Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/ADRA/Hunger Relief

Hunger Relief
ADRA General Conference	Skill Level 1
	Year of Introduction: 2005

Contents

1. View an ADRA video on the topic of world hunger and discuss with your Pathfinder Club unit or class the methods shown in the video which ADRA is using to combat hunger.

The ADRA Presents series of videos includes very good introductions to ACS and disaster response in short video segments. These videos are available through AdventSource .

2. Interview the person who directs the community food pantry in your local church or another local church in your area. Ask this person about the types of people they serve, what causes food needs in the community, and how they meet these needs. Take notes during the interview.

If you do not know who this person is in your church, ask your Pastor. As a courtesy, let this person know ahead of time what questions will be asked so that preparations can be made. Invite this person to a club meeting - the question and answer session would make an excellent devotional activity for your club's opening exercises.

3. Visit a food bank and talk with the staff, and then explain to your instructor how the food bank gathers donated groceries and provides supplies to food pantries, soup kitchens, etc.

A food bank is a non-profit organization which distributes non-perishable goods and perishable food items to non-profit agencies involved in local emergency food programs. Emergency food programs provide immediate hunger relief to individuals and families who are unable to afford food and receive inadequate government financial assistance from programs such as the Food Stamp Program. Food stamps is the government program whereby households below certain income thresholds are provided monthly food spending credits which can be redeemed at local food stores.

The agencies receiving food from food banks are typically non-profit organizations operated as part of a church, government or community group, and commonly called a "food pantry". A food bank is like the wholesale arm of the food distribution system for those living in poverty, while food pantries are the retail arm that serve people directly with the emergency food. Some food pantries serve only a few families each month, but there are many that provide emergency food support to hundreds of families each month. The need for food bank and food pantry services has been growing in recent years as income has not kept up with rising costs and federal program funding is not tied to inflation.

Food banks receive their food from companies or supermarkets with unsaleable stock, and also from donations from the general public, especially around holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. In addition, the U.S. government and state governments often contract with food banks to distribute USDA surplus commodities and FEMA food. In addition, food banks who are members of America's Second Harvest, the nation's food bank network organization, are able to take advantage of relationships with major manufacturers. Food banks distribute goods such as canned and boxed dry groceries, fresh produce, frozen foods, bakery products, and some personal hygiene or household cleaning products.

The best way for your club to meet this requirement is to contact a local food bank and offer to conduct a "Can Collecting" drive for them. The food bank will likely be more than willing to talk to your club when you deliver the food you have collected.

Many food banks around the country have employed the use of Virtual Food Drives, originally developed by The North Texas Food Bank and The Aidmatrix Foundation, to make it easy for the public to help their local communities contribute to the hunger relief efforts in their area.

List of acceptable donations

Usually, these items are accepted.

• Breakfast items (bread loaves, oatmeal, cold cereal, breakfast bars, toaster pastries…)
• Lunch and dinner items (bags/cans of pasta, rice, instant noodle packets, dry soup pouches, pork and beans, chili beans, canned soups, canned vegetables and fruit, beef stew, canned chicken and tuna, instant mashed potatoes, dry beans…)
• Snack and dessert items (canned fruit, pudding cups, granola bars, crackers, dessert mix, fruit cups, raisins by the box, store-bought cookies, wafers, potato chips of any flavor, trail mix, dried fruit, fruit leather, pretzels, beef jerky, candies…)
• Baking supplies (pancake and muffin mixes, cake and icing mixes, flour, condensed milk, canned pie fillings…)
• Condiments (ketchup, mustard, gravy, pasta sauce, peanut butter, jelly…)
• Beverage items (powdered milk, juice, canned/bottled pop, bottled water, meal replacement drinks, drink mixes, tea bags, coffee…)
• Pet food/treats
• Personal hygiene products
• Household cleaning products

4. Describe in an essay of at least 500 words the causes of hunger in each of the following situations

a. Developing nations overseas

Formerly nations were referred to as third world countries if they fell into a category like this. Today the terms emerging and developing nations describe those countries that have generally stable governments but lack the resources to manage their own economy and population. Countries that cannot be easily be defined as developing nations include countries such as the Sudan and Somalia where the governments have collapsed or are not widely recognized as legitimate by other nations. These nations are normally in a perpetual state of civil war and often provide breeding grounds for extremist and terrorist organizations. Nations of this type have little to no infrastructure and rely heavily on international forces to protect the "civilian" population and provide for their every need. Many developing countries were in such states just fifteen or twenty years ago (2006) and are finding today that in spite of a more stable government and economy they have difficulty in truly emerging to the level of industrialized nation because the protection and services provided during their past has turned their people into a population of welfare seeking citizens who do not feel need or purpose for being productive. This is one reason that has lead to the focus of ADRA on development even in the Sudan and Somalia today. Providing skill-training and purpose to such people will help them to participate in the stabilization and development of their nation.

b. Inner-city and other disadvantaged areas in this country

"In this country" literally applies to the United States and Canada. Surprisingly even major European countries such as France are not "developed" countries any more by western standards. This is so true that the United Nations has many of the same programs on the ground in France and other Western European Nations that it has in place in the nations of the former Soviet Union and on the African continent.

Alternate requirement 4: Make a presentation of at least 10 minutes during a Sabbath School program, Pathfinder Club Devotional, to a school assembly or civic club on the same topics.

The point of this presentation should be to convince the group to whom you are speaking to participate in a hunger relief program. It could be that you wish to establish an ongoing "food pantry" in your church, or simply participate in an annual food drive.

Alternate requirement 4: Create a video tape, slide and sound show, or presentation software production on the same topics and show the production to a Sabbath School group, school assembly or civic club.

As in the previous alternate requirement, the aim should be to convince a group of people to act to help relieve hunger.

The most common software for doing this would be Microsoft's Power Point program, but if you do not have access to it, you could instead try Impress, part of the Openffice.org software suite which is high quality, free software you can download over the Internet.

5. Collect at least 50 non-perishable food items for the community food pantry in your local church or the nearest Adventist Community Services center.

Many Pathfinder club participate in an annual can drive, often around Halloween. Typically, the club will donate the collected food items to needy families for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

If your club has never done this, you begin by printing out a map of the territory you wish to cover. Divide your club into small teams, with at least one adult per team, and assign a territory to each team. Some clubs go door to door and collect food all in a single day. Others distribute plastic grocery sacks to each residence and pick them up at a later date (such as the next day or the next week). If you opt to distribute grocery sacks, it is a good idea to staple a flier to each sack describing what you are doing, including contact information. This can also be an opportunity to distribute evangelistic literature, such as Steps the Christ.

6. Volunteer in a soup kitchen for at least two meals, This can be done as a group project with others in your Pathfinder Club or school. If there is no Soup Kitchen in your area, prepare and distribute six sack lunches to the needy or homeless.

Either one of these is an excellent activity for a Sabbath afternoon. This activity can certainly be used to fulfill Outreach requirements found in the AY Class curriculum.

If you choose to help out in a soup kitchen make arrangements ahead of time, letting them know how many helpers you expect to bring. The only thing your club will need to do is show up and do the work.

A group of Pathfinders can prepare enough food to feed a group of people three times larger than themselves in less than an hour. You will need to buy supplies ahead of time, and it's not a bad idea to have the menu approved by the kitchen ahead of time. A simple sack lunch could consist of the following:

• Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• Juice box
• Apple, orange, banana, or other fruit
• Cookies, brownies, or other "dessert" item.

If you buy the food at a discount warehouse club (such as Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's, etc.) you should be able to keep the cost close to $1.50 per meal. You can also talk to a grocery store manager in your neighborhood, and they may be willing to donate the items you need.

As with any off-site Pathfinder activity, be sure to bring copies of medical release forms and permission slips for each one of the participants under the age of 18.

Notes

This honor could be earned with little difficulty if it were integrated into the regular autumn programming of a typical Pathfinder Club. Start by presenting the ADRA Presents videos to your club. Then have your club prepare and make a presentation to your church in readiness for your annual Can Collecting drive. Invite your church's ACS coordinator to provide input on this presentation. After the Can Collecting drive, deliver the food to a local food bank and ask the staff there to talk to the club. Follow that up by making sack lunches for a soup kitchen. The rest, as they say, will be easy.