August, 08 - Message from the CEO | Message from the CEO List |
I have wonderful news about the Pittsburgh Blues Festival! All indicators point to Blues Festival 2008 as the best year ever. On free Friday we raised more than 27,000 pounds of food – a ton and a half more than last year! While final numbers aren’t in yet, preliminary figures show record sponsorship contribution, record ticket sales, and hopefully, a record net total of funds raised.
Thank you to all who made this signature event such a success: our title sponsor First Commonwealth, free Friday sponsors Fox 53 and FedEx Ground, and all our generous sponsors (here’s a complete list – please read each and every name, and remember their commitment to their community when you make decisions about where to take your business). Thank you to our volunteers and staff who worked so hard planning, staffing and cleaning up after the event. And thank YOU for coming – looking out over a sea of neighbors who came to hear music and fight hunger was a wonderful sight!
Unfortunately, every penny raised is sorely needed, since the Food Bank is facing the same challenges as every household: the rising price of food, transportation, health care and energy costs. At the same time, we feel we must stay on track with our Strategic Plan to increase the amount of food we distribute and the number of people we serve. We hear from our member agencies about more and more people who are coming to them for help. In nearby Duquesne Food Pantry alone, thirty-seven more families applied for assistance since last month; eighteen of those families had not used a pantry before.
As the summer winds down, and you return from vacation with that fresh sense of purpose the fall so often brings, we hope you will renew your commitment to fighting hunger. If you haven’t volunteered in a while, perhaps it’s time to contact our Volunteer Coordinator. If you are able, please make a donation. And there are more ways to help; attend special events, hold food drives, write a letter to your Legislator; sign up at www.hungeractioncenter.org/ to advocate for strong governmental nutrition programs. Or participate in a new fall project: Pennies for Peanut Butter (look for information in the Events section under Hunger Action Month).
Finally, I want to share with you my good fortune. Earlier this year, I was granted a paid sabbatical from a local foundation. It will run from September through November. I will have a shorter work schedule in September and November and will be out of the country during all of October. The Board and Staff of the Food Bank will carry on our good work. I look forward to rejoining our common efforts more routinely in December. Until then, I thank you again for all your efforts!
