Posts Tagged ‘food insecure’

A Taste of Youth Service

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

Chef Remmi Smith

Hi, I’m Remmi of Cook Time with Remmi. I believe every young person can make a difference by doing what they love to do! I’ve always loved being in the kitchen; I was helping out when I was only 4 years old! Now at the age of 13, I have my own cooking show, Cook Time with Remmi, and I’m comfortable cooking for myself and my family.

I hope that my cooking show and the recipes on my website get kids excited about cooking because I believe that cooking at home can help you eat healthier and save money. It’s important that kids learn to eat and cook nutritious meals early so that these habits can stay with them as adults too! And, cooking is a lot of fun―I promise! I have always wanted to be a cook star….and so can you!

My passion for talking to other kids about how easy (and yummy!) cooking and eating nutritiously can be led me to become Sodexo’s first-ever Student Ambassador to Health and Nutrition! Sodexo provides education solutions to nearly 500 school districts nationwide. Their STOP Hunger program enables Sodexo communities, including employees, consumers, clients and suppliers to join together to make a difference and end hunger.

Thanks to Sodexo Foundation, I can reach way more kids and get them as excited about healthy cooking and eating as I am.

The No Kid Hungry campaign teaches families how to cook healthy, affordable meals.

With my Sodexo Foundation Youth Grant, I’m hosting the No Kid Hungry Food Classic – Be a C.H.E.F. on Global Youth Service Day. The event is on April 27th at Metro Appliances and More in Tulsa, OK, from 1:00 to 5:00 PM. I’ll be doing demos and cooking up some of my favorite dishes for you to sample, and I will be talking to everyone about the No Kid Hungry campaign!

We are also having Global Gardens at the event and they will be talking about how to grow your own garden too!

I couldn’t believe it when I found out that 1 in 5 children in the United States struggles with hunger. I want to help end childhood hunger, so I decided to use what I love to do to make a difference and raise awareness and funds for No Kid Hungry.

Along with connecting kids in need with nutritious food, the No Kid Hungry campaign teaches their families how to cook healthy, affordable meals – something I love to do!

If you live in the Tulsa area, you should definitely come by! Be sure to bring canned food or a monetary donation to support Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and No Kid Hungry. But even if you don’t live in my area, you can still get involved! Cook Time with Remmi has lots of healthy recipes and fun videos from my cooking show. Check out NoKidHungry2.org for fun ways to help end childhood hunger.

I’m so excited for April 27th – hope to see you all there

Chef Remmi Smith is Sodexo’s Student Ambassador for Health and Nutrition.

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A Recipe for Ending Hunger

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Mabel Hernandez

I’m an alchemist in the kitchen, making magic happen when I transform the simplest ingredients into something extraordinary.

One trick I don’t mind sharing is a recipe for making hunger disappear.

I add a dash of my passion for cooking and fold in a generous measure of nutrition awareness, drawing on my professional experience.

Getting it right didn’t happen overnight, however.

A few years ago when I was a student at the University of the District of Columbia, a representative of the Capital Area Food Bank came to one of our classes recruiting volunteers for Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters® program .

I love serving as nutrition instructor and class coordinator at the local food bank..

The program mission attracted me, but time passed, and despite receiving monthly e-mails asking to join a series, I never joined.

Several years later, while working as a community nutritionist at an outpatient clinic, a manager re-directed my attention to Cooking Matters®. Finally, I contacted the Capital Area Food Bank, made all the arrangements and our first Cooking Matters series began, with we me serving as nutrition instructor and class coordinator.

I fell in love with all aspects of the program, which uses simple concepts, easy, inexpensive recipes and involve the participant in cooking and learning nutrition concepts.

"Basic, accessible ingredients can become delicious, healthy meals." Photo courtesy of Share Our Strength's Cooking Matters®

Using that experience as a springboard, I went on to work with a group of parents and kids at one of the Catholic Charities sites in Washington D.C., which subsequently became a Cooking Matters satellite site.

My responsibilities grew to include recruiting volunteers, planning and implementing the classes, and purchasing the groceries, while working with a wonderful team of colleagues.

Looking back, I’ve noticed that participants were most “spellbound” or receptive to new information when they could see how basic, accessible ingredients can become delicious, healthy meals.

Proper nutrition improves the quality of life and health for families. Photo courtesy of Share Our Strength's Cooking Matters®

They take joy in knowing how to gain proper nutrition that improves the quality of life and health for their families, and communities.

Through Cooking Matters, I found a way to combine my two passions: food and nutrition in a way that empowers individuals to personally combat hunger.

The real trick, you see, is in recognizing an opportunity to leverage the skills you’ve developed to proudly serve your community.

I encourage you to get involved with Cooking Matters or any other initiative that will fuel your passion and help to end hunger. Don’t put it off. You never know how many lives you can touch by your efforts.

Mabel Hernandez, a licensed nutritionist, is a 2013 Sodexo Dietetic Intern, and a 2008 Graduate of the University of the District of Columbia. View this video to learn more information about Cooking Matters.

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Ways to Serve, No Foolin’!

Friday, March 29th, 2013

Bob Stern

April 1st is special for a number of reasons: April Fool’s Day; opening day for Major League Baseball; and now it’s officially recognized as the start of Sodexo Servathon!

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley issued a formal proclamation this year, saluting Servathon and Sodexo’s important work fighting hunger in local communities.

Servathon is Sodexo’s largest employee engagement initiative in North America and around the world. Last year 40,000 employees in 35 countries got involved in the fight against hunger.

This year, I’m afraid the need is as great as ever. 50 million Americans, including more than 16 million children, don’t have enough to eat.

Since improving quality of life is important to Sodexo, it just makes sense that we ask employees to get involved in service projects in their communities to help fight hunger.

Volunteering at the Manna Food Center.

This year we’re asking employees to include youth in their service efforts too. I’ve found that today’s generation of youth is amazingly public-service oriented, and usually very eager to help those in need.

Involving kids also helps raise awareness around the issue of hunger, and helps ensure a strong pipeline of future leaders and volunteers in the fight against hunger. I encourage everyone to think about the young people in their life and find easy but effective ways for them to help out.

Earlier this week, my son, Elliott, joined me and several of my Sodexo colleagues at a volunteer event sponsored by PANG at Manna Food Center near our headquarters.

He’s done it before and he knows that poverty persists in every county and just about every school. My son is student teaching in a high school now, and he told me he has seen how hard it is for students to study when they are hungry. Having my son alongside me for Servathon was a special experience.

PANG, a Sodexo Employee Business Resource group, volunteering at Manna Food Center during Sodexo Servathon.

Need some thought-starters on how to mobilize youth to tackle the massive issue of hunger? Here are just a few simple ideas:

  • Block-out some time; whatever you can spare, minutes, hours or more and prepare or serve meals at a soup kitchen or sort food at a local food bank.
  • Take the No Kid Hungry Pledge, and ask young people in your life to take the pledge with you.
  • Raise funds or collect food to donate in your community.
  • Visit No Kid Hungry 2 for cool ideas on how to involve youth.

You can even check out Sodexo’s Servathon page for additional resources. And don’t forget to let us know what you’ve done, by sharing your Servathon story through our online survey.

Robert A. Stern is senior vice president and general counsel for Sodexo, Inc. and president of Sodexo Foundation, which supports innovative programs to help children and families in the United States who are at-risk of hunger.

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F.O.O.D. for Thought

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

Charmion Wood

How many of us grew up hearing that we should finish the food on our plates, because there are kids elsewhere who would be grateful for what we waste? Maybe some still hear this today. Thankfully many of us took it to heart and to this day look for ways to divert safe, nutritious food from landfills — getting it to those in our own communities who are in need.

Sodexo at Landon School has been donating food to DC Central Kitchen and the Capital Area Food Bank for over 16 years. Of course, in our business, one of our top priorities is preventing food waste in the first place, but when there remains excess un-served food that has already been prepared, Sodexo’s policy is to feed hungry people.

Diverting surplus food to agencies that help to feed hungry residents is a great way to support our local communities and it is simply the right thing to do. Sodexo not only advocates for such initiatives, it actively challenges its employees and mobilizes youth to participate in numerous ways.

The Landon School community, including faculty, parents and students are aware of Sodexo’s food donation program and backs it wholeheartedly. The staff has been recognized in the Landon newspaper, the Landon magazine and by Sodexo for its successes in food donation.

The process is very simple to set up. Our thinking… STOP Hunger, Donate F.O.O.D. Following this easy-to-remember acronym will help you get started.

F.O.O.D. for Thought

  • Follow safe food handling procedures as outlined in the HACCP Manual. Sodexo makes this information, along with other forms and templates available to employee volunteers.
  • Obtain an approved anti-hunger non-profit partner. This helps ensure surplus food is reaching the people most in need.
  • Outline roles and responsibilities of volunteers. Ensuring preparation, packing and scheduling of pick-ups or drop-offs is critical to success.
  • Donate surplus food to feed hungry families and children.

Too many people fear donating surplus food, even as they witness the severe need. Concerns about food safety and litigation are paramount. But if you follow these simple guidelines, provide proper training and reach out to others who have had success, these concerns will soon fade — so will hunger.

Charmion Wood is the Sodexo general manager at the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Reflecting on a Heroic Past

Monday, February 11th, 2013

Dennis Shepherd

It’s hard to believe nearly three years have flown by since experiencing one of the more memorable moments in my life. No, certainly not as important as my wedding day or the birth of my first child – but memorable just the same.

Nearly three years ago, I had the opportunity to see the White House for the first time in my life. It was during that same trip to Washington I had a personal meeting with my representative, Congressman Walter Jones at the U.S. Capitol. The reason for the trip? I was being honored by Sodexo Foundation on stage at the historic Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. for the volunteer work that I do in my community to fight hunger.

The memory of those experiences and being called a “Hero of Everyday Life” still move me. The reason it is so memorable is because it was a once in a lifetime chance to see and meet so many important figures and to be honored publicly before a thousand onlookers at a benefit dinner. It was more than I could imagine. It was surreal.

None of it would have been possible without a Sodexo district manager who was aware of my volunteer work and felt it needed to be recognized. Getting to know those who you work with and supervise beyond the scope of their 9-5 responsibilities can mean everything for both morale and productivity.

Dennis Shepherd (top left) and the rest of the 2010 Heroes of Everyday Life.

In addition to all of the larger-than-life experiences I had as a result of being named a Hero of Everyday Life, I came away with a couple of small but important lessons that I’ve been able to apply in my life. The first is that sometimes we need to talk about the good work we are doing, because you never know where it may lead or what additional support you might come by. Another is simply that anyone, young or old, can make a huge difference – specifically in fighting hunger. I saw that first hand through the stories of young people honored just before me, on the same stage that night.

I’ve since started taking my sixteen year old daughter along with me to raise donations, and to volunteer at our local soup kitchen. She’s a hard worker and has been helpful in doing more charity work to improve our community.

There is no doubt in my mind about the power of public recognition. I was so inspired after my trip to Washington that I volunteered the very next weekend and raised additional funds and collected more than 1200 pounds of food. If you are an eyewitness to random acts of kindness, acknowledge them. Recognize your fellow employees, praise youth efforts and nominate individuals doing exceptional things to fight hunger. Better yet, join in.

The $5000 grant I received from Sodexo Foundation helped the Jacksonville Soup Kitchen, which was for their Meals on Wheels program to take food to the elderly. If you know a Sodexo employee who is working to end hunger, recognize their efforts by submitting a Hero nomination on www.SodexoFoundation.org.

I’m sure I’d still be doing the volunteer work that I do even without the recognition, but it does have value. Think of the fond memories it will create for someone for years and years to come.

Dennis Shepherd is a driver for Sodexo at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and is a 2010 Hero of Everyday Life. Read more about Dennis and other recipients here.

The 2013 Heroes of Everyday Life® nomination period is open now through March 8.

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Sodexo & Share Our Strength: Serving Communities and Empowering Youth to End Childhood Hunger

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

Steve Dunmore

A Sodexo manager once shared a story about a boy who would come by the school cafeteria at closing time every Friday afternoon to ask if there was any leftover food he could take home. The manager gave him what he could, and he would stuff the food in his backpack. The manager eventually learned that the boy was asking for the food to help feed his younger brother and sister who had no source of good nutrition during the weekend.

The manager then approached teachers, staff and administrators in the school district to share this story and soon realized that there were many other kids in the exact same situation as this boy, but they were largely anonymous because they did not have the courage to ask for help.  This inspired our manager to take action by pulling the combined resources of Sodexo, the school district and the community to establish a formal backpack weekend feeding program that would ultimately help all district students in need of hunger assistance.

The power of that example stayed with me and I realize that we have a tremendous opportunity to improve the communities we serve by taking advantage of the resources and partnerships we foster as a company. It’s about empowering our own teams and others with a strategy to give back, but within their means – where they live and work. That’s something that the outstanding hunger organization Share Our Strength excels at as well.

No Kid Hungry

In my role as president for Sodexo’s K-12 segment, I am constantly amazed by the power of students who recognize a need among their peers and then rally to see it met. I find Schools for No Hungry Kid, and its new turn-key program, No Kid Hungry, Every Kid Healthy, very exciting because not only is it an excellent vehicle for instilling the critical nutrition and wellness habits that students need to ensure growth and academic performance, but it also takes advantage of the natural instinct inside children to help their peers by promoting activities for students that help raise funds for other children who are less fortunate, but equally deserving of fair access to nutritious meals. Students get to choose one or more “Every Kid Healthy” activities during the program and they collect monetary pledges from friends, family and neighbors – all of which goes to help end childhood hunger in America.

Sodexo understands the importance of engaging students to support other students and we incorporate that approach into our own work creating healthy learning environments that support student achievement at school districts nationwide. For example, Sodexo partnered with Chef Remmi, a 12-year-old student in Oklahoma, by naming her Sodexo’s official student ambassador to nutrition and wellness. Chef Remmi helps reinforce Sodexo’s positive nutrition message through videos, appearances and marketing materials that get kids excited about healthy eating.

In addition to our peer-to-peer education approach, I am also very proud of the many ways our K-12 teams across the country work to fight childhood hunger. Whether at one-off events like Sodexo employees from Detroit Public Schools supporting the work of a regional food bank at a local Radiothon or through annual programs like our Stephen J. Brady STOP Hunger Scholarships, we support the communities we serve just like the way that Schools for No Kid Hungry and No Kid Hungry, Every Kid Healthy mobilize youth to create innovative solutions to childhood hunger.

I encourage everyone reading this to learn as much as they can about the need for hunger assistance in their own community and to get involved by volunteering, collecting, donating or supporting groups like Share Our Strength. To learn more about Schools for No Hungry Kid and to find out how you can help fight childhood hunger, visit: http://nokidhungry2.org/schools

Stephen Dunmore is president for the Schools segment at Sodexo, overseeing the work of teams at nearly 500 K-12 partner organizations nationwide.

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Sustaining the Cause

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Bob Stern, president of the Sodexo Foundation

A few weeks ago I attended the 2011 Conference of Leaders in Baltimore, hosted by Share Our Strength. I met a lot of extremely motivated individuals in the fight against hunger.  It was particularly gratifying to see Sodexo Chef Robert Murnan presented with an award for his outstanding work and leadership with Cooking Matters Omaha.

During the conference I also had an opportunity to preview a collaborative effort by Share Our Strength and YSA (Youth Service America) to develop a new online youth action center dubbed No Kid Hungry 2. It was developed with funding provided by the Sodexo Foundation and debuts on the first anniversary of No Kid Hungry. The site, which goes live today at NoKidHungry2.org, aims to engage youth in the national anti-hunger movement by encouraging and educating a new generation of passionate and dedicated young leaders who will advocate for this cause among their school peers and friends. 

No Kid Hungry 2 is feature and resource-rich, with two main sections: Kids Kick Hunger for those under 13 years old and Leaders Tackle Hunger for ages 13 and above. Age-appropriate content and resources will be posted to each section, enabling young people to organize volunteer activities, launch advocacy efforts and raise awareness in their schools and local neighborhoods about childhood hunger in America.

A look at the new nokidhungry2.org website. Click on the picture to check it out.

The site’s integration of social media tools offers powerful means for connecting young people all over the U.S., while also providing them with the ideas and resources they need to be effective change agents in their own communities. I like to think of No Kid Hungry 2 as a “brain trust of youth hunger champions.”

In opening his speech at Conference of Leaders, Share Our Strength chairman and CEO, Billy Shore used a humorous anecdote about his six year old son warning a fellow beach toddler about the temporal nature of sand castles, observing that they are never there in the morning. Shore went on to tell the audience that unlike those unsustainable structures, Share Our Strength, with the help of its many supporters, has put into place a solid foundation built around multiple platforms guaranteeing that its work and efforts will endure well beyond the next sunrise.

No Kid Hungry 2 is just one such platform upon which the work of fighting childhood hunger will advance. It will be instrumental in helping bring food to, as Shore put it, “the most vulnerable and the least responsible for the position they are in” – children.

Please share the link for No Kid Hungry 2 and empower the young people in your life to uplift their peers.

Robert A. Stern is senior vice president and general counsel for Sodexo, Inc. and president of the Sodexo Foundation, which supports innovative programs to help children and families in the United States who are at-risk of hunger. 

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“Do the thing that’s in front of you.”

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Everywhere you look these days, it seems that the world is filled with struggle and suffering. 

I was recently on the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, on the Kenya-Somalia border.  As you know, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the region’s worst drought in sixty years.  More than 450,000 have trekked for days and weeks across the desert seeking food, water, shelter, and safety in Dabaab.  I met women who had buried children who died on the journey and men whose entire livelihoods have been wiped away by the drought. 

Several younger members of the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, on the Kenya-Somalia border. Click on the picture for more photographs courtesy Alliance to End Hunger

Here at home, the USDA reported that, for the third consecutive year, 1 in 6 Americans live in households that are food insecure.  Among the nearly 49 million Americans facing hunger are more than 16 million children.   

For those of us who want to help, it’s tough to know where to start and it’s easy to get discouraged.  That’s how I felt during my first years in Congress.  I decided early on that I wanted to make ending hunger my number one issue.  People thought I was crazy – they didn’t think there was any hope for ending hunger and couldn’t understand why I wanted to spend my time working on it.  Their doubts would rub off on me and I began to wonder whether or not I could really make a difference. 

Then I had a conversation that totally changed my perspective.  I was in India and had a chance to meet Mother Teresa.  We were walking through the streets of Calcutta and she was stopping to care for people along the side of the road.  I said to her, “What can I possibly do to help end hunger around the world?  I can’t even help the hungry people on this street!”  Mother Teresa didn’t respond right away.  After a few minutes she said, “Tony, you just need to do the thing that’s in front of you.  No more, no less.” 

I know that many of you are deeply concerned about hungry people here in the US and around the world.   If you are looking for ways to help, there are practical, effective steps you can take:  contribute to organizations fighting hunger and poverty, donate canned goods to your local food pantry, or even contact your Members of Congress and let them know that you care about these issues.

I hope that Mother Teresa’s words encourage you, just like they encouraged me, to “do the thing that’s in front of you.”

Ambassador Tony Hall represented the people of Dayton, Ohio, for 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.  Ambassador Hall is the executive director of the Alliance to End Hunger, an organization that engages diverse institutions – corporations, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and universities – in building the will to end hunger at home and abroad.  Sodexo is a Founding Member of the Alliance to End Hunger.

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