It was a very good y ear odd Lehman Photo T Project Bread SM Feeding people nourishing hope 145 Border Street East Boston, MA 02128-1903 Tel 617-723-5000 Fax 617-248-8877 www.projectbread.org © 2005 Project Bread – The Walk for Hunger Project Bread is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Donations are tax-exempt to the full extent of the law. Todd Lehman Todd Made in Massachusetts. to Pho Portions of the photography, design, and printing of this annual report were provided pro bono to help fight hunger. We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for helping us keep costs low: Michael Dwyer, Tom Hannon, Todd Lehman, David Leifer, Paul Shoul, Matt Stone, Joshua Touster, and Matt West. © 2005 photography; Mornette Shea and Michael Peters, design and P R OJECT B READ 2005 A NNUAL R EPORT preproduction. Printed by MassEnvelopePlus. please note the front cover should be 1/8 Fold inch wider so as not to crop the glued pocket on the inside back cover Photos T odd Lehman Please remove cyan line before processing, these are guides for Folds and crops only do not print Printing instructions in red Indide Front Cover and Flap good for feeding hungry people Project Bread is the state’s leading antihunger organization, providing direct service through the FoodSource Hotline, raising funds for 400 emergency food programs through The Walk for Hunger (shown here), providing grants for hunger Dear friends, prevention programs, and doing research and advocacy that improve the lives of hungry people throughout the Commonwealth. It’s been a year of improbable successes. It rained on our Walk for Hunger, which provides funds for 400 emergency food programs, and 35,000 Walkers walked anyway. Those who didn’t bring umbrellas or buy them on the route, walked under shower curtains, even garbage bags. They were wet, resolute, happy, and proud. And they showed us just how much they cared about feeding their hungry neighbors. Six years ago, Project Bread created a nationally recognized model to protect low-income children from hunger. This year, the Massachusetts Child Hunger Initiative has set the antihunger agenda for the state, as reflected in our third Status Report on Hunger in Massachusetts. A hallmark of this accomplishment has been the bipartisan support of our universal breakfast program, which feeds breakfast to 100,000 low-income elementary students statewide. It’s gratifying that a recent study confirms what school principals have found to be true — that when children eat breakfast at the start of the school day, their scores improve on MCAS, the state’s standardized test. Project Bread is about people and justice — not about pounds of food. I am so very grateful to the tens of thousands of people who believe in this principle of respect and dignity, who donate to make our work TABLE OF CONTENTS “I do the Walk possible, and who share in all the good it does. About Project Bread . 1–10 because I believe Emergency Food Programs .. .11–14 that no one should be Hunger Prevention Programs . .15–18 hungry in this country.” Contributors . 19– 38 Ellen Parker Partnering to End Hunger . 39 — Cyprian Sealy, Mattapan, Executive Director Board of Directors . 40 Photo Todd Lehman Photo Todd Photo Todd Lehman Photo Todd a Heart & Sole Walker who has participated for more than twenty years Ways to Help . 41 1 2 good for easing the burden on hungry families “Most parents who are unable to feed their families, Those who work on firstfirst gogo withoutwithout foodfood themselvesthemselves inin anan efforteffort toto shieldshield the frontline of their children from hunger. Low-income single moth- hunger relief see its ers are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and human cost — the hunger as they struggle to protect their children.” quiet desperation of — Andrew Schiff, assistant director of Project Bread Photo Joshua Touster — Andrew Schiff, assistant director of Project Bread parents, the struggle of elderly people “The Mobile Holiday Pantry unable to make ends is my favorite two days of the meet, the sudden year. .We see many who need relief when someone our help, who thank us again cares. For them, the and again, who sometimes look work is taxing, diffi- at us with their heads down but cult, and rewarding. we do everything we can to look them in the eye and tell them that it's okay. It's all because of Project Bread.” — Beth Chambers, director of community services, Greater Boston Catholic Charities Photo Joshua Touster f you suddenly found yourself in need of food, Iwhere would you turn for help? For 35,000 people each year, it’s Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline — “My children needed a confidential resource that provides personalized food and you helped out. Our bad time is information on where to find the nearest hot meal or not over yet, but we bag of groceries. know you will help.” “The worst thing I hear from people is In an age of automated phone assistance, our that they’ve waited too long to call.” — Mother using the Mobile Holiday Pantry, FoodSource Counselors do the humane thing — they which is sponsored by Project Bread in — Project Bread FoodSource Hotline Counselor partnership with Greater Boston Catholic Charities listen to the pain of sudden job loss or unex- pected medical crisis and move clients out of To protect the emergency food system and feed hungry families, Project Bread shock and immobility toward a plan that pro- has led a statewide push to transition families to make better use of federal Meals Served by Emergency Food Programs tects them and their families. This includes (in millions) nutrition programs. If we increased participation in Food Stamps, School Breakfast, 40 40 40 and Summer Meals programs to 66 percent of those eligible, hungry families providing customized information about local 35 36 would benefit from a more consistent form of support and the state would 30 31 Photos Joshua Touster Project Bread–funded soup kitchens and food 25 bring in over $100 million in additional federal dollars. pantries, about meal sites for the elderly, the 20 15 HUNGER SOLUTIONS eligibility requirements for school meals and 10 5 food stamps, and other resources, such as s 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 hool & food co-ops and farmers markets where hun- Photo Joshua Touster WIC Last year, the demand for emergency food at Pantries programs funded by Project Bread remained at its Food Stamps School Meals gry families can get nutritious low-cost food. Soup Kitchen Food Vouchers After-ScSummer Meals all-time high of 40 million meals. EMERGENCY PREVENTION 3 4 good for helping children learn Photo Michael Dwyer Improved MCAS Scores Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Boston recently completed a study of the relationship Feeding children where they live, learn, and play. between school breakfast participa- tion and MCAS scores. In schools ix years ago, Project Bread began a quiet revolution known as hunger S where between 60 and 80 percent of prevention. Less visible than our support of emergency food, this work — the students are eligible for free or conducted as the Massachusetts Child Hunger Initiative (MCHI) — has reduced-price school meals, they refocused the antihunger work of the state. found that school breakfast The signature program within MCHI has been the introduction of universal participation directly correlated with breakfast programs in low-income elementary schools, immediately higher MCAS scores. This finding affecting the lives of 100,000 students. Over the past two years, Project holds for English and math scores Bread has brought another 44 schools in 13 communities into the program, for elementary school students and resulting in a total of 79 schools at 80 percent participation. The is statistically significant. When the organization has accomplished this by offering incentive grants, which school breakfast participation rate help principals make changes that encourage greater participation. The is over 80 percent, MCAS scores results are gratifying: in the 2004–2005 school year, an additional 3,830 are significantly higher than when students began eating breakfast as a regular part of the school day, participation is at lower levels. meaning that an additional 689,400 breakfasts were served, generating $847,962 in federal reimbursements. Better Breakfast Program “We know that a hungry child gets sick In 2005, working with experts from the Harvard School of Public Health, more often and performs poorly in school. Project Bread piloted the Better Breakfast Program at several low- We also know that feeding our children income elementary schools in the is the first thing we must do to help them state. This program aims to improve Change in Math Grade Point Average to learn.” the nutritional content of school — Ellen Parker, 0.6 executive director of Project Bread breakfast above and beyond the cur- 0.5 rent USDA guidelines. The program Improved Math Scores 0.4 Research from Massachusetts calls for the elimination of high-sugar 0.3 General Hospital, sponsored by cereals and trans fats (unhealthy fats 0.2 Project Bread, found that when present in many processed foods). 0.1 ● children received food as close 0 CONTROL GROUP ● as possible to morning lessons, It also features higher fiber options, ● their grades improved, their Photos Michael Dwyer such as fresh fruit or smoothies made Before Universal Breakfast After Universal Breakfast attendance improved, and they with 1% milk. behaved better in the classroom. 5 6 “I wish that every time we need food that we’d just have it in the pantry or fridge. Photo Paul Shoul good for finding healthy new solutions I wish we could have milk, juice, water, eggs and everything that we need to eat.