Who We Are - has information on the Sacramento Hunger Commission including the latest monthly agenda, meeting minutes and a profile of the 25 member all volunteer commission.
Home >> Who We Are >> Monthly Minutes >> February 2005

Sacramento Hunger Commission: February 2005 Minutes

  1. Meeting called to order by Steve Caruso, Chair.
  2. November 16, 2004 minutes approved (Cindy Nelson/Franklin Anderson).
  3. Brief reports/announcements/news:
    • Ken Carter ­Distributed copies of a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger:
    • The California Association of Food Banks is hoping to receive thousands of faxes expressing concern about the President’s proposed tax cuts and the governor's position to forward to Gov. S's Washington office. The letters must be faxed by 2/16 to the CA Partnership.
    • Peggy Roark ­ Leave of absence for Judy Wilson: Judy Wilson will be taking a leave of absence for 3 months because of her and her husband's health. Contact her by email if you would like to do so.
    • Richard Schroeder
      • Richard is willing to speak to churches and other community groups about the Pots and Pans drive.
      • DHA is introducing a new computer system called CalWIN at the beginning of March. Some glitches may occur during the changeover. DHA workers will have boxes of food for those that may be at risk if there is a temporary problem with benefits because of the new system.
  4. "Hunger 101" ­ experience and discussion ­ what is it really like to be food insecure in Sacramento?
    • Fifteen people, including several visitors, participated in the interactive Hunger 101 exercise, which allows people to take on the identities of diverse Sacramento residents struggling to put food on the table for their family for one day. Staff, VISTAs, and a Commissioner staffed the various stations, including a bank, Food Stamp office, grocery store, hot meal program, Summer Food, WIC, and (a relatively new addition) a fast food restaurant. As always, there was time at the end to share experiences and thoughts. "Enlightening" and "eye-opening" were frequent comments. People also observed how very difficult it was to both obtain sufficient calories and have a nutritionally balanced diet, and how even families with fairly good incomes could be in trouble if there was an unexpected emergency like major car repairs. For several families, nutrition assistance programs such as Food Stamps were absolutely crucial to their relative success. Finally, the discussion also raised the issue of other barriers to healthy food access, such as transportation ­ even though transportation has not been incorporated into the exercise.
  5. Brief initial meetings of working groups
  6. The chairs of Programs/Planning and Public Relations met briefly with their groups ­ the chairs of Alliances and Fund Development were not present. All working groups are expected to meet in the next month.
  7. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15th at 11:30 at SETA Head Start, 925 Del Paso Blvd.

[Top]

Click to give us Feedback!