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We donated nearly $50,000 to local food banks with funds raised during National Family Meals Month. (pictured left to right) John Sillars, Chief Strategy Officer, Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana; Marc Ardoin, Store Director, Rouses Markets, Airline in Metairie; Emily Slazer, Director of Food Sourcing, Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana; April Sins, registered dietitian nutritionist, Rouses Markets.

Right: Lavern Sewell and Peggy Lyles. Photo by Elizabeth Gelineau.

grassroots driven,” says Jayroe. All the network’s big ideas and programs come from the field, and for things that can be replicated, Second Harvest and its myriad nationwide analogues facilitate the sharing of best practices, without restricting affiliate independence. “We have a saying in our world,” Jayroe says. “You see one food bank, you’ve seen one food bank.” Second Harvest’s response to Ida or Laura is necessarily much different from what food banks in California, responding to the wildfires, are up against. Even locally, the needs of Lake Charles and New Orleans, rural and urban, are entirely different. To that end, Second Harvest works with the emergency management departments across its 23 civil parishes. During times of crisis, it coordinates its relief efforts with the Salvation Army and other aid organi zations. “We really work well together. We hear about needs and we divide up r esponsibilities so we’re not duplicating efforts, or sending all the food to the same place when so many other neighbors need some help as well.” Near the entrance of the facility, Jayroe and I come to a staging area with long stain less-steel tables. About 25 volunteers, mostly high school or college age, are moving quickly, sorting, filling and weighing bags of cereal. They are moving to the beat of a song playing on a sound system. “I can always tell

the age of the volunteers by the soundtrack,” Jayroe says with a laugh. By the end of the day, they will have packed tens of thousands of pounds of food — finding out exactly how much is part of the fun. A member of the Second Harvest team will reveal the number before they go. “When you volunteer here, you really feel like you’ve accomplished something.” Elsewhere, another 25 volun teers are working in a kitchen to prepare hot lunches for the community. “A lot of them are regulars. Many are retired, but some are school kids. They’re from all walks of life. They’re very different from each other, but they come together and they pack meals for seniors or meals for kids. And they have fun doing it.” That spirit, says Jayroe, is why Second Harvest succeeds. It is a conduit for the community’s generosity. “Caring is so important. When you start to divide from each other, you forget that this is us — that we’re all the same. One of the things at Second Harvest we try to do is break down those barriers. One out of seven people at risk for hunger? That means you know these folks. You know the seniors using the food banks. You know the kids that go to school without a healthy breakfast. You know them. We try to kind of break down that division between people, because once you do that, then it just becomes one community helping each other.”

HUNGER RELIEF ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Hunger relief has been at the heart of our community commitment since our first store opened in 1960. Our supplier partners like Molson Coors help us meet the needs of our local food banks throughout the year.

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