As part of the Pledge to End Hunger, we want to highlight the good work already being done by hunger relief organizations.  These groups we highlight may not benefit directly from the food and financial contributions made thru The Pledge, but they will benefit from the attention we can help generate.

Shortly after launching the Pledge to Hunger, we received an email from Second Helpings, a hunger relief organization in Indianapolis, Indiana, thanking us for bringing greater awareness to the problem of hunger in America.

Second Helpings rescues prepared food and perishable food, re-prepares it into nutritious meals, and distributes those meals to organizations that feed hungry people.  They also use some of the food they rescue to train adults for careers in the culinary field, helping to eliminate hunger at its source.  

Intrigued by their unique approach, we decided to take a visit and see their operations for ourselves. While there we spoke with one of their volunteers and their CEO, Cindy Hubert, about ending childhood hunger.

A Visit to Second Helpings from Pledge to End Hunger on Vimeo.

Here’s a little more about Second Helpings, as stated on their website, www.secondhelpings.org:

The Second Helpings story begins in 1995. Three local chefs—Kristen Cordoza, Bob Koch, and Jean Paison—got together to talk about the food service industry and their community. 

They had seen firsthand the tremendous amount of waste in the food service industry. At the same time, they were acutely aware that most programs serving the disadvantaged often struggled to provide for their clients’ most basic nutritional needs. 

As food service professionals, they knew just how difficult it was to find employees with the skills needed to be productive in a commercial kitchen. Yet they also knew that many adults struggled in poverty and low-wage jobs because they lacked the basic skills that would allow them to earn more and build a career. 

So the three chefs set forth to solve all four problems–food waste, hunger, job training, and a source of skilled labor for the local food service industry–with one solution: turn unused food into meals and jobs.

Second Helpings was born in Spring, 1998. In our first full month of operation, 37 volunteers helped rescue 7,000 pounds of food and prepare 3,074 meals. 

Thanks to our founders, partners, board, staff, and volunteers, we’ve grown beyond anyone’s expectations: Second Helpings currently turns over a 100,000 pounds of rescued food into 50,000 meals every month.

Texas has some of the highest rates of poverty and food insecurity in the nation - well above the national average. One in five Texas children lives in poverty. One-in-four Texas children lives in a household without enough food. In the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas’ service area, 35 percent of household members receiving food are children, while the Texas child poverty rate is 23.2 percent.

There is no doubt that the decrease in financial donations impacting nearly all social sector organizations has taken a severe toll on CAFB. That said, we are committed to expanding services, distributing more food and assisting our clients and Partner Agencies through the difficulties ahead. We will continue to grow programs serving hungry Texas children, such as our Kids Cafe program.

An official program of Feeding America, there are more than 1,600 locally operated Kids Cafes across the nation. The Capital Area Food Bank of Texas operates 31 Kids Cafes in Central Texas, serving more than 25,000 meals to more than 2,800 children in need each month.

This after-school program provides a safe, nurturing place where neighborhood children receive a hot, nutritious dinner, as well as help with homework from caring individuals. The day-to-day struggles low-income children face when they don’t have that warm meal or after-school snack to get them though homework time is real. Just watch the video.

The bill that we’re hoping to get passed (SB 944/ HB 1622) in the Texas Legislature will provide children, just like those in the video, with a consistent source of healthy foods. Learn how you can take action in support of this bill at our Action Center.