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SubscribeAttorney General Andy Beshear announced the launch of a statewide competition that challenges Kentucky’s legal community to donate food and funds to aid Kentucky families and children suffering from hunger.
Beshear announced the Legal Food Frenzy campaign at the Capitol Rotunda as part of the Kentucky Association of Food Banks (KAFB) Rally to Solve Hunger.
The competition is a collaborative effort among the Office of the Attorney General, KAFB, Kentucky Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the Office of the Secretary of State.
Beshear said his office and partner organizations launched the campaign to help address the lack of access to enough food that nearly one in six adults and one in five children in Kentucky face.
“My first priority is to protect Kentucky families and children, and each day far too many are struggling to obtain enough food for a healthy, active life,” said Beshear. “The Legal Food Frenzy is an opportunity for the state’s legal community to challenge each other outside the courtroom for the noble cause of reducing hunger.”
Rebecca Schafer, chair of Kentucky Bar Association Young Lawyers Division said the goals of the campaign are to raise 600,000 pounds of food or $150,000 from March 27 to April 7, 2017.
“We are excited to partner with so many great organizations to provide the first statewide hunger relief effort by Kentucky’s legal community,” said Schafer. “The campaign, with the support of attorneys across the Commonwealth, will help bring Kentucky one step closer to ensuring that all of its citizens have access to adequate food.”
Every $1 donated through the competition will return $8 or more in food to the community. Kentucky law firms, law schools and legal organizations are encouraged to sign-up online.
Proceeds and goods generated from the competition will directly aid the members of the KAFB – an organization that distributes over 50 million meals to 1 in 7 Kentuckians annually in partnership with a network of 800 local charitable feeding organizations. Its members serve all 120 counties in Kentucky.
Tamara Sandberg, executive director of KAFB, hosted the rally and said this campaign will help food banks prepare for the increase demand for food assistance during the summer months.
“Only one in 13 school-aged children who receive free and reduced-priced lunch during the school year have access to such meals during the summer months,” said Sandberg. “We are grateful to Kentucky’s legal community for taking action against hunger and helping the food banks go into summer strong and well-stocked to meet the increased demand for food among families with school-aged children.”
The organization or firm that raises the most food and funds will win the Attorney General’s Cup, signifying their accomplishment in aiding hunger-relief in Kentucky.
Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky Bar Association Board of Governors and Kentucky Supreme Court Justices also attended today’s event to support the Legal Food Frenzy and rally.
The Rally to Solve Hunger also included remarks from Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles; Mark Barker, Farm Credit mid-America; Kurt Reiber, chair of the Kentucky Association of Food Banks; and Debbie Fannin with Grayson County Alliance Food Pantry.
To learn more about the Legal Food Frenzy and view a complete list of competition rules and award categories, visit http://kyfoodfrenzy.com.
Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes on Tuesday urged lawmakers to renew a Kentucky law that provides tax incentives to Kentucky farmers who donate to food banks. Grimes was a prominent backer of legislation creating the incentives.
“Kentucky farmers grow some of the best agricultural products in the country and the world,” said Grimes. “And knowing that as many as one in six Kentuckians is impacted by lack of food, the Farms to Food Banks tax credits for farmers who donate to Kentucky food banks are more important than ever. We should not only renew the credits, but increase their value.”
Grimes is joining Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles in lobbying the legislature for the renewal of the tax credits that House Bill 141 created in 2013. The Kentucky Nonprofit Network recognized Grimes for her work on the legislation last year.
Joining other Kentucky constitutional officers and legislators, Grimes also announced at the rally that her office will launch a Commonwealth of Kentucky Bowl food drive this fall. The drive will be held amongst Kentucky businesses and community organizations to help food banks at an important time of need – just before the holidays.
“One in four Kentucky children don’t always know where their next meal will come from,” said Grimes. “We have to do better. That’s why I will be calling on the more than 200,000 businesses that make up the Commonwealth’s business community to help us feed the children and their families this holiday season.”
Grimes is partnering with the Kentucky Association of Food Banks, which hosted Tuesday’s rally, for the bowl. She is challenging local chambers of commerce to participate by coordinating donations with their members.
Grimes has been a champion for solving Kentucky’s hunger issues since she took office in 2012 and before she was elected to public office. She is a longtime volunteer at the Salvation Army, serving the Thanksgiving meal at her local service center every year. She also has served on the board of God’s Pantry Food Bank in Lexington.
At the rally, Grimes thanked the farmers who participate in the tax credit program and Kentucky’s food banks for their tireless work to help eradicate hunger and food insecurity in the Commonwealth.
“Scripture calls us to help feed those who are hungry. Every Kentuckian that doesn’t worry about when they will eat their next meal or how they will feed their family has a role to play in ensuring no other citizen of this Commonwealth has those worries,” said Grimes.
Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles led a meeting of advocates for the hungry and local leaders to learn what is being done at the local level to combat food insecurity in the Louisville area Tuesday at the Dare to Care Food Bank on Fern Valley Road.
“These regional meetings will give the Kentucky Hunger Task Force a clearer picture of the need as well as actions being taken locally to meet the need,” Commissioner Quarles said. “With this information, the task force can develop measurable, attainable goals for reducing hunger in Kentucky and a plan of action to achieve those goals.”
Dare to Care reported that 156,570 food-insecure individuals live in the eight Kentucky counties that it serves. Dare to Care distributed 14.2 million meals to Kentucky clients in its most recent fiscal year, including 70,000 backpacks of food to 1,760 students in 29 Kentucky schools and 260,000 hot Kids Café meals. Map the Meal Gap, an annual study by Feeding America, found that 17 percent of the population of Kentucky – or 1 out of every 6 Kentuckians – is food insecure.
The Hunger Task Force is part of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Hunger Initiative, a first-of-its-kind effort to alleviate food insecurity in Kentucky. The objectives of the Hunger Task Force are to study the sources of hunger, identify the unique issues that affect different regions of the Commonwealth, and take an inventory of resources that can be brought to bear against the hunger problem in Kentucky.
The task force is holding a series of regional meetings throughout the state to hear from volunteers fighting hunger at the local level. Meetings are scheduled for Sept. 19 in Elizabethtown and Sept. 28 in Pikeville.
For more information about the Hunger Initiative and the Hunger Task Force, visit kyagr.com/hunger.
