One of the most valuable parts of the food banking model is that it engages people from all sectors of the community – local volunteers and individuals, NGOs and civic organizations, local and national governments, and the business sector. As The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) has experienced around the world, in addition to feeding tens of millions of people each year, food banks become a vehicle for building public awareness of hunger and its solutions, as well as a powerful voice in driving policy decisions that impact food security.

My trip to India last month once again reminded of the power of people from a variety of backgrounds working together  to create solutions to the world’s most challenging social issues – even the daunting challenge of addressing the food security needs of more than 212 million undernourished people living in India.

Following the successful launch of the Planning Forum for the India Food Bank Network in January 2010, GFN is continuing to build broad based support and explore partnerships that will move the project from concept to action.

One of the most exciting new partnerships with the potential to accelerate action towards operation is working with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) www.crs.org.  CRS has been running a USAID food distribution program in India for more than 50 years. They have built an infrastructure of 60 warehouses that supply a second tier of smaller warehouses and more than 2,000 feeding programs. This USAID program is coming to an end this year, leaving CRS with the dilemma of what to do with their existing infrastructure and the valuable services it delivers to so many people in the nine Indian states where it operates.

The emerging food bank system in India provides a timely answer to that question…

While visiting one of these warehouses in Bihar, I was pleased to find that the warehouse operates almost exactly as we would want it to in the context of food banking. The only significant difference is the source of food in the warehouse. Our focus now will be on setting up pilot sites for transition and mapping the resource base to plan for food sourcing and logistics management.

We also had very positive meetings with the National Informatics Center, the Ministry of Rural Development, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Likewise, meetings with the International Food Policy Research Institute and prominent economist – Mr. Bibek Debroy – were quite helpful.

The success of the India FoodBank Network will in large part depend on food and grocery companies and retailers donating their surplus products. We had very positive meetings with Pepsico, All India Rice Exporters Association, Philip Morris International, and Bharti Wal-Mart. In addition, we held a group meeting with representatives of trade media, Aircel, several large NGOs and key food industry partners.

The international community is also beginning to take an interest in the project, and we met with Irish Aid and USAID during this visit.

Building broad based support, engaging local and national governments, working with other NGO partners, gaining support from food and grocery companies, and ensuring community participation – this is what it will take to make the India FoodBank Network a success.

I’m excited to return to India next month and report on the accelerating progress of the Planning Forum and the expanding network of stakeholders working to make food banks a reality in India.

As they progress through the anthem, you can see and hear the young girl’s confidence return – she straightens her shoulders and her voice strengthens and grows louder.  At the end, she is relieved and grateful.  Cheeks hugs her and then returns to his team, to give them their final instructions before a critical game.

It is a remarkable moment.  I encourage you to take the time to view the video if you can.

There is some tipping point at which most of us will act to help someone who is struggling.  Most notably, in times of natural disaster there is typically an outpouring of support for victims.  As situations become less dramatic, and the environment changes, many of us will not find the courage to act.  We will not, as Maurice Cheeks did, “just start walking”.

In the arena that day, Cheeks was in a unique position to help – courtside, with the authority to go where he decided to go.  Still, I think we can all agree that most of us would not have done what he did.  We would have felt sorry for Natalie.  But we probably would not have helped her.

That kind of leadership is rare.  He was busy, it’s an important game, it’s somebody else’s deal, somebody else’s problem.  But… “I just wanted to help her.”

One of the things that organizations like GFN do is to make it easier for each of us to help.  To remove some of the obstacles that prevent us from being our best selves and responding to those in need.  Whether through financial support, volunteering, the donation of food and grocery products or any other kind of assistance.  Just as food banking connects surplus food with those who are hungry, GFN and other charities connect those with the means to help with those who need that help.

Those who know the words with those who have forgotten them.

The trip began in Chennai with a visit to the Chennai Food Bank.  The Lions in Mumbai have indicated an interest in using the Chennai model as the base for the food banks there; I wanted to see firsthand with how that model works. I spent the better part of a day at the food bank learning about its history, its model for collection and distribution, the logistics requirements, and the administrative infrastructure.  I also visited an orphanage served by the food bank.  In this model – A Fistful of Rice – the food bank depends on the public for collections of grains (primarily rice) and funds to purchase grains.  They receive very few commercial donations from the food industry, and make no effort to solicit such donations.  The concept is rooted in an ancient India tradition whereby the individual acts on his/her obligation to support the less fortunate in their community.

In Mumbai, I met with the Lions Clubs Regional Office for India, South Asia, and East Africa.  The three District Governors for District 323 (A1, A2, A3) and several others from the district participated in the meeting.  The meeting began with a briefing on GFN and its work and an overview of the Mumbai project to date.  We discussed a number of operational details at length, with GFN providing information on best practices.  There was unanimous agreement that the project should proceed but that the model should be expanded.  The group agreed that the food bank may begin on the Fistful of Rice model but should be expanded to include extensive partnership building with the food industry to generate donations of surplus and unsalable products.  All around the table committed the time and dedicated “staffing” (volunteer time) to establish and maintain an effective planning process; GFN will provide additional information and documents to aid in that effort.  A follow-up teleconference meeting will focus on framing out the planning process and assigning appropriate sub-committees to effectively move the project forward.

The majority of the trip I was in Delhi / Gurgaon.  I had meetings with Cargill, Bharti Wal-Mart, KPMG, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Operation ASHA, and Aidmatrix India.

The first full day in Delhi involved the meeting with Aidmatrix.  This is the Indian office of a US-based (Dallas) nonprofit foundation that is focused on creating and promulgating technology solutions to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the global service community.  GFN has a Memorandum Of Understanding with Aidmatrix to be our technology partner globally, and we have had a number of meetings with them in India.  Aidmatrix is a relatively new presence in that country, and their primary focus has been on the Corporate Disaster Resource Network (CDRN) project – a joint venture with CSO Partners and National Disaster Management Authority of the Government of India (GOI).    Very recent expansion of the staffing complement has facilitated the expansion of focus beyond CDRN, and the Aidmatrix Team is very focused on working to address food insecurity.

Aidmatrix is very interested in playing a key role as our primary in-country NGO partner to develop and advance the plan for food bank establishment in India.  We discussed extensively the best approach to the planning process, identifying materials and documents to share that will help their fulfillment of that role, and set a general timeframe for implementation.

Aidmatrix had set November 16 for a day-long conference on food insecurity in India prior to our discussion.  We agreed to take advantage of that event to formally launch the Planning Forum – a planning committee comprised of key representatives from the GOI, the business community, and the NGO community.  We had several follow-up discussions and Aidmatrix staff accompanied me on all my visits in Delhi / Gurgaon.  We are focused on some additional transfer of information and on the design of the Planning Forum and the planning process.

The meetings with the corporations went well.  All are very interested in participating with the planning process and seeing the reality of food banking develop in the Delhi / Gurgaon area.

Next Trip:

I plan a return trip November 7 – 21.

There is no school lunch program and only a limited distribution of food for school breakfasts, (primarily milk).  It is generally agreed that 50% of the citizens live well below their “poverty line”, which again is lower than other poor countries that I have visited.

I visited a shelter for homeless men located in a very poor section of Lima.  This shelter offered only the most limited facilities and food.  Many of the men that I saw had very serious health issues.  I also visited one of 5,000 “Mother Clubs”, (similar to the “Communities” we saw in Mexico) that serve Lima’s poor.  Each Club provides a place for the poor to secure a hot meal for an extremely small cost.  Each Club provides service to 150-250 people.  The Shelter and Mother’s Club receive their food from Ciudad de Dios’ Food Bank.  With some development and renovation, this food bank could be equipped to support a medium sized operation.

I am working with our in-country partners to develop a plan for the timely creation of a National Food Bank System and for the development of a model for Community Food Banks throughout Peru.  I have offered assistance as a mentor and counselor.  We can share a number of our documents, (donor pledge, member agreements, national system designs, etc.).  They are very appreciative and want our help.  I believe we can also assist in contacting our Grocery Products partners, (like P&G), coordinate with other Food Banks, (Colombia) and help with discussions with their National Government.

I had a very positive and successful visit to the Bogotá Food Bank.  It was very good to see the progress that they have achieved: racking, signage, 79 employees, a full warehouse and five large trucks, (including a new one that the GFN helped secure with help from P&G).  They have also made significant enhancements to their recordkeeping systems and have been doing a very good job at strategic planning.

During one of our previous visits, I introduced Padre Daniel Saldarriaga to Kellogg Company.  Today the Kellogg CEO is on their Board and Kellogg is their “largest” donor.  They are very grateful to us.

During my visit they had a wonderful community event at the Food Bank.  They received the new (large) truck paid for by the grant from P&G.  The event was covered by the media, we were honored (we received two framed letters of appreciation) and Cardinal Saenz was there to bless the trucks.  He also said many nice words about us and the importance of their GFN Partnership.  Padre Daniel will write a letter that we can forward to P&G and another version of a video that tells their story.  It talks about the GFN and is extremely well done.   This video describes the growth of their food bank today to 79 employees and 687 agencies.

Padre Daniel and the Cardinal have agreed to help us and our new friends in Peru to build the food bank system in Peru.  They will also be able to introduce several Peru business leaders to the work of food banks.  Additionally, Padre Daniel is working with a group of Ecuadorian business leaders who wish to have a food bank operational within a year.  We have been invited to help with this effort.

Regarding the Colombia National System, they have had five meetings since our last visit and are making good progress.

The largest food company in Colombia is Quela SA.  This is the Colombia equivalent to Tiger Brands, SA.  They operate in seven countries and likely should be GFN partners.  They have a product line similar to Unilever.  We will seek a meeting on our next trip and then try to get their CEO to help our friends in Argentina, Guatemala and Mexico.

What a wonderful country this is!!!  I am having a very productive and interesting visit.

After arriving MUCH later than planned (ahh, the joys of airline travel!!!), I was able to get a couple hours sleep before the work day began on Sunday morning.  (Since Friday is the Holy Day, the work week here is Sunday through Thursday.)  I attended the opening event of the 8^th Conference of the Union of Arab Peasants (Farmers).  The conference is a gathering of delegates from all of the Arab countries who are focused on the promotion of agriculture and the development of collaborative agricultural policy throughout the region.  Because of the synergy between food banking and agriculture, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of people with whom we can work to further the development of food banking throughout the region.  This includes the Ministers of Agriculture from Jordan and Syria; the Regional Director of World Food Program (WFP), whose region includes the Middle East, Central Asia, Northern Africa, and Eastern Europe; the Officer-in-Charge of the WFP in Syria, who is interested in talking further with us about food bank development in Syria; and several others.

On Sunday, I met with the leaders of the Jordanian Alliance Against Hunger, which is the founder of the food bank in Jordan.  They had asked me to prepare a 10-15 minute presentation on GFN and the food banking concept for a meeting on Tuesday, but what they did NOT tell me in advance was that the meeting was actually a major press event to formally launch the Jordanian Food Bank!!!  More about that later…

On Monday, we visited with the Jordanian Army’s bakery and biscuit factory.  In Jordan, the Army is very closely involved in civil society – operating schools (separate from the government’s public school system), and operating the country’s school feeding program.  The Army owns a for-profit company than manages 8 bakeries for the production of bread for the soldiers, and also operates a biscuit factory for the production of a multi-brand assortment of biscuits (cookies) which are fortified with various minerals and vitamins.  The biscuits and fruit are distributed to students in grades K – 6 and reach approximately 75% of the children in those grades.  It is a universal feeding program – it is not needs tested.  They are working to reach the remaining 25% of the kids in those grades and may possibly then look to expand the target grade levels.  With the package of biscuits and the fruit provided, the kids are getting the RDA of the most essential vitamins and minerals.  The bakery facilities are quite impressive, and the Army’s sensitivity to the issues in the country is very refreshing and inspiring.  Our CGI project will have a component focused on helping to achieve the desired expansion of the school feeding program.

We then went on to one of the distribution sites that were set up in the past year to serve Iraqi refugees.   The distributions are occurring under the auspices of JOHUD – the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development.  JOHUD contracts local agencies to conduct the distributions with supplies provided by JOHUD.  The new food bank will become the resource for products in the future.

So now to the big event…  This morning we gathered at the Amman Municipal Building with quite a list of dignitaries:

• Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Talal – sister of the late King Hussein and Aunt of the current King Abdullah II
• The Deputy Mayor of Amman – Amer Al Basheer
• The Minister of Agriculture – Said Al-Masri
• Heads of various NGOs, businesses, government agencies
• The media – state TV, private TV, several print media

The event began with an address by the Minister of Agriculture, followed by my address.  Professor Duwayri from the Jordanian Alliance Against Hunger (and a GFN Board Member) gave an overview of the Jordanian Food Bank and its planned activities.  Next was a signing ceremony, wherein Professor Duwayri signed MOUs with three key supporters of the food bank: The City of Amman, the Civil Service Consumer Cooperation, and the General Association for Food Stuff Merchants.  A similar MOU will later be signed with the Jordan Food and Drug Administration.  Finally, Her Royal Highness spoke and was very complimentary of GFN and our role in helping them reach this day.  She publically thanked us and asked that we continue to be engaged in her country, and expressed her desire to see the Jordanian Food Bank achieve membership status in GFN.  She counted us as a great friend to the Jordanian people.

Tomorrow, I visit the Civil Service Consumer Cooperation facilities, a dairy company, and a farm and agriculture training facility operated by JOHUD in the Jordan valley, near the Dead Sea.  I will have lunch with the Ministers of Agriculture from Jordan and Syria.

Thursday, I will visit the food bank warehouse and spend the day with various people involved in running the food bank and planning its further development.  We will dig into the details of operations and administration and will discuss the standards they must reach to pursue membership in GFN – an eventuality that I have no doubt will occur quite soon.

This is a wonderful country with warm, caring people.  I had the pleasure of visiting here in December 2007 with 2 of our Board Members (Eva Clayton and Max Finberg).  We attended and addressed a regional meeting promoting the Alliances to End Hunger.  During that trip, the first talks of the Jordanian Food Bank began to take shape.  In just over a year, they have moved so far – with only indirect support from us.  This is a wonderful example of food banking developing from the planting of a few small seeds!!

And it occurred to me that Sonu, though singular in the attention he received, was far from alone in his tragedy.  Every day, all across India, tens of millions of children start each day at the bottom of a well.  A well of hunger and malnutrition.  And they end each day at the bottom of that same well.  The army is not coming for them.

Who will rescue those children?

One of the fundamental questions of life is just what we will do, having found ourselves alive and self-conscious.  Our life stretches before us, with needs and opportunities.  We observe the state of the world around us and the things that happen as the days and years go by.  We often find ourselves upset or unhappy about what we see.

Whether we feel it or not, the opportunity to accept responsibility and act is always there for us.  It may be difficult to feel that we can change THE world, but we can always change OUR world.  That is, the actions we take and the way that we choose to spend our time and the resources that we have available.

The Global FoodBanking Network was born because of several people with that belief and the will to act, most notably our Founder and President Emeritus Bob Forney.  It depends on the generosity of individuals and organizations like you that have similarly chosen to act.  To do what you can to bring about the change you seek in the world.  Not to wait for someone else or something else to happen.

The past year has been one of remarkable growth and achievement.  The Global FoodBanking Network has helped to launch a national food banking system in South Africa.  We are well on the way to accomplishing this in India as well.  We have helped spur additional growth and capacity in countries like Argentina, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom.  In all of these countries, many more children like Sonu will be fed because of the work that you help us do.  We have a long, long way to go, but with your help we will continue on this road that is wide and bright.

Inside the lunchroom, two young men dice huge piles of carrots donated by an airport vendor. The airport doesn’t donate food on a regular basis. Sister Tabitha must pay regular prices for the foodstuffs to prepare thousands of meals for the orphaned kids. She lamented that she couldn’t cook a traditional meal last week because she couldn’t afford the price of sugar.

Among GFN members, food banks have relationships with their local airports, restaurants, farmers to pick up surplus food. Working with partners on the ground, GFN can undertake a feasibility study of food banking in a given country, share best practices on food sourcing and encourage businesses to donate without negatively impacting their commercial markets.

St. Mary’s campus features a well-equipped, two-story school with classrooms for Levels 1, 2 and 3, a computer room, a medical library, chapel, and student reading room. Sister Tabitha and I briefly interrupted the level 2 class to say a few words. Sister Tabitha challenged the students to do their best and not to limit their dreams because of their difficult circumstances. She beamed with pride in the student library.

At tea time, I met an American doctor and two interns. They work various shifts at St. Mary’s Mission Hospital. They will inquire about me joining them on morning rounds at the 160-bed hospital that treats more than 1,000 outpatients every day.

At dinner, the interns share insights on must-see sites in Kenya, including the Maasai Mara Reserve, the local animal orphanage, safe drinking water, and of course, taking the anti-malaria pills. I’m looking forward to swapping stories, predictions on the NFL playoffs (go Bears and Colts), and sharing meals over the next week.

As I reflect back on the day’s activities, I am satisfied that there’s a divine order. The scratch pad by the telephone was donated by the Lugar Center for Rural Health. I will learn more about Terre Haute, Indiana’s involvement with the hospital and experience the World Social Forum.

Like my mother, Viola used to say, I traveled this far by faith. From Chicago to London and Nairobi, through several time zones, I arrive in Africa as the sun is rising. Two hours later, after my taxi ride includes six stops at overbooked hotels, and I am desperate for a change of clothes and a shower. The Hilton…sold out. The Silver Spring Hotel, Meridian Court…no room at the inn. Leaving the hustle and bustle of Saturday morning shoppers in the Central Business District, the taxidriver, whose father was a Mau Mau, heads 10 km west of the city. We meander through communities dominated by ramshackle stalls selling bananas, cooked foods, and household items. A young girl plays outside a convenience store where the driver stops to ask for directions. A familiar scene replays as Kenyans, young and old, male and female, walk to their destinations while avoiding the ubiquitous speeding minivans driving on the left hand side of the road.

We meander through Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum that is strangely reminiscent of America’s ghettos with no opportunity, no jobs, and little hope. Vendors at roadside stands made of tin roofs advertise their wares. We pause at a huge painted sign on the wall for the craft shop for the local Women’s Prison. Across the street, we’ve reached our final destination. Only a chosen few foreign travelers will visit this blessed area that serves as a beacon of hope for hundreds of orphans and average Kenyans who need excellent medical care at low-cost. A good Samaritan for Kenya’s poor, St. Mary’s Mission Hospital sits atop a hill in O’Tiende village with homes for medical staff and a school. They also have guest homes for travelers like me who haven’t slept in two days.

God Bless Sister Tabitha and her colleagues of this oasis in a sea of hunger and poverty. They are doing God’s work…feeding and clothing the poor, educating orphans, treating the indigent, and serving the less fortunate. Little did I know that by spending this week at the St. Mary’s guest house, my rent will be used to buy food for the orphans.