Before the COVID-19 crisis began, food insecurity in the US was the lowest it had been in more than 20 years, and yet 35.2 million people, including 10.7 million children, were food insecure.
The current crisis is likely to reverse the improvements that have occurred over the past decade as millions of people are newly experiencing food insecurity, alongside those who were experiencing food insecurity before the COVID-19 crisis began. Nationally, more than 50 million people, including 17 million children, may experience food insecurity in 2020 because of COVID-19.
FYI, here in North Carolina the food insecurity rate is predicted to reach 17.6%.
Thanks to everyone who has been participating in Piedmont Triad Apartment Association’s (my employer) 2019 Summer Food Drive, PTAA has raised more than 415,000 meals for Second Harvest Food Bank, and we’re on track to pass the total we raised last year.
PTAA’s goal for 2019 is to raise half a million meals, and they’re looking for that last boost to get us to the goal by July 31 – a mere 8 days from the time I’m posting this.
It’s time for me to see what I can do to help get us there! PTAA is offering me up for auction to help them reach their goal. The winner of the auction will have me all to yourself at your corporate office or chosen property for one day! I have (limited) maintenance skills, salesmanship skills, and a wealth of industry knowledge and experience, and we’re happy to share him with you for a day. (I didn’t write that, our Communications Director did, but I’m running with it). Please feel free to donate even if you can’t make the minimum bid – $1 can provide seven meals so every little bit helps!
The Details
You can place your bid by donating to the team “Jon Lowder” on our donation site (click the link below). Just click “Donate Now,” then make your donation.
The MINIMUM bid is a donation of $500 (that minimum bid will provide 3,500 meals!)
The donation must be made between today and July 31
ALL DONATIONS will go to the food bank and are NONREFUNDABLE – regardless of whether or not you win the auction
Whichever company has made the highest donation by 11:59pm on July 31 will win the grand prize: Jon Lowder for a day!
The company with the second-highest donation will win 2nd prize: Jon Lowder for half a day (half the day, all the awesome)
Once the auction is over, Jon will follow up to arrange a day to spend on your property, and PTAA will be sure it is well covered in our social media and other publicity!
Questions? Contact Jon with any questions you have before you donate.
Every dollar raised for the food bank can be used to provide at least seven meals to kids in need. How does that work? Through their partnerships with grocery retailers and the USDA, the food bank is able to source nutritious food, including fresh meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables. The food bank’s culinary program uses some of the ingredients to prepare hot meals, and they are distributed along with fresh food to local pantries, summer feeding locations and soup kitchens across 18 counties.
Yesterday I was interviewed by WFMY about some of the stunts I’ve pulled as part of my employer’s annual food drive for Second Harvest. It was a fun interview and I have to say I think the reporter, Laura Brache, who is a Parkland HS grad from here in Winston-Salem and is just one year out of J-school at UNC, has a very bright future. I say that not just because she was nice to me, but because she was truly professional, well-prepared, shot the video herself, wrote the story in English and Spanish, and got it all put together in a very short amount of time while also doing whatever other stories she had on her plate. Nothing easy about the job, but she made it look that way from where I was sitting.
People seeking assistance from Second Harvest’s network are diverse. 52 percent are white, 31 percent are black, 11 percent are Hispanic and 6 percent identify as other racial backgrounds. – Source
Today’s sponsor:
Rotary District 7690. Rotary is a huge organization, with 1.2 million members in thousands of clubs around the world. Rotary District 7690 is located in the central Piedmont region of North Carolina and is comprised of 49 clubs, all of which are active in supporting their communities. One significant effort across the District is the RUSH (Rotarians United to Stop Hunger) program which encourages clubs to raise money and collect food to help feed the hungry. Started just two years ago this program has already raised enough to provide tens of thousands of meals for our communities.
Activity Day 37: Back on the tennis court, and was amazed how good it felt despite the continuing blister problem. To paraphrase Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own, “There’s no crying in tennis! (unless you’re John McEnroe).
Miles walked/run: 6.00 miles. Here’s the screenshot from my FitBit:
Miles remaining in challenge: 173.47.
Want to donate to support Second Harvest? It’s easy to do right here!
Here are some pictures of Crescent Rotary in action at the Community Cupboard a week after a tornado struck that part of Greensboro.
More than 180,000 children in public schools qualify to participate in the free/reduced school meal program.
Today’s sponsor:
Crescent Rotary Club. I’m a member of Crescent Rotary Club in Greensboro which does a tremendous amount of work to support the local community. Each year the club’s foundation allocates thousands of dollars to local organizations, including food programs, and our club members volunteer for numerous projects throughout the year. Those projects include serving meals at Potter’s House and supporting the Community Cupboard at East Market Street Seventh Day Adventist Church in Greensboro (pics of that are at the bottom of this post).
Activity Day 36: It ends up that Day 35 took a toll because I didn’t realize I had a hole in one of my socks and that led to me developing a very nice, large blister on the pad of my right foot. So this day was mostly about nursing the foot and the walking I did get in was preparing for our trip out west that begins this coming Friday.
Miles walked/run: 2.13 miles. Here’s the screenshot from my FitBit:
Miles remaining in challenge: 179.47.
Want to donate to support Second Harvest? It’s easy to do right here!
Here are some pictures of Crescent Rotary in action at the Community Cupboard a week after a tornado struck that part of Greensboro.
Second Harvest Food Bank of NWNC serves as a critical source of food and grocery products for 232 Pantries, 40 Soup Kitchens, and 18 shelters. (Source)
Today’s sponsor:
ProSource Fitness Equipment is a very strong supporter of Piedmont Triad Apartment Association (my day job), and their point person in our market, Josh Owen, is an active volunteer who recently won PTAA’s Supplier Vendor Partner of the Year Award. They’re also very involved in the community, including PTAA’s Food Drive.
ProSource is a provider of fitness equipment, both commercial and residential, and I can vouch for them personally because I’ve purchased from them for my home gym and have had nothing but a good experience with the equipment and the company.
They donated enough for a week’s worth of sponsorship and Monday was the first day. Much thanks to Josh and the team at ProSource Fitness for supporting the walk (and PTAA’s Food Drive) and for continuing to be leaders in our community!
Activity Day 35: I figured that if a fitness equipment company was going to sponsor me then I better do some serious miles, and we had great weather (finally no humidity!) so it was the perfect day to catch up on some miles. I walked the Bicentennial Greenway from north High Point to Jamestown and back. It was a great walk and I’m glad to be getting some serious mileage in again.
Miles walked/run: 8.84 miles. Here’s the screenshot from my FitBit:
Miles remaining in challenge: 181.6. I passed the halfway point to my goal with these miles, and I was only one day late! I should be back on pace by Thursday at the latest.
Want to donate to support Second Harvest? It’s easy to do right here!
32% of households seeking food assistance from Second Harvest Food Bank’s partner programs have less than a high school education.
Today’s sponsor:
Rotarians United to Stop Hunger. I’m a member of Crescent Rotary Club in Greensboro and we are active participants in the Rotarians United to Stop Hunger (RUSH) program in Rotary District 7690 (49 clubs in the central NC Piedmont area), which YTD has collected enough food and money to provide 300,000 meals to the hungry in our community.
Activity Day 34: Today was yard work. Lots and lots of yard work. Lots of sweat, lots of bending and contorting myself into very uncomfortable positions in pursuit of pesky weeds. Thus I got a helluva workout without that many steps, but at least the yard looks good.
Miles walked/run: 3.91 miles. Here’s the screenshot from my FitBit:
Miles remaining in challenge: 190.4. If I was on pace this would be the day I reach the half-way point for my goal, but I’m behind so it will be at least another day or two before I reach that milestone.
Want to donate to support Second Harvest? It’s easy to do right here!
64% of households seeking food assistance from Second Harvest Food Bank’s partner programs have had to choose between food and housing.
Today’s sponsor:
Rotarians United to Stop Hunger. I’m a member of Crescent Rotary Club in Greensboro and we are active participants in the Rotarians United to Stop Hunger (RUSH) program in Rotary District 7690 (49 clubs in the central NC Piedmont area), which YTD has collected enough food and money to provide 300,000 meals to the hungry in our community.
Activity Day 33: The majority of the day was spent at the Spirits of Summer festival in downtown Winston-Salem, which wasn’t conducive to a lot of miles, but it was conducive to several fun miles.
Miles walked/run: 4.39 miles. Here’s the screenshot from my FitBit:
Miles remaining in challenge: 194.35. Fell a little further behind, but there’s time to make it up this week.
Want to donate to support Second Harvest? It’s easy to do right here!
52% of households seeking food assistance from Second Harvest Food Bank’s partner programs have at least one employed adult.
Today’s sponsor:
Rotarians United to Stop Hunger. I’m a member of Crescent Rotary Club in Greensboro and we are active participants in the Rotarians United to Stop Hunger (RUSH) program in Rotary District 7690 (49 clubs in the central NC Piedmont area), which YTD has collected enough food and money to provide 300,000 meals to the hungry in our community.
Activity Day 32: The day started with a nice long walk (for him) with the dog, and the plan was to do another long walk after work to start making up for some lost miles, but Mother Nature interfered. Let’s just say that after a few miles it became apparent that “something wicked this way comes” and I skedaddled back to my office to seek shelter. Still, I was at least able to not lose more ground so that’s not bad.
Miles walked/run: 6.04 miles. Here’s the screenshot from my FitBit:
Miles remaining in challenge: 198.74. Woohoo! Broke the 200-mile mark.
Want to donate to support Second Harvest? It’s easy to do right here!
Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap shows that 23% of people who are food insecure in NWNC are ineligible for Food and Nutrition Services (formerly Food Stamps), while 24% of food insecure children live in households with incomes that make them ineligible for federal child nutrition programs.
Today’s sponsor:
Pit Stops for Hope. I met Ray Wright from Pit Stops for Hope at a Second Harvest Food Bank dinner a couple of years ago and have been amazed at what he and his organization have done to invest in children through their aid to food banks and teachers.
Activity Day 31: Ended May with a late night walk and man was it humid! It was almost like you could chew the air it was so thick. We had a bear sighting a few miles from our neighborhood yesterday, so I was a bit apprehensive but I figured I was sweaty (and smelly) enough that I wouldn’t have been appetizing to the critter so I just put it out of my mind.
Miles walked/run: 5.8 miles. Here’s the screenshot from my FitBit:
Miles remaining in challenge: 204.78. Closing in on the <200 mile mark!
Want to donate to support Second Harvest? It’s easy to do right here!
Befuddled 