RESOURCES & PUBLICATIONS

The National Hunger Clearinghouse (NHC) provides several resources and publications for those seeking information about government programs that deal with food distribution as well as organizations that work to eliminate hunger and poverty within the United States. NHC provides various opportunities to partake in discussions and become educated about model programs. In addition, NHC provides information to help guide those interested in opening up their own emergencies food distribution sites.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

America's Second Harvest
America's Second Harvest is the nation's food bank network that works to decrease the prevalence of hunger and poverty in the United States by advocating and increasing public awareness of policies and issues surrounding these seemingly interminable problems. This organization works with 200 member food banks and other emergency food providers. It also supports thousands of food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, and other local programs. You can search for a food bank or food-rescue organization that serves your community.

United Way of America
United Way of America works to unite communities by focusing on building lasting communal strength, advocating for policy changes and by providing family and children with support to achieve long-term changes in their environments. This organization works with schools, businesses, government agencies, financial institutions, faith-based organizations, and others to provide solutions to various issues and problems facing their communities. You can locate the Untied Way that serves your community to find out more about they are doing

GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS

Food Stamps
The purpose of the Food Stamp Program is to end hunger and improve nutrition and health. It helps low-income households buy the food they need for a nutritionally adequate diet. Many organizations across the country are doing food stamp outreach and/or food stamp pre-screening.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
WIC serves to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk and meet certain income guidelines, by providing food vouchers, nutrition education, and referrals to health care. Many organizations are doing WIC outreach and referring appropriate customers to this program.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
Under TEFAP, commodity foods are made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to States. States provide the food to local agencies that they have selected, usually food banks, which in turn, distribute the food to soup kitchens and food pantries that directly serve the public.

Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
The program provides meals and snacks to 2.6 million school children and 74,000 adults who receive care in nonresidential adult day care centers. CACFP reaches even further to provide meals to children residing in homeless shelters, and snacks and suppers to youths participating in eligible after- school program.

National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
School districts and independent schools that choose to take part in the lunch program get cash subsidies and donated commodities from the USDA for each meal they serve. In return, they must serve lunches that meet Federal requirements, and they must offer free or reduced price lunches to eligible children. School food authorities can also be reimbursed for snacks served to children through age 18 in after school educational or enrichment programs.

School Breakfast Program (SBP)
The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides cash assistance to states to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions. The program operates in more than 72,000 schools and institutions, serving a daily average of some 8.4 million children. It is administered at the federal level by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). State education agencies administer the SBP at the state level, and local school food authorities operate it in schools.

Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
SFSP is the single largest federal resource available for local sponsors who want to combine a feeding program with a summer activity program. Children in do not need to go hungry in the summer. During the school year, nutritious meals are available through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. But those programs end when school ends for the summer. USDA's Summer Food Service Program helps fill the hunger gap.

MODEL PROGRAMS

RIA Model Programs
WHY's Reinvesting in America (RIA) Program collects information on innovative grassroots programs around the United States that are effectively serving the needs of their clients and communities while promoting self-reliance. RIA seeks to share information on model programs as a means to inspire and educate direct service providers, advocates, government agencies, funders, and the media about the innovative work being done on the grassroots level.

Food Stamp Outreach Promising Practices
Food Stamp promising practices are positive examples of how particular outreach strategies have improved Food Stamp Program participation in various communities. These promising practices have been collected from a variety of sources across the country. They are offered to spur ideas, creativity and enthusiasm for food stamp outreach.

LISTSERVS

Growing Justice
WHY's email discussion group, Growing Justice, connects grassroots organizations through the Reinvesting in America (RIA) program.  RIA identifies and champions the work of innovative grassroots hunger and poverty organizations that promote self-reliance by attacking the root causes of hunger and poverty.

COMFOOD
COMFOOD is an electronic mail list created to link individuals and organizations involved with or interested in community food security (CFS).

FRAC
The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and under nutrition in the United States.

Food Link America
Foodlinks America is the newsletter of the The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) Alliance. Foodlinks America provides news and updates for emergency food providers and community nutrition projects.

WHY PUBLICATIONS

WHY has various publications that can help guide you through the design and management of a program. You can view them online or contact NHC at NHC@worldhungeryear.org to receive a hardcopy of the following publications.

Serving up Justice: How to Design an Emergency Feeding Program and Build Community Food Security (WHY Publication)
A resource guide for those looking to start or improve an emergency feeding program. It outlines the logistics of design and management, as well as the various avenues through which emergency food providers can promote-self reliance among clients.

Tasty, Healthy Recipes
A resource booklet filled with tasty, healthy recipes and simple tips on eating well. The goal of this resource is to help someone make the best use of common food items to create wholesome meals.

Going Beyond Emergency Food (WHY Publication)
An abbreviated version of Serving Up Justice, this pamphlet discusses ways in which emergency feeding providers can implement measures that help people move beyond dependence on emergency food.

Building the Bridge (WHY/CFSC Publication)
Highlights the efforts of food banks whose methods of providing food assistance include measures that promote community-building, sustainability, and self-reliance.

The Replication Manual Project
A special project of the Reinvesting In America Program (RIA) of WHY In 1997, WHY in partnership with the Corporation for National Service Americorps* VISTA program, embarked on a year-long journey with seven outstanding grassroots organizations. The organizations were selected as participants in this national project because of their remarkable track records in transforming the lives of the people and communities they served. Their successes seized our attention and inspired us to produce comprehensive replication manuals of their work. The manuals serve as blueprints of the core principles, concepts and philosophies behind the model programs and can inspire you to build new working versions of similar programs in your own communities.

The WHY Media Guide
The WHY Media Guide is a unique tool specifically designed to provide capacity building assistance to community-based organizations. The Guide focuses on meeting realistic publicity goals while proposing clear ideas that will not overwhelm or stress an already under-staffed organization. The Guide is designed for the layperson providing each user with a firm and grounded working knowledge of media and publicity.

The Clearinghouse Connection
NHC's monthly newsletter that provides information on upcoming conferences, policy initiatives, funding opportunities, and highlights programs in WHY's grassroots network. To receive this monthly newsletter by fax or email, contact NHC@worldhungeryear.org

Filling Our Bowls: A Grassroots Guide to Fundraising
This guide is an addendum to World Hunger Year’s 2006 publication Serving Up Justice.  This guide is designed to expand on the fundraising and grant writing processes touched upon in Serving Up Justice.  It speaks to all levels of fundraising savvy and covers a wide range of funding options from in kind donations to corporate, government, and foundation grants.  It also includes a section on Social Enterprise an innovative way for organizations to create their own revenue.

Advocacy Toolkit
World Hunger Year’s Advocacy tool kit is designed as a starter kit, covering the basics from lobbying to community organizing.  It was built with the recognition that every person and every group is at a different stage in their fight for social justice and it is meant to be added on to throughout the journey.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

National Nutrition Safety Net (USDA Publication)
Designed to help community-based organizations-and communities themselves-assess whether or not they are taking full advantage of federal nutrition assistance programs, to identify barriers to community food security, and to seek opportunities for improvement.

A Citizen's Guide to Food Recovery (USDA Publication)
A resource guide on food recovery and gleaning programs for community-based organizations, businesses, citizens, and public officials. It describes current food recovery and gleaning practices and suggests how communities can support existing programs or begin new efforts.

Community Food Security Resource Kit (USDA Publication)
Designed to help communities find funds, technical assistance, and other help for community food security-related activities from a wide variety of sources