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Sacramento Hunger Commission: March 2004 Minutes

1. The meeting was called to order by Richard Schroeder, Chair.
2. February 17, 2004 minutes approved (Cindy Nelson/Russell Medeiros).
3. Brief reports and announcements
   • Peggy Roark announced that Lisa Hill has resigned from the Hunger Commission. Lisa felt she would be unable to meet the time commitments, but will still be helping us with Hunger 101 when she can.
   • Peggy Roark also announced that this will be Program Associate Jenny Holliday's last Hunger Commission meeting. She is leaving in late April to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.
   • Rebecca Fuller reported that Barbara Finnestead was unable to make the meeting because she is working on March For Meals, the big March fundraiser for Meals on Wheels.
   • Peggy Roark announced that volunteers were needed for the table the Hunger Commission will have at Darrell Steinberg's Summer Youth Fair at the Capitol on Saturday, May 1, 10am-2pm. Contact Peggy if you can help set up, help take down or sit at the table for a couple of hours.
   • Bill Maynard gave an update for the South Side Community Garden. Last Saturday, gardeners tilled and got started. The garden is 85% full.
     
4. Cathedral Building Update (Cindy Nelson)-The Task Force was approved by last year's Commission to examine the vision, mission statement and strategic plan of the Hunger Commission with the long-range goal of ending hunger in the Sacramento region. The Task Force will then bring recommendations back to the whole Commission. This approach is guided by Bill Shore's book, "The Cathedral Within."

   So far, the Task Force has approached this by working backwards-first the ideal, hunger-free Sacramento community was imagined (the "cathedral") and then the Task Force brainstormed agencies/individuals who are involved in the effort to accomplish each piece of the "cathedral". Cindy passed out handouts detailing the "cathedral" thus far and asked for Commissioners' feedback. Feedback and additions to the "cathedral" can be emailed to Cindy (ckn811@aol.com).

   The Task Force is at the point where they will begin creating a new vision, mission statement and strategic plan for the Hunger Commission. The Task Force asked the Commission whether they should begin working on these or whether the whole Commission should work on them together. The time commitment may be high (2 good ½ days or one full day) but the Task Force felt the Commission should have the option of involvement at this point. There was much discussion over the proposal, and the Commission decided that the Task Force should continue on its own but should report back to the Commission often. The next Cathedral Building meeting is Tuesday, April 6 from 12pm-1pm at the Salvation Army on Broadway and Alhambra. All Commissioners are welcome to attend the meeting.
   

5. Hunger Hits Home Update (Peggy Roark, Steve Caruso, Cindy Nelson)-Hunger Hits Home will officially be released at a press conference next Wednesday, March 24. Assemblymember Darrell Steinberg will be there and other local officials will be invited. Steve reported that this is the perfect vehicle to highlight the Commission as well as elevate the discussion about food security in the Sacramento region. The Food Charter will be released about 2 weeks later to keep the discussion alive and the Food Summit is planned for this fall. Peggy passed out a handout detailing the key messages and proof points from Hunger Hits Home and then went over them in a PowerPoint presentation.
6. Hope Awards Update (Judy Wilson)-Judy was unable to make the meeting at the last minute, so Richard Schroeder reported on the Hope Awards. Richard announced that there would be a very brief Hope Awards meeting after the Commission meeting to discuss the location of the 2004 Awards. The Awards will be an evening event, held on Thursday, October 21st.
7. Policy Update, state-level; Hunger Action Day 5/12 (Sharon Eghigian)-Sharon passed out the 2004 California Hunger Action Coalition (CHAC) legislative agenda and discussed its main points. CHAC is supporting a bill to eliminate finger imaging for Food Stamps, a bill ending the ban on people with drug felonies from receiving Food Stamps, and AB 2200, which requires all schools to provide School Breakfast. For more information on current bills, visit www.leginfo.ca.gov. Darrell Steinberg's AB 231, (which was passed last year and made several improvements in the Food Stamp program), is still at risk of being repealed by the legislature, as the Governor has proposed. Some programs for immigrants and seniors are also in danger, as are the current level of cash assistance grants to needy families with children. CHAC supports the continuation of all these crucial elements of the safety net. Sharon suggested that if the Hunger Commission voted to support the CHAC agenda, letters of support should be sent to the authors of the relevant bills. The Commission voted to support the CHAC agenda (Kay Schlegel/Cindy Nelson). Peggy will follow up.

   Hunger Action Day at the Capitol will be May 12. There will be a training on May 11 to familiarize people with the legislative issues and do some fun role-playing on how a bill becomes a law.

8. The "Challenges"-Peggy reported that the Food Stamp Challenge participants had toured the midtown Food Stamp office and had a presentation about the Program. They have discussed how they will eat for three days on $14.10 and are ready to go. Cindy reported that the Local Foodshed Challenge is still trying to schedule a tour. Steve reported that the Food Bank Challenge is ready to go-just let Steve know when you would like to come to the Elk Grove Food Bank. He suggested participants actually go through the line to receive their box of food.
   

9. The meeting was adjourned at 1:00.

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