Cody Comes Through

Cody Mitchell, the precocious 7-year old highlighted on my Facebook page, held his much-anticpated book sale to benefit St. Mary's Food Bank on August 29 & 30. Even 110 degree temperatures did little to keep people away; Cody's book sale managed to raise over $850 + hundreds of pounds of food. People even brought books, leaving Cody with almost as many books after the sale as he had when he started; he will donate any leftover books to the Phoenix Veterans Hospital. For a look at what went on: http://www.azfamily.com/video/geaz-index.html?nvid=393725.

St. Mary's Fills Shelves for Prescott Valley Food Bank

The Yavapai Food Bank in Prescott Valley was close to running out of food in the face of increasing demand caused by the effects of the current economic slowdown. Word of their predicament got back to St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, and like the cavalry riding to the rescue in the Old West, St. Mary's sent a semi-truck from their Phoenix facility with pallets of food and produce. In the future, one semi will visit Yavapai each week. To see the complete story, visit http://www.prescottvalleytribune.com/ and click on the St. Mary's link.

Feed Your Mind by Attending a "Cool" Hunger 101 Session

This September inform yourself on issues of hunger, poverty and nutrition by attending a Hunger 101 session. All are given in the air-conditioned Volunteer Center at our 31st Ave. location (2831 N. 31st Ave.). Sessions include: Faces of Hunger on Sept. 9 from 10-11am; Label Me Nutritious on Sept. 16 from 10-11am; The Food Game on Sept. 22 from 1-3pm; Advocacy & Action on Sept. 23 from 10-11am; Fast Foods: Making Healthy Choices on Sept. 29 from 12-1pm; Impacts of Hunger on Sept. 30 from 10-11am.

For more information, or to register, call Raymond Combe at 602 343-3164 or rlcombe@firstfoodbank,org.

Tyson's Hunger Relief Site: a good source for hunger & nutrition info

Visit http://hungerrelief.tyson.com/ to learn about various programs (including high school food drives in Phoenix) supported by Tyson Foods. There are also links to other blogs and websites, including our own Hunger 101 AZ.

Foundation Report Notes Lack of Data on Child Poverty

The KidsCount report, issued annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, highlights the need for better tracking and analyzing for trends in childhood poverty. The report suggests strengthening efforts by the Federal Government to update its management of data gathering during the upcoming 2010 census, and resist the temptation to cut data collecting and analysis costs during the current recession. To read more, and see the report itself, visit http://www.aecf.org/.

Nothing Fishy about a lack of Vitamin D

Studies show that a lack of Vitamin D can lead to a number of health problems in children and teens. For the complete story, visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111509588 and find out how to increase your intake of this important vitamin.