An apology from our staff

A recent City article
has created understandable concern among readers and non-profit organizations.

            In our
cover article “Need to Feed,” published February 18 and placed on our website
that week, we included several quotes containing false statements and unfair
accusations about local non-profit groups that distribute food to the needy.

            Those
statements should not have appeared in the article, and publishing them was a
serious violation of journalistic ethics. As this week’s letter from FOODLINK’S
Jaime Wemett Saunders notes, volunteers at food
cupboards and other food distributors make an enormous contribution to the
Greater Rochester community and its neediest residents.

            In
addition, the article contained several factual errors. The UPS Foundation has
contributed $25,000 to Friends Helping Friends, not $20,000 as we stated. And FHF’s distribution hours were stated incorrectly. The
correct hours: noon on Tuesdays at 367 Lyell Avenue,
2 p.m. on Sundays at the Friends Meeting House, 84 Scio Street.

            The
publishers and editorial staff of City apologize
to area non-profit organizations, FOODLINK, and our readers for these errors. Letters
related to the article follow.

‘Hunger is

only a symptom’

It is with great
interest that I read Frank De Blase’s article “Need
to Feed: Andrew Stankevich Puts a Dent in Local
Hunger” (February 18). As one of the founding members of Rochester Food Not
Bombs in 1998, which has since grown to become Friends Helping Friends, I was
quite disappointed with several of the statements made about the anti-hunger
and emergency food network of this community.

            Presently,
I work for the regional food bank FOODLINK, which has been supplying resources,
both food and funds, to the emergency food network for over 27 years. FOODLINK
rescues and redistributes over 7 million pounds of food annually to a network
of over 550 human service providers in a 10 county area — namely, food
pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, Kids Cafes, day care centers, group homes,
and senior centers. We are part of the national network of food banks of America’s
Second Harvest.

            The
February 18 article portrayed FHF efforts as something new and more effective
than other programs in the community. In truth, FHF is one of over a hundred organizations
of dedicated people who have contributed to the emergency food network that is
vast, sophisticated, caring, and most definitely “real.”

            This
network is built upon hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours, committed food
donors, and community members who are dedicated to ensuring that all people
have access to food within our community. This effort requires a coordinated
foundation of effective services, reducing duplication, maintaining food
safety, and addressing chronic dependence. The ultimate goal is to provide
people with opportunities for dignity to make it on their own, not to rely on
perpetual charity.

            The
volunteers and program workers of the 180 emergency food providers in this area
work day in and day out to service the needs of our most vulnerable. They feed
the hungry, find shelter for those without, care for the sick, educate our
children, comfort the lonely, assist the differently abled,
provide services to those battling mental illness, teach job skills to help
people find work, support individuals fighting addiction, feed families
suffering from the most recent job layoffs, and lend an ear to voices not
generally heard. These thankless tasks are quite far from the posture of
laziness mentioned in the article.

            The
emergency food network works because of its extreme diversity of programs to
meet the length and level of needs of individuals. The effective partnership of
public, private, non-profit, faith-based, and secular organizations creates a
web of services that is exemplary. It is not a system of bureaucratic red tape
and exclusion, but a network of responsible care that attempts to get to know
the underlying reasons that brought a person to the food line in the first
place.

            We have
much to be proud of, and yes, we have much work to do. People do fall through
the cracks, resources are dwindling, programs are expected to do much more with
much less, and some programs act in a separate and divisive manner. As a
community, we cannot afford to work separately as times are more turbulent and
social problems are more complicated to resolve. We do not need another
emergency food cupboard; we need a comprehensive and coordinated approach to
channel all of these great efforts into addressing community needs in a
holistic manner.

            Recent
initiatives for coordination include the Community
Standards adopted by dozens of human service agencies (download a copy from
our website at www.foodlinkny.org). The Community Standards are guidelines
created by community providers to define the basic efforts for an emergency
provider in this community to practice good stewardship and effectively work
with other member programs. The emergency network is close to finishing the
newly updated Hunger and Homeless Service
Guide that lists comprehensive services in our area. Newly launched on the
FOODLINK website are electronic discussion boards and a community calendar for
agencies to list their emergency services, trainings, and outreach efforts for
easy access by referral agencies.

            Hunger is
only a symptom of a much greater problem in a person’s life. It is only through
partnership that we can collectively work for the better health of our
community as a whole by addressing the root causes of hunger, not just offering
temporary Band-Aids. Together we must work smarter to carve out the type of
community we feel most proud to call home. We must not be divided but instead
pool our collective resources, talents and histories to achieve what we cannot
otherwise do alone. The answers may not be clear, but it is important to keep
asking questions and to keep trying.

            Anyone can
give away free food. It is the notion of what you do after a person comes to
your door that makes all the difference.

            Jaime Wemett
Saunders, vice president of operations, FOODLINK

‘FHF values

other food cupboards’

I enjoyed reading Frank DeBlase’s
story on Friends Helping Friends (February 18), but I wanted to make a couple
of clarifications of statements attributed to me and Friends Helping Friends.

            Speaking
rapidly during the interview, I made statements that I did not mean. Neither I
nor anyone else within Friends Helping Friends feels that other food cupboards
are lazy or that the food-cupboard system is corrupt. One of the greatest
sources of support, inspiration, and encouragement for FHF has always been
other food cupboards and human-service providers in Monroe County.

            We enjoy
the camaraderie we share with other human-service providers and look forward to
being part of a unified team focused on utilizing community resources to
eliminate hunger and waste in Monroe County.

            Although
Friends Helping Friends specializes in receiving and redistributing mass
quantities of perishable groceries to low-income people, FHF’s
Community Food Distribution Program is one of the many programs in Monroe
County that distribute free perishable and non-perishable groceries.

            Furthermore,
Friends Helping Friends does not feel that Lyell
Avenue is bleak or war-torn or that any of our neighbors have run-down
establishments. FHF feels that the Lyell Avenue
community is a vibrant area that we are happy to work in. FHF looks forward to
working with our many neighbors that have been in the area much longer than we
have. Friends Helping Friends is in the process of installing a mural on the Lyell Avenue side of our location through funding from
Citibank, the City of Rochester, and the Arts and Cultural Council to further
beautify Lyell Avenue.

            Regarding FHF actual and potential funders:
The UPS Foundation donated $25,000; the Starbucks Foundation has not formally
committed to funding Friends Helping Friends’ fledgling “Express
Yourself” Project. FHF hopes Starbucks will provide funding for its
Express Yourself Project for less than $20,000 later in 2004.

            Friends
Helping Friends’ Community Food Distribution program distributes groceries at
noon on Tuesdays at 367 Lyell Avenue and at 2 p.m.
Sundays at the Friends Meeting House, 84 Scio Street. A Community Food
Distribution volunteer distributes numbers for a place in line starting at noon
on Sundays; no number system is used on Tuesdays. People wishing to receiving
free groceries can show up at these locations at the listed times; no
identification is required; the CFDP encourages program recipients to bring
their own bags.

            Much needed
donations can be sent to Friends Helping Friends, PO Box 39618, Rochester
14604; make checks payable to Friends Helping Friends. Contact Friends Helping
Friends at (585) 254-5490, fax: (585) 254-9218, e-mail: fhf2004@hotmail.com.

            Andrew Stankevich,
program director, Friends Helping Friends

            Editor’s note: The description of Lyell Avenue was our writer’s, not Stankevich’s.

This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2004.