Society of St. Andrew has passed the 500 million pounds milestone in total amount of food saved and distributed to the hungry

Society of St. Andrew Statistics and Talking Points

For Period: January 1 – June 30, 2006

STATISTICS
Total Pounds Saved: 12,134,839
Total Gleaning Network Pounds: 7,134,839
Total Potato Project Pounds: 5,000,000
Total Servings Provided: 36,404,517 (one pound of produce equals approx. 3 servings)
# Gleaning & Potato Project Events: 1,117
# Volunteers: 13,272
# Harvest of Hope Events: 11 events scheduled (1 already successfully conducted)
Historical total lbs. / servings saved
& distributed by SoSA 1983 to date: 509.5 Million pounds / 1.53 Billion servings
Admin. & Fundraising Overhead: 6.8% (93.2¢ of every dollar provides food for the hungry)
Cost per lb. of food saved: About 6¢
Cost per serving provided: About 2¢

HIGHLIGHTS

Ø SoSA PASSED THE 500 MILLION POUNDS MILESTONE! As of the end of June, SoSA’s historical total of pounds saved/distributed to the hungry is 509,529,271 — 1.528 BILLION servings!

Ø SoSA gets grant to open full-time operation in southern Georgia – The St. Marys United Methodist Church Foundation in St. Marys, GA, has awarded SoSA a $135,000 grant to establish and operate a full-time regional Gleaning Network office in the agriculture-rich southern half of the state. SoSA’s goal is to have it operational by mid-summer. The grant will cover the expense of getting the office set up and running for the first full year and providing over one million servings of nutritious food to the area’s hungry people. “This new operation will continue to make a strong, positive impact for many years to come,” said Mike Waldmann, SoSA’s Director of Operations. “Since our programs provide more bang for the buck, this initiative will benefit hungry people throughout the state, as well.” A typical regional gleaning office should yield dramatic results each year, including three million pounds of fresh produce saved and distributed to agencies, and growing opportunities for churches and individuals across Georgia to become more involved in feeding hungry people.

Ø Vacation Bible School mission project – It’s not too late – and oh so easy – to add SoSA’s highly praised VBS Mission Project to Vacation Bible School programs at churches of all sizes. SoSA’s “Heroes Fighting Hunger” coordinates with Cokesbury’s VBS program “Adventures of the Treasure Seekers” but is adaptable to other themed programs, as well. So far, 413 churches have requested the free starter packet. Order your FREE packet with all materials necessary for a successful VBS mission project. Call 800-333-4597 or email sosachurch@endhunger.org.

Ø Fast A Meal In 1 Year (“Fami1y”) to feed the hungry – This joint program of the General Commission on United Methodist Men, the National Association of Conference Presidents-United Methodist Men, and the Society of St. Andrew is designed to raise awareness of domestic hunger issues and to help feed hungry Americans. “Fami1y” encourages every family to select one meal in a year to fast and donate the money saved to the hunger-relief work of the Society of St. Andrew. For more information contact the General Commission on United Methodist Men at 615-620-7268.

Ø SoSA cited on PBS’ “To The Contrary” – On June 11, Senator Elizabeth Dole (NC) was interviewed on the PBS program, “To The Contrary.” She talked about hunger in America and her home state of North Carolina. Senator Dole talked at length about the “wonderful work” the Society of St. Andrew does in saving food from going to waste and getting it to the hungry around the nation. The show’s producers augmented the interview with video footage of SoSA volunteers in the fields gleaning fresh produce and delivering it to agencies.

Ø SoSA is active coast-to-coast, distributing food to all 48 contiguous states. SoSA has 43 Gleaning Network offices in 22 states: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, ME, MI, MO, MS, NM, NC, NY, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV. Current news and information available at www.endhunger.org; click the spinning “News-Press Release.” n