’s a White domain. [Blacks] are reluctant by history and the conditioning of non-participation. Nobody says that, but there it is.” El-Kati notes that including Blacks in this protest amounts to more than merely adding numbers or a social demographic.
“Let’s say this rhetoric code was transgressed in some way by Black people and they could join the Whites. The whole dynamic would change because of the presence of Black people. There would be a new chemistry, and the tension would rise.
“The established order would respond differently,” El-Kati continues. “Remember, we’re inherently in a White supremacist society.”
He’s certain that, for one, arrests would dramatically increase. “Probably people would go to jail. There would be more issues from within the Black community… Black critics would be drawn into the fray.”
Another source quoted in the article lends credence to El-Kati by pointing out that protests in more racially diverse cities like Oakland and Atlanta have “been met with tear gas and clubs.” Of course, the use of force on the part of police in these cities could be due to other factors, but it does make one wonder.
What do you think?
Photos of Fourth Annual HQB Halloween Costume Contest
HQB staff gathered in the Community Center library this afternoon for a potluck, bingo, and — best of all — our fourth annual Costume Contest. The event was held in conjunction with a workplace giving campaign for the United Way. The United Way has been a strong supporter of HQB over the years, so we make it a priority to give back — and have a blast in doing so. Here are a few photos of our costumes.
HQB Food Shelf to Begin Accepting Toy Donations
Next Tuesday, Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf will begin accepting toy donations for its ninth annual toy boutique! All donated toys will be distributed to families in need in the Summit-University and Frogtown neighborhoods of St. Paul during the third week of December.
Between November 1st and December 16th, toys in good repair and without missing pieces can be dropped off at 270 North Kent Street during regular business hours. Toys are being accepted for ages 18 and under. Our greatest need is for toys that appeal to teenagers, such as electronics, gift cards, and purses. Our only request is that you leave that Bob Dylan Christmas album at home!
For additional details, call us at 651-251-9015.
Recap of Part Two of “Eyes Wide Open,” a Dialogue Series on Racism
On Monday evening, HQB hosted the second part of Eyes Wide Open, a four part series on “racism, discrimination, prejudice and meeting the other” organized by the Saint Paul Interfaith Network (SPIN). As with the first part of the dialogue series, I was in attendance, frantically scribbling down notes and snapping photos for this blog post.
Following a greeting by HQB Executive Director Jonathan Palmer, Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs, a SPIN organizer, commented on the evening’s theme of “Invisible Wounds: Experiencing Everyday Dehumanization” by reminding us that October 10th is Columbus Day. Jacobs, an American Indian man, pointed out the white bias involved in a holiday that celebrates the “discovery” of America. In order to forgive and forget, Jacobs said he would need to see historical injustices against Native peoples acknowledged and addressed. Instead, the Dakota prairies still bear the imprint of wagon wheels from white settlers: “The land itself has not forgotten and if the land hasn’t forgotten then we who are created from it cannot forget,” Jacobs said.
Next, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, the event moderator, introduced herself and asked the panelists to discuss an aspect of systemic racism they would like the audience to better understand. Prof. Mahmoud El-Kati of Macalester College characterized race as a “modern myth. Contrary the popular caricature of the racist as “Bubba,” the beer guzzling-pickup driving-gun toting Southerner, the true racist tends to be a “man of ideas” capable of producing 500 page tracts on race. Bubba, El-Kati explained, “is a creation of white supremacy, not the source of it.” The second panelist, Jennifer Godinez of the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, discussed racial inequality in the public school system, stressing the importance of dismantling the myth that minority students “don’t care” about education. Finally, civil rights activist Lequetta Diggs contrasted the more overt racism of the slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation eras with contemporary racism — which she described as “vague,” “difficult to see,” “almost impossible to prove,” and “easy to deny.”
After having each of the panelists expand upon their responses to her first question, Eilberg posed another: “how do we confront denial?” Diggs, a former mental health professional, said that the first step is to acknowledge that we have a problem with racial disparities in such areas as homeownership, poverty, and education. El-Kati stressed the pervasiveness of racism, calling it “more basic [to America] than apple pie, baseball, or whatever you can name” and reminding the audience that even Thomas Jefferson held slaves and embraced racist ideology. El-Kati’s sharp words were tempered by his insistence that he wasn’t accusing anyone in particular of being a racist. In his words, racism is, rather, a “public evil that causes private pain.”
Eilberg’s had the panelists conclude by describe their hopes that at least some individuals of color will be able to “maintain their human dignity despite the system working against them.” Godinez spoke of her hopes for transforming the educational system, while Diggs contrasted a question her granddaughter asked her – “were you a descendent of slaves?” – with the question she hopes will someday be asked of her granddaughter – “what was it like to live when black people didn’t have equality with whites?” El-Kati stated his view that the future depends on to “what degree we liberate ourselves from a vocabulary” that cannot adequately describe reality. Black and white are mere social constructs used to advance the doctrine of white supremacy, El-Kati said, and it is up to us to choose between “genuflecting” to that doctrine and “resisting” it.
As the above summary indicates, the panelists did not shy away from strong language like “white supremacy” and “systemic racism.” While this language was, in one sense, challenging for the audience — especially for those of us who have had the good fortune not to be on its receiving end of racism — in another sense it was refreshing to see complacent attitudes called out and critiqued. Moreover, even as the panelists opened our eyes to the “invisible wounds” inflicted by contemporary racism, they sounded notes of hope and optimism, which was also refreshing. None of the panelists seemed to think that this dragon cannot be slain, provided that people of good will (of whatever color) are willing to go to battle. The subtle but consistent optimism of the panel was reflected in the lyrics of a slave song performed by the Minnesota Gospel Music Workshop’s performance at the close of the evening:
Hold on just a little while longer
Hold on just a little while longer
Hold on just a little while longer
Everything will be all right.
