Minutes

Alaska Food Coalition
Teleconference
October 17, 2000

In attendance:

Fairbanks - Wendel Otness (Rescue Mission), Sam Castle-Kirstein (Fairbanks Food Bank)
Wasilla - Betty Mercer (Senior Services)
Palmer - Jimmy Lavoie (Rural Dev. USDA)
Dillingham - Roy Hiratsuka (Bristol Bay Native Assn.)
Kodiak - Trevor Jones (Kodiak Food Bank/Baptist Mission)
Bethel - Louise Charles (Senior Services)
Nome - Jane Combo (Nome Community Center)
Juneau - Molly Wheeler (USDA Food Program), Beryl Cheal (Headstart), Kathleen Wayne (Child Nutrition), Joan Chase (Food Stamp Program)
Anchorage - Diane Disanto (DHSS), Janice Adair (DEC), George Hieronymus (Bean's Café), Marsha Briggs (Food Bank of Alaska), Juan San Miguel (Salvation Army Older Alaskans), Sara Jackson (Catholic Social Services/St. Francis House) Fred Jenkins (United Way)

Sam brought the meeting to order at 2:00 PM and introduced the current officers: Sam Castle-Kirstein, Chair, George Hieronymus, Treasurer, Sara Jackson, Secretary. Wendall Otness was appointed, Chair-elect at the Officer Retreat on October 5. If there are no objections from the Coalition, he will assume that position. There were no objections noted.

Meeting Schedule - The dates for future meetings were discussed and determined. Food Coalition teleconferences will occur quarterly on the second Wednesday of the month at 2:30 PM. The next one will be January 10, 2001. We will try to keep the meetings to one hour in length. We will have a Face to Face meeting in Juneau during the legislative session to network with each other and educate lawmakers. The suggested dates for this meeting are April 14, 15, and 16, with executive committee meeting one day before and one day after. The remaining two quarterly teleconferences are scheduled for July 11, 2001 and October 10, 2001. The Executive Committee will meet in June and October of each year in Anchorage and Fairbanks to finalize grant spending and organize for next year.

Comments: There was a discussion as to the optimum time for the Face to Face meeting in Juneau in conjunction with legislative decision-making. Last year it was felt that we came a little late in the process. The year prior to that had worked out better. Since the schedule of the legislature varies from year to year it is difficult to select dates in perfect synchronicity with the consideration of the particular issues we hope to effect. Louise shared that her Senator Hoffman had suggested that we come to Juneau mid-March. Janice and Diane both think that this year's proposed dates should be good. Molly pointed out that it is possible to come too early in the session and that we want to be there as the budget decisions are being finalized. Sam suggested that we leave the dates as they are for now and revisit the issue in January if necessary.

Sam briefly reviewed the issues discussed at the officer's retreat and asked if there were any questions relating to the materials that had been sent out in the coalition information packets.

Budget and Grant Application Process - George gave the treasurer's report and opened a discussion on the Coalition Grant Process. George commented that traditionally people have waited until the Juneau meeting to make their requests for funds and by then it is sometimes difficult to fulfill the request by June 30th, the end of the fiscal year. Sam noted that we did not use all of our appropriated funding last year, and that is a shame because we know the needs are out there. Janice asked for a clarification of how the applications are addressed. It was explained that the applications are not held onto and competitively considered. Since these are emergency funds, an application is considered as soon as it is received, and, if appropriate, is granted on a first come, first serve basis. An organization does not have to be a member of the Alaska Food Coalition to apply. Diane reminded us that although the Coalition has purchased food the last couple of years to directly alleviate hunger needs, the purpose of the Food Coalition is not principally to buy food, rather it is to build capacity to support the food banks and distribute existing food. Therefore, equipment purchases and the facilitation of networking and training are a very appropriate use of funds.

TEFAP - Molly asked for feedback from Coalition members in regard to their use of USDA commodities, currently administered through the Food Bank of Alaska. Sara stated that St. Francis House had used commodities at one time several years ago and had found the selection of products not to be worth the extra paperwork and inventory requirements. However, due to the present abundance and variety of the commodities and the large families that are coming to the food pantry, St. Francis House is reconsidering the program. Juan stated that he does not have the staff to administer TEFAP in his program. George uses TEFAP at Bean's and finds the accountability simple in a soup kitchen setting. Marsha said that she thought that the TEFAP process for food pantries was cumbersome. Sam said that her program has recently taken on TEFAP and finds the paperwork challenging, but doable. So far, they have 168 families enrolled and are committed to a one-year trial. She has been surprised that so far only about half of the families enrolled show up for the food on a regular basis. Betty says that in Wasilla, she sees 254 each month out of 400 (total enrollment). She says that the people are very pleased with the amount and variety of the food they receive. Roy said that he ships TEFAP products out to the villages. Trevor loves TEFAP, thinks that it is an excellent resource. He stated that he has little difficulty in securing the food that he needs through TEFAP and other donated food. His needs are more in the area of operating expenses and equipment. He also said that the client load has increased every month since they started about a year ago. They currently have 200 families signed up. Molly asked what he needed. Trevor answered that he could use a walk-in freezer and an upgraded facility. Sam commended Trevor on the excellent progress he has made with his program in a short time. Louise said that she needs to check with the Food Bank to see what she can do to increase food supplies. She says that they have lots of meat, but are already out of fish donations. They also lack storage space. Diane commented that she is trying to find someone else in that area to share the burden with Louise. Jane says that in Nome they have no problem with the paperwork, their lack is in folks to do the physical labor. They are losing their main volunteer Nov. 1 and are having great difficulty finding other volunteers.

Molly asked Marsha about the availability of TEFAP application through the Food Bank. There was a hold on applications for a while. Is that still in effect? The reason for limiting the food sites has not bee a lack of available product but under-funding for distribution to outlying sites through the Food Bank. Molly stated that the state is willing to work with the Food Bank to solve this problem. Would it be better to ship directly to the villages? She referenced the state's recent response to village hunger with Project Renew Hope. Marsha said that obviously things have been in a state of flux at the Food Bank due to Jack Doyle's untimely death. John is presently on vacation. When he returns, Marsha, John and Molly can discuss these complex issues and brainstorm some solutions. Molly assured the Coalition that the State wants to do whatever it can to assure full utilization of commodity resources.

Jimmy with USDA Rural Development said that although he is fairly new to his job, he wants to attend Coalition meetings and educate himself in regard to our needs so that he can find ways to help. George commented that he sends people from Bean's to glean from Valley farms in the summer and that the farmers have been quite generous. Jimmy talked about programs in the Lower 48 that ask farmers to plant an extra row or two for charity and that works quite well. He would like to see something like that in Alaska. Maybe with Jr. Master Gardners Clubs. George recommended that Jimmy talk to Jeff Lowenfels, a local gardening celebrity.

Food Coalition Web Page Sam researched a group in Fairbanks called Information Insights that she thinks will create a web page for us for $2,500. Diane talked to the state Webmaster and said that the State would rather not fund this if we can possibly find another way. There was a discussion with Fred Jenkins concerning whether a listing on AKINFO would meet our needs and it was determined that it would be insufficient. We need a site for information exchange, meeting minutes, grant requests, and future public relations campaign. Sara made a motion that Sam get back with Information Insight and if they can meet our requirements for $2,500, we should go ahead and contract with them. George seconded the motion. There were no objections.

National School Lunch and Adult Care Programs Kathleen Wayne asked Coalition support to promote these programs. She does not have a lot of resources for outreach. Great need for more schools to participate. Sam said that this had been a topic of concern at the last annual meeting. Why is this resource under utilized? Would it be useful for the Coalition to advocate? Kathleen said that it is important to reach the administrators with educational materials explaining that kids need snacks every four hours for optimum blood sugar levels to maximize their learning potential. Betty said that she had investigated the problem in Wasilla and had found that there was no school kitchen large enough to prepare breakfast and that the schools had been turning down offers of food. She has been trying for two years to get a kitchen to prepare the food. Kathleen said that concerned community leaders are needed to bring these issues to light. Janice said that many schools are being built without kitchens to save money. Kathleen said maybe the community could look at vending from another location. Sam assigned homework to the Coalition members to look at this issue in their community, find out what is working and what is not working and report at the January meeting. Molly encouraged members to attend the Alaska School Service Conference in Anchorage, December 4 - 6, for information.

Expansion of the Coalition Grant If we want to expand the existing grant for 2002, we would have to submit it within the next two weeks. Not going to happen. We will discuss an increase for 2003 at the Juneau meeting.

Geographic Enhancement We need representation for Yukon Delta, Southeast, Kotzebue, Aniak, Sleetmute, Kuskoquim Native Association. Some of these areas are very impoverished. We need to talk more about this in January.

Consistent Data Collection Among Member Programs Web site will help with this. We will discuss approaches at the Juneau meeting.

Action Item Adopt at least one legislator from your community and invite him/her to visit your site. We will report our experiences at the January meeting.

Open Floor George thinks we need another check signer. There are two in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks, and we need two signatures on the checks. If one of the Anchorage signers is unavailable, this could pose a problem. Sam suggests that we find a solution at the next executive committee meeting and report to the group in January.

Betty noticed a discrepancy in the mailing list. Diane apologized and reminded us that she is not a secretary. George commended Diane on the exceptional job she did putting the packet together. Coalition members are in solid agreement that Diane is a great blessing. The mailing list will be corrected.

Sam closed with an apology for going over one hour. We will try to do better in the future. She noted that we are all grieving the loss of Jack. His death impacts us greatly. He will live on in the memory of this Coalition that meant so much to him. Our state grant has been officially named the Jack Doyle Grant in his honor.