Food & Nutrition [Volume 21, Number 1-2]

              Food ·&Nutrition •••• ~ • • ::.1:
SEPTEMBER 1991 VOLUME 21 NUMBERS 1-2
NOV 2 2 1991
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
''We all have
something to give ... "
On a cold night in January when thoughts were turned to the men and
women serving in the Middle East, President Bush urged the American
people in his State of the Union address to remember that there are many
ways they can serve their country at home.
"America has always led by example," he said. "So who among us will
set this example? Which of our citizens will lead us in this next American
century?"
He answered: "Everyone who steps forward today-to get one addict off
drugs, to convince one troubled teenager not to give up on life, to comfort
one AIDS patient, to help one hungry child ....
"The problems before us may be different," he added a few moments later
in his speech, "but the key to solving them remains the same. It is the
individual-the individual who steps forward. And the state of our Union is
the union of each of us, one to the other-the sum of our friendships,
marriages, families, and communities .... "
This issue of Food and Nutrition is about people who step forward. In
a variety of articles from around the country, we look at some of the ways
Americans are using their time, talent, and energy to go the extra
mile in service to others-particularly to people needing
food assistance.
Some of our features are about
volunteers, working in unusual as well
as traditional ways. Others are about
people who through extra on-the-job
efforts are making a difference in the
quality of service their agencies provide.
Still others are about business and
community leaders who have gone out of
their way to explore some long-term solutions
to problems facing families in crisis.
All of these people-and the many more we
learned about but couldn't feature-bring a special
enthusiasm to what they do. They also share a sense
that individuals can make a difference.
"We all have something to give," President Bush said in
his State of the Union message. "So if you know how to
read, find someone who can't. If you've got a hammer, find
a nail. If you're not hungry, not lonely, not in trouble, seek out
someone who is .... "
2
" ... So if you know how
to read, find someone
who can't. If you've
got a hammer, find a
nail. If you're not
hungry, not lonely, not
in trouble, seek out
someone who is ... "
Food and Nutrition
U.S. DEPOSITORY
PROPERTY OF THE LIBRARY
NOV 2 2 1991
University of North Carolina
at Greensboro
September 1991
Making life better for others ...
Volunteers Step
Forward ... And Make
A Difference
More and more Americans are
volunteering their time to help their
neighbors. According to a recent
Independent Sector/Gallup survey,
in 1989 more than 98 million Ameri­cans-
up 23 percent from 1987-
volunteered their services to chari­table
endeavors. Together they con­tributed
more than 20 billion hours of
time valued at $170 billion!
Betty Jo Nelsen, administrator of
the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS),
the USDA agency with responsibility
for the federal food assistance pro­grams,
sees volunteering as part of
the very fabric of American life.
"Volunteerism is a unique charac­teristic
of our society," she says.
"No other country offers service to
others the way we do. It's part of our
heritage, part of our culture."
French statesman and political
philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville
was struck by the generosity of
American people more than 150
years ago.
After visiting America in 1831 , he
wrote "Democracy in America," a
comprehensive, classic treatise on
the functioning of democracy. In it
he says, "I have often seen Ameri­cans
make really great sacrifices for
the common good, and I have no-
Many FNS employees volunteer. Pictured
here, from the Northeast region, are:
James Burton, at a party for the elderly
at Boston's Eva White Residence; Susan
Wadden and Pamela Farwell, packing toys
for children; and Marguerita Cora, serv­ing
Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless.
ticed a hundred cases in which,
when help was needed, they hardly
ever failed to give each other trusty
support."
Nelsen observes, "As new immi­grants
come to this country, they
adopt this part of the culture that is
truly American in nature. And it's
critical-the country couldn't make it
without people helping people."
"Volunteers humanize
problem solving ... "
Like President Bush, Nelsen be­lieves
that government programs
alone-no matter how effective­cannot
address all the problems
people face. Churches, organiza­tions,
advocacy groups, and indi­viduals
at the local level must play
a vital role. "And," she says, "volun­teers
humanize problem solving."
While volunteer service clearly
has a profound effect on others, she
adds, it also has an impact on the
volunteer. "In fact," says Nelsen,
"volunteers gain as much as-and
sometimes more than-the people
they're helping."
Along with the satisfaction of help­ing
another person and the recogni­tion
a volunteer may get for providing
that help, volunteering can also offer
opportunities for personal growth.
Many activities allow volunteers to
display or develop leadership and or­ganizational
skills or to utiliz~ artistic
and athletic abilities. In addition,
Nelsen points out that volunteer work
can be an excellent way to offset an
3
unsatisfying job or even launch a
new career.
"If you're in a job that doesn't in­terest
you," she suggests, "look for a
volunteer job that does. You may
gain the experience you need to ap­ply
for a more exciting position."
Nelsen, who has a background in
nutrition and served as a Wisconsin
state legislator from 1979 to 1989,
credits her own volunteer experience
with preparing her to manage the
Food and Nutrition Service. As a vol­unteer
for the Milwaukee Department
of Public Welfare 23 years ago, she
worked with both that agency's em­ployees
and clients.
She helped welfare clients fix up
their homes and counseled them on
budgeting resources. She set up a
child care center, staffed by volun­teers,
for clients to use while they
4
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) adminis­trator
Betty Jo Nelsen is pictured here
du ring a visit to a Minneapolis WIC clinic.
Nelsen, who has a background in nutrition
and served as a Wisconsin state legislator
from 1979 to 1989, says her volunteer exper­ience
helped prepare her to manage FNS.
applied for benefits. She also taught
juveniles in the correction system
about nutrition.
Through these volunteer experi­ences,
Nelsen learned about the
people on welfare, as well as the
services the government provides,
and how clients can make the most
of them.
She says, "I wouldn't have this job
today if I hadn't been a volunteer. I
got to know the welfare system
through my volunteer work."
Later, Nelsen worked as coordina­tor
of corporate volunteers. Her job
was to convince corporate managers
to create volunteering teams-like
they do bowling teams. Companies
began by setting up steering com­mittees,
which Nelsen worked with
to recruit volunteers, choose
projects, and plan recognition
events.
"Volunteerism is a
unique characteristic
of our society. No
other country offers
service to others the
way we do. It's part of
our heritage, part of
our culture."
One of many ways
to get involved
While many people continue to
get involved in volunteer service
through the traditional avenues of
churches and synagogues, volunteer
action agencies like the Red Cross,
and their children's activities, more
and more are getting involved
through the workplace. People who
work with Betty Jo Nelsen at FNS
and in other USDA agencies are no
exception.
Each year, USDA employees con­tribute
generously to fundraising
drives like the Combined Federal
Campaign and United Way. They
also participate regularly in Red
Cross blood donor programs; organ­ize
and contribute to charitable
efforts providing food, clothes, and
toys to needy families; and help with
a variety of community-based activi­ties
sponsored by USDA.
One favorite community project is
helping Washington-area children at
Van Ness Elementary School, which
USDA "adopted" almost 8 years ago
under the "Partnership in Education"
program.
Through the program, individual
employees volunteer their services to
support and enhance many areas of
school life. Volunteer activities­including
everything from tutoring
Food and Nutrition
students to organizing field trips and
raising money to send kids to sum­mer
camp-are aimed at helping
prepare these children for the future.
Tom O'Connell, a food program
specialist with the Food Stamp Pro­gram,
is an enthusiastic rookie volun­teer
at Van Ness. "I think the kids are
better off simply because someone
is spending time with them one-on­one,"
he says. "The teacher is glad I
come, and the kids are glad to see
me. I look forward to Tuesday morn­ings
at Van Ness."
Each week O'Connell drives from
his office in Alexandria, Virginia, to
the school, located on a major Wash­ington,
D.C. thoroughfare in a low­income
area. The inner-city school is
surrounded by a paved parking lot
and playground; military installations;
and a diverse assortment of apart­ment
buildings, town houses, and
public housing units both occupied
and under renovation. The U.S.
Capitol is its backdrop.
"When I arrive, the neighborhood
is quiet and peaceful," O'Connell
says. "It reflects the quiet halls and
well -disciplined environment inside
the school."
Reinforcing what
kids are learning
O'Connell is assigned to one
classroom and does whatever the
teacher requests during his 2-hour
stay. He has been working with the
same two bright, energetic third­grade
boys all year, usually reinforc­ing
arithmetic and reading lessons.
"I recommend tutoring at Van
Ness for people who like to be
around kids and whose supervisors
will give them full support," he says.
"For me, this experience enhances
my FNS career. I get to step into a
different world and see different
interactions."
Emma Ward, also a food program
specialist in the Food Stamp Pro­gram,
is a 6-year veteran tutor at Van
Ness. She places a great value on
education because, she says, "if you
have an education, you have choices
in life."
In tutoring math and reading, Ward
has found the children eager to ab-
September 1991
Tom O'Connell, a food program specialist
with the Food Stamp Program, is a volu n­teer
tutor at Washington, D. C.'s Van Ness
Elementary School. Every Tuesday morn­ing,
O'Connell spends 2 hours working one­on-
one with studen ts to reinforce what
they are learning in their classroom.
5
Organizing and leading field trips is an­other
way USDA volunteers contribute to
school life at Van Ness. Here Emma Ward,
a 6-year veteran tutor, takes a group of
enthusiastic youngsters to the Smithson­ian's
Museum of Natural History, a few
blocks west of the U.S. Capitol.
sorb what she teaches them. "In
some instances, all the children
need is a little individual attention to
provide some links in the learning
chain they may have missed along
the way."
Ward reinforces their learning
through praise and positive state­ments.
One of her favorite children's
stories is "The Little Engine That
Could." The engine keeps telling it­self
"I think I can, I think I can" until it
finally says "I know I can." "That's
what I want the children to realize,"
Ward says.
Van Ness' principal, Cassandra
Butler, greatly appreciates the assis­tance
of the volunteers. HePem-
6
phatic one-word description says it
all: "Invaluable!"
U.S. troops also
say thanks ...
In another volunteer project, Mary
Morris, lead secretary of FNS' public
information staff, spearheaded an
ambitious effort to support military
men and women serving in Operation
Desert Shield in the Persian Gulf.
"We started out last September
suggesting that employees write let­ters
to U.S. service men and women
in Saudi Arabia," she explains. Then
she learned from relatives of service
people that the troops were starving
for mail and reading materials.
That was all the motivation Morris
needed to launch an all-out cam­paign.
She organized a lunchtime
letter writing session at headquar­ters.
She and fellow employees do­nated
paper, envelopes, humorous
stickers, and stamps. Morris also
supplied addresses for "Any Service
Member" in each of the military
branches along with addresses of
relatives and friends of FNS employ­ees
stationed in Saudi Arqbia.
Almost immediately, people be­gan
receiving appreciative responses
from new pen pals.
(continued on page 8}
Food and Nutrition
An Anniversary Celebration
In The Northeast Becomes
A Helping Tradition
Inspired by President Bush's call
to volunteerism, employees of the
Food and Nutrition Service's North­east
Regional Office (NERO) decided
to celebrate FNS' 20th Anniversary
in 1989 by going out into the com­munity
and helping. Two years later,
they're still celebrating!
NERO staff came up with the idea
of having their own "1 ,000 Points of
Light" volunteer initiative in May
1989. They began by contacting
local community groups and institu­tions
needing volunteers, then
organized teams of regional office
volunteers and began scheduling
activities.
One of their first activities was
serving dinner at Boston'~ Pine
Street Inn, the largest homeless shel­ter
in New England. They also spent
an evening at the Boston Food Bank,
sorting through packages of donated
foods, salvaging more than 11 ,000
pounds of food worth approximately
$8,100 for distribution to the needy.
Trying their hand at catering, they
prepared and served a spaghetti din­ner
to elderly residents of the Boston
Housing Authority's Eva White Resi­dence.
And for children, they helped
organize and run Massachusetts'
Special Olympics.
Enthusiastic volunteers
recruited co-workers
After each activity, NERO volun­teers
returned to the office beaming,
telling stories about their work and
what a good time they'd had, andre­cruiting
their co-workers.
"More and more people were vol­unteering
for each subsequent activ­ity,"
says Brooksie Spears, a regional
office employee active in the volun-teer
effort. "Everybody came away
feeling good about themselves be­cause
they had volunteered, and
good about the experience because
it was fun."
The volunteer efforts organized as
part of the 20th Anniversary celebra­tion
were so successful that the re­gional
office established a standing
"1 ,000 Points of Light Committee."
The committee seeks out and organ­izes
volunteer opportunities and ral­lies
employees to participate. Its
goal is to get employees out, in
force, to work in the community.
These activities have included
planting seedlings at an inner-city
park; hosting a "nutritious and deli­cious"
party for the elderly, using
FNS nutrition expertise in preparing
FNS regional and field office staff in the
Northeast have organized and taken part in
a variety of volunteer activities, includ-ing
sorting food at the Boston Food Bank
(left) and serving Thanksgiving dinner to
homeless people (right) at the New York
City field office.
7
and sharing recipes for healthful
desserts; participating in the
Boston Walk for Hunger; and
many others.
"There is a great
team spirit..."
Besides providing a service
to the community, the group ac­tivities
have other benefits as
well, according to regional ad­ministrator
Harry Mclean.
"Directors, supervisors, tech­nicians,
and secretaries go out
as a team and work together at
the same level," he says. "I
think more than a few people
are surprised to have their boss
working side by side with them,
say, for example, sorting cans at
the food bank.
"Working closely together on
something so worthwhile forges
a certain bond or understanding
between people. You gain a
new respect and appreciation
for one another."
The volunteer activities have
had a noticeable effect on mo­rale
in the office, Mclean says.
"Everyone works as a group and
shares as a group the special
feeling that comes from doing
something good. There is a
great team spirit that comes
from volunteering together, and
this definitely carries over into
the office."
Spears, who co-chairs the
"1 ,000 Points of Light" commit­tee,
believes the benefits of
team volunteer activities are im­measurable.
"In volunteering, em­ployees
are accomplishing anum­ber
of things," she says, "not the
least of which is helping their neigh­bors.
But their work also reflects
well on themselves, FNS, and the
government in general. It certainly
counters the image of uncaring and
impersonal bureaucrats.
"And," she adds, "one of the
best things is that since most of the
volunteer work is with poor people,
it personalizes what we are doing in
our jobs-it puts it on a more hu­man
level. When you have an ex­perience
like that, you become
more sensitive to the importance of
your work and are more motivated
in it."
For more information, contact:
Brooksie Spears, Co-chair
NERO Points of Light Committee
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
1 0 Causeway Street
Boston, Massachusetts
02222-1068
Telephone: (617) 565-6490
NERO article by Marty Boner
photos by NERO staff
Brooksie Spears, co-chair of the North­east
region's Points of Light Committee
(front row, far right), and other vol­unteers
gather in front of Pine Street
Inn after serving dinner to homeless
people living there.
An extra push
for the holidays
Morris and other FNS employees
then wondered how they could make
the December holidays more enjoy­able
for the troops. "Of course, we
thought of food," she remembers,
"especially after asking the opinion of
an official from the USO."
They renamed the project "Opera­tion
Des(s)ert Shield," and solicited
volunteers to bake cookies and con­tribute
recipes for others to use.
Then members of the "cookie com­mittee"
scheduled three sessions for
volunteers to package the cookies
for overseas mailing.
"The response was really impres­sive,"
Morris says. "More than 50
employees came in during lunch and
wrapped up all the baked goodies.
We baked and mailed more than 240
pounds of cookies-22 boxes
worth!"
Again, letters of appreciation came
quickly. The troops loved the cook­ies
and were clearly touched by the
caring and effort of supportive
strangers.
Morris' commitment did not end
there. She maintained a bulletin
board so that all FNS employees
could share the thanks and news
from our service men and women.
She assembled a "Des(s)ert Shield
Cook(ie) Book" and distributed it to
interested FNS employees.
She also stayed in close touch
with FNS employees who had family
members and friends stationed in the
Gulf, offering steady interest and
support.
Special initiative
honors volunteers
Betty Jo Nelsen enthusiastically
supports volunteer activities at FNS.
The agency's field and regional staff,
like their colleagues in the national
office, have put together and taken
part in many interesting activities.
"I'm impressed by the many extra
responsibilities employees have as­sumed
and by the projects they have
generated," she says. "I've seen
great leadership from the employees
who organized these efforts and
great responsiveness and caring from
the many others who contributed."
Food and Nutrition
Recognizing responsive and car­ing
acts of volunteers is one of the
goals of President Bush's ongoing
"Points of Light" initiative.
The initiative, which the President
announced early in his administra­tion,
is designed to help the Ameri­can
people become more aware of
simple, appealing volunteer opportu­nities
and to encourage them to
serve others with whatever means
and skills they have available.
Every day, except for Sundays
and holidays, the White House an­nounces
the name of an individual or
group who has been chosen as a
new "Point of Light." By the end of
this summer, more than 500 "Points
of Light" had been named through­out
the country.
Another part of the initiative in­volves
encouraging cabinet depart­ments
and agencies to become
model community service institu­tions-
with projects like the partner­ship
with Van Ness-and to recog­nize
federal employees who make
volunteering part of their lives.
September 1991
Responding to the President's
lead, USDA developed its own Points
of Light initiative in March 1990.
Like the national initiative, the
Department's effort is designed to
encourage voluntary service, help
identify opportunities to serve, and
honor employees for their individual
contributions.
By March 1 this year, nearly 350
USDA employees had received per­sonal
letters from the Secretary of
Agriculture. "I am proud of the ex­ceptional
individuals who are part of
our community at the Department of
Agriculture," former Secretary of Ag­riculture
Clayton Yeutter said in a let­ter
to Emma Ward in August 1990,
thanking her for her volunteer work at
Van Ness. "Through your efforts," he
added, "life for many has been made
better."
Other Food and Nutrition Service
employees have been cited for
services that include, among other
things, providing emergency food
help to families; helping with hospice
care for terminally ill patients; work-
"I'm impressed by
the many extra·respon- _
sibilities employees
have assumed and by
the projects they have
generated. I've seen
great leadership from
the employees who
organized these efforts
and great responsive­ness
and caring from
the many others who
contributed."
Eager to support U.S. troops in the Middle
East, many FNS employees offered to write
letters and bake cookies to send overseas.
At FNS headquarters, Mary Morris spearhead­ed
an ambitious months-long effort. She is
shown here with other FNS volunteers writ­ing
letters (she is on the right), pack-ing
baked goods for "Operation Des(s)ert
Shield," and getting a surprise thank-you
hug from a visiting serviceman.
9
ing on wildlife conservation and
preservation projects; and providing
financial counseling to families
through a state Extension office.
Serving at work
and at home
Betty Jo Nelsen applauds all the
FNS volunteers. "I'm very proud of
FNS employees and their partners in
state and local agencies," she says.
"These folks are not only devoting
their careers to helping people
through the food programs but are
also continuing to serve their com­munities
on their own time."
Nelsen encourages more employ­ees
to join their colleagues in becom­ing
part of the solution to problems
they see around them. She quotes a
line from President Bush's State of
the Union message: "What govern­ment
can do alone is limited, but the
potential of the American people
knows no limits."
article by Debbie Massey
photos by Pam Faith and
other FNS staff
,. . ,
10
Left: In the Midwest, a committee of vol­unteers
put together six care packages to
send to friends and relatives of FNS staff
serving in the Gulf Lisa Bauer (fore­ground)
and Trish Salls headed the commit­tee.
Center: These two women were two
of the 11 homeless guests who enjoyed the
Thanksgiving meal prepared and served
by FNS' New York City field office staff
Above: Mike Mcilwain, from FNS' South­west
regional office, was also busy pre­paring
Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd.
He helped cook and serve 1,100 holiday
meals to needy people in Marion, Indiana.
Food and Nutrition
Offering homeless people "a hand up" ...
Days Inns -Reaches
Out With A Chance
To Start Over
In a large room dotted with com­puter
terminals, agents are busy
booking reservations. An observer
would never know that some of the
workers in this hub of activity are
making the long struggle back from
homelessness.
The place is Days Inns corporate
headquarters in Atlanta, where com­pany
executives have spearheaded
a recruitment program to hire home­less
adults who are capable of work­ing.
The effort-sparked by one fran­chise
owner's volunteer work at a
shelter for the homeless in his com­munity-
has made Days Inns a
leader in offering long-term solutions
to people needing to rebuild their
lives.
Around the country, people work­ing
with private social service agen­cies
and public assistance pro­grams-
like food stamps and AFDC
(Aid to Families with Dependent Chil­dren)-
are looking for ways to in­crease
training and employment op­portunities
for their clients.
What Days Inns is doing to recruit,
train, and, in some instances, offer
housing to the homeless may be a
source of inspiration and ideas for
individuals, organizations, and busi­nesses
interested in helping in
similar ways.
Visit to shelter
sparked idea
The program got its start in early
1988 when Days Inns franchise
owner Bill Hodges invited the then­president
of Days Inns, Mike Levin,
to a job fair at the shelter where
Hodges was a volunteer. According
September 1991
to Shira Miller, Days Inns community
relations coordinator, the visit was an
eye-opener for Levin and the other
Days Inns representatives who ac­companied
him. What they expected
and what they saw were very differ­ent
things.
"When our staff went to the shel-ter,"
she explains, "they had precon­ceived
notions about the homeless
as people who wanted to be that
way. They found that most of the
people were there due to unfortunate
circumstances-either they were
sick, or they'd lost their jobs, or they
couldn 't pay the rent for some other
reason like that."
The experience prompted Levin,
Hodges, and Vice President of Hu­man
Resources Richard Smith to do
more than offer a handout. They
wanted to give these people a hand
up. Since little had been done in the
area of hiring the homeless, the trio
set out on uncharted waters. The
course they set was not without
Days Inns president fohn Snodgrass stops by
to say hello to Carol Thompson, a once home­less
woman who joined the company 2 years
ago as a general reservation agent.
11
"This is the way the
private sector can re­ally
make a difference ...
by giving jobs to these
people so they can re­build
their lives."
stormy weather. Of the first three
employees hired under the pilot pro­gram,
one left, two were fired. "We
learned along the way," Smith says.
One group that was especially
helpful was staff at the Achor Center,
a shelter and job training facility that
provides a variety of rehabilitative
services to hom~less women and
children. In addition to referring
potential employees from the women
they serve at Achor, they also taught
Days Inns recruiters techniques for
screening possible hires.
"They taught us what to look for,"
says Miller. "Even though some
people desire to work, they aren't ca­pable
of handling the job. Most of
our employees are reservations sales
agents. They are taking calls, so they
have to be able to communicate."
"These are very
good employees"
While the Achor Center strongly
supported Days Inns' efforts, the
program was not without its share of
nay sayers. "We heard things like 'It
will never work' and 'You need to
do a lot of research before you make
a commitment,"' says Richard Smith.
"People told us it wouldn't be worth
our time and trouble and that the
homeless would be undesirable
employees.
"It does take a little more work and
a little more commitment on the part
of the employer," he adds, "and
more management until the person is
comfortable. Then he or she is just
like any other employee. So it is
worth the time and trouble."
12
Although Days Inns executives are
proud to be helping people in need,
Smith is quick to point out that Days
Inns also benefits from the recruit­ment
effort. "This is a business," he
says. "The overwhelming majority of
people think we're doing something
very charitable, but there's nothing
charitable about it. These are very
good employees."
Most of the homeless people Days
Inns has hired have been referred by
staff at the shelters in which they are
living. But Days Inns has also hired
some people who had nowhere to
live. In these cases, the hotelier pro­vides
units through cooperating fran­chise
owners.
Days Inns' special recruitment program is
offered through the Atlanta corporate of­fzce
(above) and the reservation center in
Knoxville, Tennessee.
Each employee pays a modest
sum for lodging through payroll de­duction
and signs a room covenant
that outlines his or her responsibili­ties
as a tenant. One of the many
provisions under this agreement is
that no child under the age of 17
may be left unattended in the room
for any length of time.
While everyone hired through the
program is encouraged to save and
become independent, there is no
Food and Nutrition
limit on how long employees can live
at Days Inns facilities. "Circum­stances
are different in each case,"
Smith says. "We cannot dictate to
these people."
Offering a chance
to start over
Sensitivity, compassion, andre­spect
characterize the way Days Inns
executives approach their special re­cruits.
They see their role as giving
these people a chance to break
through some of the barriers that
homeless men and women can face
when they are trying to start over.
"No matter how educated or intelli­gent
you are," says Miller, "if you're
talking to an employer and you can't
give an address, you lose so much
credibility. Maybe you have only one
outfit to wear. This program over­comes
problems like these."
In addition to offering training to
help their new hires obtain the skills
they will need to be successful on
the job, Days Inns also makes spe­cial
efforts to help them in other
ways.
"We meet with these employees in­dividually
on a quarterly basis to find
out what's going on in their lives and
to monitor their progress here," Miller
explains. "Our goal is to help them
become self -sufficient."
There is plenty of proof that Days
Inns is accomplishing that mission.
Back in the room filled with
reservationists, a smartly dressed,
articulate woman finishes business at
her computer terminal. She is Carol
Thompson, a once homeless woman
who seized the opportunity for a sec­ond
chance and has become a true
Days Inns success story.
Few understand the Days Inns phi­losophy
better than Thompson. All
employees hired under this program
are guaranteed anonymity, but a few
have chosen to come forward.
Thompson is one of those.
"I was working when I got sick and
lost my job," Thompson says. "That
was before the doctor even knew
what was wrong with me. I lost my
apartment and ended up staying with
September 1991
friends until I got to the Achor Cen­ter.
They referred me to Days Inns.
Four of us-all women-came to­gether.
After the interview, I got
hired. I believe we all did."
Days Inns offers much more than
just a first step-the company pro­vides
training and advancement op­portunities.
Thompson has been
privy to both. "It's all there," she
says. "You just have to work for it."
Her hard work
has paid off
Hard work during her 2-year em­ployment
has paid off, literally.
Thompson, who started as a general
reservation agent, has been pro­moted
to a more intensive area of
reservations. "Now I work with com­puters,"
she says. "I never did that
before."
Thompson has advice for those
who are still homeless and even
those who are not. "It can happen to
anyone," she says. "But never,
never, never quit." Thompson shares
her story with a quiet reserve and
pride punctuated with smiles. She
vows she will continue to tell it "as
long as it keeps helping others."
Currently, Days Inns has 18 active
employees enrolled under this pro­gram.
Most have begun to pull their
lives back together. Thompson, for
example, is out of the Achor Center
and living in an apartment with her
teenage son.
"This is the way the private sector
can really make a difference," says
Shira Miller, " ... by giving jobs to
these people so they can rebuild
their lives."
Days Inns' recruitment program is
offered through the Atlanta corporate
office and the reservation center in
Knoxville, Tennessee, and is cur­rently
limited to those two areas.
For more information, contact:
Shira Miller
Days Inns of America
2751 Buford Highway N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30324
article by Cathleen Jensen
photos compliments of Days Inns
" ... people think we're
doing something very
charitable, but there's­nothing
charitable
about it. These are
very good employees."
13
There's a special place on Bayard Street ...
Police Officers
Cook, Care, Listen,
And Teach ...
If you ask the youngsters who hang
out at the recreation center on
Baltimore's Bayard Street why it's
such a popular place, they'll tell you
the arcade games and sports are fun
and the food is good. You'll also
quickly learn it's because the facility
is run by some people who really
care about these 8- to 17 -year olds.
The recreation center is actually a
police youth club operated year­round
by four officers of the Balti­more
Police Department. All four
volunteered for the assignment.
"These officers weren't randomly
selected and slapped into an assign­ment
to do this job," says Lieutenant
Mike Hilliard, who oversees the op­eration.
"They were assigned here
because they wanted to be here."
One requisite of the job is an avid
interest in working with low-income
kids. Another is an eagerness to
provide a wholesome and positive
atmosphere in which these children
can develop.
"Here we try to
teach kids ... "
In addition to organizing activities,
refereeing games, and cooking, the
officers help the children learn re­spect,
social skills, and discipline.
And the officers' interest in looking
after the well-being of the kids
doesn't end at 10 p.m. when the
doors close.
"Generally at a rec center the chil­dren
play games and then they go
home. Here we try to teach kids in
everything we do," says Sergeant
Pete Legambi.
For example, he explains, while
they don't have a structured drug
14
abuse or crime prevention program
at the club, the officers reinforce
positive values on a personal basis
as they spend time with the children.
"We attempt to make these chil­dren
model members of the commu­nity,"
says Legambi, "more so than
they would have been had they never
been in touch with the police youth
club."
Throughout its 40-year history, the
center has helped shape some of the
city's finest.
"Our former police commissioner
and one of our councilmen came
through this club," Legambi says
proudly. "Officer George Seltzer,
who organizes the athletic activities
here, also came through the club.
He was going to be a professional
baseball player for the Atlanta
Braves, but he got injured. He
thought so much of the club that he
joined the police department and
worked until he made his way back
into the youth club."
Summer food program
helps with meals
During the summer months, when
the kids don't have access to school
food service programs, the club
serves breakfast and lunch. Officer
Charles Benjamin wears the chef's
hat. He has been cooking and keep­ing
the kitchen immaculately clean
for about 10 years. Whether he's
flipping pancakes or baking crispy
chicken for 30 or 100 children, nutri­tion
and palatability are his main
priorities.
The meals are funded by USDA's
Summer Food Service Program and
often include government-donated
commodities. The varied menu
comes from Benjamin's success in
getting kids to try something new.
Police officer George Seltzer knows how
much the club means to the kids-as a boy
he'd been a member himself Now, he organ­izes
the club's athletic activities.
Food and Nutrition
"My intention is to see that they get
a nutritious meal and also that they
enjoy it. I had to bribe the children to
get them to try my Salisbury steak
sandwich. They asked, 'What's
this? ' Oddly enough, now it's one of
our popular meals."
Another of the children's favorites
is a macaroni casserole Benjamin
makes with USDA beef and his spe­cial
sauce. "I use 15 pounds of beef,
10 pounds of macaroni, and 5
pounds of cheese," he says, "and
there aren't any leftovers."
The younger children are reminded
to wash up before meals and exhibit
acceptable table manners.
"If there's an item that is self-serve,
we instruct the children to use proper
utensils and to not handle the food
with their hands. It's just common
September 1991
courtesy. But some children are not
taught proper courtesies," Benjamin
says.
Kids know the
officers care
When the kids finish clearing the
tables after breakfast, the fun starts.
The officers teach classes in ceram­ics,
woodworking, and baking. The
kids also can play basketball, ping
pong, billiards, arcade games, table­top
hockey, soccer, hopscotch, soft­ball,
and bingo. Three local swim­ming
facilities are available for the
children to use on sunny days.
The club has many supporters.
The Baltimore Orioles organization
provides pitching machines, base­balls,
gloves, and bats. Buddies Inc.,
an organization of prominent busi­ness
and political leaders and media
"Generally at a rec'
center the children
play games and then
they go home. ,. ..H ere
we try to teach kids in
everything we do."
During summer months, when children don't
have access to school meals, the youth club
serves breakfast and lunch through USDA's
Summer Food Service Program. The master
chef is Officer Charles Benjamin. He's been
cooking and keeping the kitchen im­maculately
clean for 10 years.
people, finances a significant portion
of the club's operations.
When 1 00 kids get together,
sometimes things get a bit out of
hand. But the officers see that dis­putes
get settled quickly and
equitably.
"We do not tolerate a 17 -year-old
disrupting an activity of an 8- or 9-
year-old," says Benjamin. "Unfortu­nately,
at some recreational facilities,
it's the power of the might. We try to
preserve the rights of the smaller
children. When kids come in and
bully other children off a video game,
they have the potential to go up to
other people and bully them for
money. And that becomes robbery."
Disciplinary action usually doesn't
affect the harmonious relationship
the officers and kids have. In fact,
15
they often pal around together after
hours. It's not uncommon to see
them together under the big top
when the circus comes to town or
enjoying themselves at an amuse­ment
park or zoo. These are new ex­periences
for some of the kids.
"Officer Robert Zeinog, who has
been here 27 years with these kids,
has only taken off 25 medical days
on an unlimited sick leave policy,"
says Legambi. "The guy's incredible.
He and Officer Benjamin took 21
children to Thanksgiving dinner one
year."
Officer Benjamin says that's not
unusual. "I think every officer here
has taken children home. Why? A
lot of times the children need just a
little bit more attention," he says.
A place to return
to for support
The officers say it's hard on the
kids when they reach 17 because
they have to leave the club. But the
young people know the door is al­ways
open to come back and visit.
"The other day while I was talking
to Officer Benjamin, a 19-year-old
walked in with a problem he wanted
to discuss with Charlie," Hilliard
says. "He was looking for an indi­vidual
he'd known when he was
younger, someone he trusted who
"The fact that this
young man was com­ing
back to seek out a
member of this club
indicates that we cer­tainly
are having an
impact on the children
we deal with. And it's
an incredibly positive
impact."
16
would give him good advice and be a
father figure or a big brother to him.
"The fact that this young man was
coming back to seek out a member
of this club indicates that we cer­tainly
are having an impact on the
children we deal with. And it's an in­credibly
positive impact."
For more information, contact:
Lieutenant Mike Hilliard
Baltimore Police Department
500 E. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Telephone: (301) 396-2078
article and photos
by Marian Wig
The club's permanent staff is pictured
here with some of people who gave them
a hand during busy times last summer.
From left to right: Police Officers
Robert Zeinog, Bill Silvers, and George
Seltzer; Cadets Leslie Porter and Ber­nadette
Thomas; Officers Wes Bousman
and ·Charles Benjamin; and Police Agent
Martin Hanna, Lieutenant Mike Hilliard,
and Sergeant Pete Legambi.
Food and Nutrition
September 1991
''Everyone wants to help each other ... "
Food Stamp Team
Goes The Extra Mile
And Gets Results
The doors burst open and into the
conference room struts a cartoon
character come to life. Complete
with a long dress, combat boots, and
corn-cob pipe, she takes the micro­phone
and tells the bewildered group
she has something to say.
She's not your typical speaker at a
meeting of Food Stamp Program ad­ministrators.
But then again, she's
not supposed to be. Her name is
"Ma Pat," and whi)e her manner is
playful, her mission is serious. She's
there to emphasize that the Food
Stamp Program is the country's
number one defense against hunger,
and it's important to operate it effi­ciently
and accurately.
The result of some
creative teamwork
When she's not being dramatized
in costume by a good-natured fed­eral
employee, Ma Pat is a pen-and­ink
character who regularly appears
in a newsletter called "Ma Pat
Reports."
The newsletter and its colorful car­toon
character are named after the
group that created them-a team of
10 federal, state, and local food
stamp staff called the Mid-Atlantic
Payment Accuracy Team (MA PAT).
The federal members of the team
are from the Mid-Atlantic Regional
Office (MARO) of USDA's Food and
Nutrition Service (FNS). They are:
Jim Goodale, chief of MARO's food
stamp program evaluation section;
Walt Haake, supervisor of the pro­gram
improvement unit; and Marian
Wig, food program specialist with the
program improvement unit. Goodale
and Haake were co-founders of the
payment accuracy team. The team's
state and local members are from
social services agencies throughout
the region. They include:
-Mary Jo Thomas, director, divi­sion
of quality control, West Virginia
Department of Health and Human
Resources;
-Gretchen Rowell, benefit pro­grams
training specialist, Virginia De­partment
of Social Services;
-Nancy Pearsall, operations ad­ministrator,
Delaware Department of
Health and Social Services;
-Dex Stannard, former food
stamp branch chief (retired 1990),
District of Columbia Department of
Human Services;
-Jack Martin, income mainte~
nance supervisor, Camden County
(New Jersey) Board of Social
Services;
-Dan Jeffers, director of training
services, Philadelphia Department of
Public Welfare;
-Bob McCormack, director,
income maintenance unit, Prince
Georges County (Maryland) Depart­ment
of Social Services.
Working together
to find solutions
Working together, team members
have mapped out a campaign to
identify and promote ways state and
local agencies can make sure food
stamp benefits are properly issued.
During the past 3 years, they've gone
the extra mile-literally and figura­tively-
to help reduce error rates and
improve food stamp operations.
17
They began by taking a close look
at where errors were being made, by
whom, and why. Then they gathered
information on successful strategies
used by local agencies with low error
rates, and they devised tools, includ­ing
"Ma Pat Reports", to distribute
information to federal, state, and lo­cal
food stamp managers and staff.
The group, which meets a few
times a year, has also taken its cam­paign
on the road with visits to local
agencies that have expressed inter­est
in learning first-hand how to re­duce
errors. While Ma Pat began as
a regional effort, states throughout
the country are contributing infor­mation
and benefiting from the
group's work.
The team's work has not gone un­noticed.
In fact, in June, the team
took to the road for a trip to Wash­ington,
D.C., to receive one of the
top honors awarded by USDA. In the
Department's annual award cer­emony
on June 12, Secretary of Agri­culture
Edward Madigan presented a
Superior Service Award to the group
for the extra effort and creativity
team members have put into con­ceiving
of and carrying out their pay­ment
accuracy campaign.
Why reducing errors
is so important
The Food Stamp Program is au­thorized
by federal legislation and is
available to qualifying households
throughout the country. The au­thorizing
legislation gives the Depart­ment
of Agriculture responsibility for
administering the program nationally
in cooperation with the appropriate
state agencies, usually state depart­ments
of welfare or social services.
State agencies work through their
local offices to process applications,
certify eligible households, and cal­culate
participants' monthly food
stamp benefits. In determining eligi­bility
and benefits, state and local
staff follow rules and guidelines
USDA has prepared in accordance
with food stamp legislation.
Miscalculating a household's food
stamp allotment by a few dollars may
not sound like a lot. But for a family
in crisis, an underpayment means
18
fewer food dollars to get through the
month. For government agencies,
overpayments mean incorrect use of
federal resources allocated for food
assistance, and with a program as
large as the Food Stamp Program,
overpayments can easily add up to
millions of dollars.
That's why for several years, na­tional
food stamp legislation has in­cluded
provisions that require states
to achieve certain accuracy levels or
pay sanctions for failing to meet
them. If a state's total amount of
benefits issued in error exceeds
what's called USDA's "error rate tol­erance,"
the state has to account for
the misspent federal dollars.
Together, states issued $11.6 bil­lion
worth of food stamps in fiscal
year 1989. If you apply the tolerance
level to that-which was 1 0.8 per-cent
at the time-you can see why
the Ma Pat team and other program
administrators take a strong interest
in keeping errors to a minimum.
Team began by
asking questions
Ma Pat team members began their
work in 1988 by studying error rates
and taking a close look at where the
most errors were occurring in their re­gion.
They found the highest error
rates were in large urban areas. Ac­cording
to Walt Haake, food program
supervisor in FNS' Mid-Atlantic re­gional
office and co-founder of Ma
Pat, that wasn't surprising.
"In rural places, people tend to
Evert Vermeer,Jrom Kent County, Michigan,
talks about case/oad management at a pay­ment
accuracy seminar in Pennsylvania.
Food and Nutrition
know each other," he explains, "so
there are fewer opportunities for eli­gibility
workers to get incorrect infor­mation
from recipients. They also
usually have a smaller caseload.
"In the five big cities in this re­gion-
the District of Columbia, Balti­more,
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and
Newark, New Jersey-local food
stamp staff are struggling to keep
up with caseload."
Figuring out a recipient's correct
food stamp allotment is a compli­cated
process. According to Haake,
a large percentage of errors occurs
when information is collected on in­come,
household composition, shel­ter,
utility, child care, and medical ex­penses.
These are just some of the
considerations a local food stamp
worker needs to deal with, and the
information can change from month
to month for a particular household.
In addition, local agencies process
applications for welfare payments as
well as food stamps. Different regu­lations
and policies for such pro­grams
as AFDC (Aid to Families with
Dependent Children) and food
stamps can make accurate determi­nations
even more difficult for indi­vidual
caseworkers.
"We recognized from the start that
errors are the result of problems at all
three levels of government," Haake
says, "and we've tried to find correc­tive
actions appropriate to each level.
"USDA and other federal and state
agencies are interested in finding
ways to streamline and coordinate
public assistance programs-and
this should help-but a great deal of
work will be needed before this can
be done on a large scale."
Putting together
helpful "HINTS"
The first important activity the Ma
Pat team undertook was what they
called the "Helpful Index of National
Tips and Strategies"-HINTS
for short.
Team members contacted 40 of
the largest project areas in the coun­try
to get information on what was
being done to correct problems.
They asked local agencies specifi­cally
how they were dealing with vari-
September 1991
Ma Pat team members G' retchen Rowell (top
photo) from Virginia and Walt Haake from
FNS' Mid-Atlantic regional office.
ous types of payment errors and
then cross-referenced the responses
they got. Working with Haake's staff,
they programmed the information
into a database and made it available
to interested agencies as a printout
or on diskette.
To reach a wider audience on a
regular basis, the group began pub­lishing
"Ma Pat Reports" in Decem­ber
1988. Produced three times a
year, the newsletter goes to more
than 1 ,500 state and local offices in
the Mid-Atlantic region and to other
regions as well.
According to Haake, "Ma Pat Re­ports"
has proved to be an effective
way to reach its primary audience­local
level administrators and techni­cians-
with practical, low-cost meth­ods
for improving payment accuracy.
"A lot of the information in 'Ma Pat
... Miscalculating
a household's food
stamp allotment by a
few dollars may not
sound like a lot. But
for a family in crisis,
an underpayment
means fewer dollars
to get through the
month. For govern­ment
agencies, over­payments
mean incor­rect
use of federal re­sources
allocated for
food assistance.
Reports' is useful to staff in offices
throughout the country, and a lot of it
gets to them," Haake says. "Staff
from other regions have started call­ing
in and supplying ideas for ar­ticles.
It's truly a cooperative effort."
An upbeat design and casual writ­ing
style make the newsletter fun to
read. "We wanted people to look
forward to reading the newsletter,"
says Haake, "so we decided to try to
make it entertaining. Even though
the subject is serious, we try to use
humor whenever we can to get a
point across."
"Ma Pat," the cartoon mascot of
the group, is a perfect example.
Each issue features an interview be­tween
Ma Pat and another character
who is also involved in food stamp
management.
"For example, in our first cartoon
strip," Haake explains, "we had Ma
Pat interview a character called
Valerie Variance. Valerie, Ma Pat
19
tells her readers, is 'a notorious error
reviewer who's been known to turn a
squeaky clean, one-person, fixed in­come,
straightforward food stamp
case into a payment accuracy night­mare.'
Valerie's philosophy is:
'I know there's an error in this case,
and one way or another, I'm gonna
find it. '
"We try to go to the edge with the
interviews," says Haake. "They're
based on the kinds of comments we
hear from local level people-com­ments
about 'the feds, ' the difficul­ties
of running the program, and
error rates.
"The Ma Pat character gets to say
some of the things local staff would
like to say. It's a fun way to vent
some frustrations and come to a
much better understanding of how
we all work together. I love those in­terviews
but they're tough to write."
New opportunities
to work together
The Ma Pat team has created
some new opportunities to hear di­rectly
from local staff. This past win­ter,
they began visiting local agen­cies
in the Mid-Atlantic states that
have expressed interest in having
them come.
Working face to face will be more
difficult in some ways, says Haake.
"We'll have to put ourselves on the
line, as opposed to just publishing
ideas. We'll be hearing from a lot of
frustrated people who want simple
answers. We won't have answers to
all the questions right then, but we
have good resources and connec­tions
and will get useful ideas back
to them."
Having annual seminars is another
way team members get together with
food stamp managers and staff from
many different states and counties.
The seminars give participants a
chance to express their concerns,
exchange ideas, and talk about
things that worked--and didn't
work-to improve payment accuracy.
For example, this year's seminar,
held in April, focused on caseload
management, an issue very much on
the minds of program administrators
faced with staffing shortages and
20
limited resources. Among the speak­ers
was a select panel of local
agency eligibility specialists and su­pervisors
from seven Mid-Atlantic
states who talked about about how
they were coping with recent in­creases
in food stamp participation
in their areas.
Evert Vermeer, director of the Kent
County, Michigan, Department of So­cial
Services, shared some ideas that
worked for him a few years ago when
Michigan had a severe caseload in­crease
and financial problems.
Virginia welfare fraud control spe­cialist
Sandy Brown gave an abbre­viated
version of a training course
she developed to. teach caseworkers
how to improve their interviewing
and communications skills. Included
At the Big Cities Payment Accuracy Sem­inar
in April, Nancy Pearsall from Del­aware
makes a presentation to the group,
and Pat Lynch from New York gathers
materials at the "Ideas Fair."
were techniques on how to give and
get correct information without a
confrontation.
Ma Pat team member Mary Jo
Thomas, director of quality control
for the West Virginia Department of
Health and Human Resources, ex­plained
why she's convinced working
with quality control-the system that
measures payment accuracy-is the
road to improvement.
In addition to presentations like
these, the seminar featured an "Ideas
Food and Nutrition
Fair," with a display of materials from
around the country. "There were
about 35 different items people could
look at and order," says Haake. "The
Ideas Fair was a surprise hit and
we're looking to repeat it at our next
seminar."
Seminars have
another advantage
Besides providing tips and tech­niques,
annual seminars offer an­other
big advantage. "People get to
know each other," says Haake.
"They swap ideas and phone num­bers,
and they call one another a lot.
It's amazing how much everyone
wants to help each other."
Commitment and cooperation are
the basis of the Ma Pat team's strat­egy.
Team members have gotten a
sustained pledge from the top ex­ecutives
in their offices to improve
payment accuracy, and the Mid­Atlantic
regional office has addition­ally
provided financial support.
But the heart of the effort comes
from individual team members.
"They go the extra mile because they
really care about their colleagues,"
says Walt Haake. "They're sincerely
interested in the staff and clients in
their own offices and in neighboring
places."
And that extra effort has produced
some very impressive results. The
error rate in the Mid-Atlantic region
dropped in five of the eight states
between fiscal years 1987 and
1989-an improvement that trans­lates
into an annual savings of about
$6.2 million in benefits! In fact, for
fiscal year 1989, the region 's error
rate was the lowest in the nation­an
improvement of $19 million over
fiscal year 1987.
"Our hard work
is paying off ... "
At this year's annual conference,
the team's cartoon mascot was on
hand in full costume to celebrate this
Also at the Big Cities seminar, John Bayne
from Washington, D.C., and Sandy Brown
from Virginia use visuals to clarify an
idea. Tony Masserelli from Pennsylvania
accepts an award from "Ma Pat," the team's
cartoon mascot, brought to life for the
occasion by FNS' Alexis Lometz.
September 1991
achievement with some awards to
state and local agencies deserving
special recognition.
"This is proof that our hard work is
paying off in real dollars and cents,"
Ma Pat said. "It means we can take
more pride in our work and be confi­dent
that others see us as dedicated
professionals who get food on the
tables of those who are in genuine
need ....
"But," she added, " ... we've got
to keep moving forward because
there's no such thing as standing
still when you've got this kind of a
job to do."
For more information, contact:
Walt Haake, Supervisor
Food Stamp Improvement Unit
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
Mercer Corporate Park CN02150
Trenton, New Jersey 08650
Telephone: (609) 259-5013
article and photos
by Marian Wig
" ... we can take more
pride in our work and
be confident that oth­ers
see us as dedicated
professionals who get
food on the tables of
those who are in gen­uine
need ... "
"I give lunches, clothes, and hugs ... "
A Dynamic Woman
Keeps Her Promise
To Feed Kids
Many people believe the best lead­ers
are those who combine sensitiv­ity
and compassion with the desire
and know-how to get things done.
By any definition, JoeAnna Caldwell
is that kind of leader.
Caldwell is a dynamic woman who
brings food, love, and a message of
hope to low-income minority children
living in her hometown of Jackson­ville,
Illinois. A deeply religious per­son,
Caldwell says both her child­hood
memories and "a voice from
the Lord told me to feed kids.
"Our father died when I was 8
years old and the welfare people
wanted us to sell everything and get
commodities and move into a hous­ing
project," Caldwell says. "We
refused. And now my childhood
memories are about the sharp pain
of hunger."
Her mother grew sweet potatoes,
she recalls. "My sister- and I used to
bake them overnight next to the fur­nace,
wrap them in newspaper, and
take them to school. During lunch
we'd eat them in the restroom with
our feet up so none of the kids would
see us."
One day walking to school she
smelled bacon cooking. "Tears be­gan
to roll and I remember saying
over and over to myself, 'I wish
someone would adopt me. I wish
someone would adopt me."'
She says she made up her mind
then that when she grew up and
married she would try to adopt and
feed children.
22
Today Caldwell feeds not only her
own nine children-two of whom are,
in fact, adopted-she also runs a
program called "Saturday's Children"
that provides free sack lunches to
more than 200 children each week.
"I wrote letters
to everyone ... "
Jacksonville's school lunch
program has come a long way since
Caldwell was a little girl. Through
the National School Lunch Program,
free and reduced-p~iced lunches are
available to students who qualify for
them based on need. But Caldwell
was concerned about children who
did not have enough to eat between
lunch on Friday and Monday.
"I've always thought there was a
need," she says. "Kids have school
lunches during the week, but what
about the weekend?" She decided
to see what she could do.
"After telling my family we'd have
to cut back on spending, I wrote let­ters
to everyone, including social
clubs and organizations telling them
about Saturday's Children," she
explains.
With help from people such as
school board president Dr. Robert
Crowe, who is superintendent of
schools for Illinois' District 17,
Caldwell opened a bank account for
contributions. A local auto dealer
donated a used station wagon for
food pickup and deliveries, and the
Kiwanis Club paid for the car insur­ance.
Caldwell then mobilized volun­teers
to make up posters and solicit
food from local businesses.
More than 40,000
lunches later ...
Since 1986 when she started
"Saturday's Children," Caldwell and
her volunteers have packed nearly
40,000 bag lunches. Every Friday
night, they gather at Jefferson El­ementary
School, which is near
Caldwell's house and not far from
the designated Saturday distribution
points.
As some volunteers unload boxes
of bread donated by places like the
local Sunbeam Bread distribution
center, others carry in crates of fresh
fruits ·and vegetables and boxes of
peanut butter, jelly, and cookies.
They organize themselves into sev­eral
assemby lines making peanut­butter-
and-jelly or sometimes ham
sandwiches; washing and cutting up
fresh vegetables; and packing or­anges,
fruit juice, and cookies into
lunch sacks donated by McDonald's.
An hour later the lunches are ready
for the volunteers to load into the
Saturday's Children station wagon.
The next day, as she has for the past
4 years, Caldwell will make the Sat­urday
deliveries herself.
Dr. Crowe was instrumental in
helping Caldwell start Saturday's
Children in 1986 and is still a strong
From the back of the Saturday Children's
stationwagon, JoeAnna Caldwell distributes
lunches to waiting children.
Food and Nutrition
supporter of her efforts. "A lot of us
do volunteer work," he says. "It's a
fine thing to volunteer once in a
while-like at the Salvation Army­but
it's something else to sign on to
a commitment for several years.
"This woman and her volunteers
make more than 200 sandwiches ev­ery
week. We are dealing here with
hungry kids. And JoeAnna Caldwell
is doing something about it, almost
singlehandedly."
"I give lunches,
clothes, and hugs ... "
It's more than just bag lunches that
Caldwell gives to the children. "I can
always tell a child who is not getting
enough parental love," she says.
"Children who are not used to hugs
hold themselves stiff. So I give
lunches, clothes, and hugs."
As the first African-American
elected to the school board in Jack­sonville,
Caldwell brings a first-hand
perspective to the needs of the city's
low-income minority children and
their families. Sometimes she hears
people say that the children's par­ents
should try to do more for them,
and she says she both accepts and
rejects this criticism. Ultimately, it's
the children she's concerned about.
"Sure I'm angry at parents who are
irresponsible," she says, adding that
many others are doing their best.
"But," she says, "I love the child. I
tell people that the same hungry
child who doesn't get a lunch and a
September 1991
Every Friday night, Caldwell and her volun­teers
gather at Jefferson Elementary School
to prepare and pack more than 200 lunches
for children. The food is donated by places
like the local Sunbeam Bread distribution
center, and the lunch sacks are provided by
McDonald's. Saturday's Children is supported
by many groups and businesses in the
community, thanks to Caldwell's efforts.
hug today might someday rob or
rape you."
When Caldwell is not being "the
sack lunch lady," as the children call
her, she's a caseworker with the
Morgan County Big Brothers and Big
Sisters Association in Jacksonville.
"The community is very supportive
of JoeAnna," says John Kelker, ex­ecutive
director of the Big Brothers
and Big Sisters Association in Jack­sonville.
He says her support partly
stems from the fact that she avoids
direct solicitation of funds and food.
"JoeAnna believes in letting the
news about Saturday's Children
spread by word of mouth," he says,
adding that organizations such as
the Kiwanis, businesses, and
churches know when it's time to
contribute. "She has the ability to
get people involved in taking care of
our community."
Kelker believes Caldwell's
Saturday's Children program filled a
need that no one else was address­ing.
"Her efforts were a real eye­opener
for the community," he says.
Working to help
in many ways
Caldwell's volunteer efforts have
also expanded into other areas.
Each summer, for example, she or-
24
ganizes and runs a program she calls
"I Have A Dream."
"I teach social skills to low-income
kids-how to set a table, how to eat
with manners, how to introduce
themselves to adults, how to give
someone a compliment," she says.
"I then take the children out to a nice
restaurant to test their new skills."
In addition, she runs a summer
reading program and has experi­mented
with a Monday soup distri­bution
program for low-income
elderly people. "I try a hundred-and­one
things," Caldwell says, "and I
really enjoy doing it. It takes some­one
who has been there to relate."
Sixth-grade Jefferson Elementary
teacher Donald Jolly has taught
many of Caldwell's Saturday lunch
kids and says he can see the results
of her work. "She takes children who
are wounded and damaged and
heals them," he says.
Jolly attributes the success and re­spect
Caldwell achieves among his
students and their parents to her em­phasis
on discipline and achieve­ment.
"The strength of her family
pulls her toward success and ac­complishment,"
he says. "There is
no doubt she is the premier family
role model for the African-American
community. She is definitely a force
for change in Jacksonville."
It's Caldwell's impression that
most people want to help. "People
have good hearts," she says. "Some­times
they just don't know how to
step forward and channel their en­ergy
for the good."
School superintendent Crowe says
that when Caldwell first came to him
with the idea of the Saturday's Chil­dren
food program, he felt embar­rassed
that he had not thought of it,
that he and others had not focused
on solving the problem of hungry
children in the community.
"We need to take that first step to­ward
action sooner," he says. "We
need more JoeAnna Caldwells in life
to show us how."
For more information, contact:
JoeAnna Caldwell
250 East Dunlop Street
Jacksonville, Illinois 62650
Telephone: (217) 243-4023
article and photos
by Lawrence Rudman
Food and Nutrition
CSFP in Denver and Des Moines ...
Food Help And
Community Service
Go Hand In Hand
Look closely at any successful op­eration,
and you're likely to find
people who are energetic, creative,
and enthusiastic about what they do.
That's certainly true of the people
who run two successful Commodity
Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
sites in Des Moines, Iowa, and
Denver, Colorado.
The two operations have much in
common. Both use a supermarket
set-up to provide efficient, stream­lined
service to CSFP participants.
Both give participants nutrition infor­mation
and recipes along with
supplemental foods. And both make
special efforts to coordinate with vol­unteers,
community organizations,
and other social service agencies.
The Commodity Supplemental
Food Program is one of several food
assistance programs USDA adminis­ters
in cooperation with state and lo­cal
agencies. CSFP provides USDA
commodities to low-income mothers,
infants, and young children (age 6
and younger), and to low-income
elderly people (age 60 and older).
CSFP participants receive a variety
of USDA foods, depending on their
age and nutritional needs.
The Des Moines and Denver pro­grams
are two of 4 7 local CSFP
sites currently operating around
the country.
At the CSFP center in Denver, a woman shops
for supplemental foods for her baby. The super­market
set-up used here, like the one. in Des
Moines, makes it easy for participants to locate
and select various CSFP foods .
September 1991
Supermarket set-up
is fast and convenient
The Des Moines CSFP facility
opened in October 1989 in a former
supermarket. It's across the street
from a food stamp office and senior
center that also houses a "well­elderly"
clinic. According to Virginia
Petersen of the Polk County (Iowa)
Department of Human Services,
"It's a great location."
When clients enter the store, a
computer terminal speeds certifica­tion,
cross-checks for dual participa­tion
with WIC (another and much
larger USDA program serving moth­ers,
infants, and children), and then
creates a shopping list.
Armed with that list, clients wheel
shopping carts past bins of com­modity
foods, making selections
from various food groups in quanti­ties
computer-matched to family
ages and numbers. They don't have
to accept anything they can't use
without waste.
Check-out is also computerized,
thanks to the use of electronic scan­ning
equipment in check-out lanes.
The scanners, which the Denver fa­cility
also hopes to add eventually,
"read" the bar codes on packages
and cans of USDA commodity foods.
In addition to making check-out
faster and easier for participants, the
electronic scanning equipment helps
CSFP managers keep better track of
inventory and distribution.
There are other
special features
Des Moines' CSFP supermarket is
also equipped to make it easier for
participants to get their packages
home. A conveyor belt transfers par-
25
In both operations, computers help CSFP
staff provide fast, efficient service to partici­pating
mothers, children, and elderly people.
Here, for example, Denver staff check on
participants' eligibility status.
ticipants' packages from the check­out
counter to a pick-up point where
they can easily be loaded into cars.
For elderly people who cannot come
to the distribution center, there is
home delivery.
In addition to this streamlined de­livery
system, Des Moines' CSFP fa­cility
has several other special fea­tures.
For example, there are televi­sion
monitors that play educational
tapes, and a playroom so mothers
can shop in peace while their chil­dren
are happily occupied.
There's also a well-baby clinic on
the premises that offers immuniza­tions,
lead-poisoning screening, and
iron-level blood tests to CSFP moth­ers
and children.
Of interest to both mothers and
elderly participants is the demonstra­tion
kitchen operated by home
economists from USDA's Extension
Service. The home economists show
participants how to prepare tasty
dishes, using commodity foods that
are sometimes unfamiliar to them.
26
During a recent demonstration,
Extension staffers made dollar-size
pancakes from commodity egg mix
and evaporated milk; they also
mixed batter for carrot muffins using
commodity nonfat dry milk, egg mix,
honey, and canned carrots.
Food and education
go hand in hand
Food and education also go hand
in hand at Denver's CSFP facility.
As in Des Moines, the program uses
a supermarket set-up that makes it
simple for participating mothers and
elderly people to select supplemen­tal
foods. There are also many spe­cial
features, such as home delivery
for the elderly and babysitting for
children whose mothers are shop­ping
for CSFP foods.
Food preparation and demonstra­tion
classes are offered 3 days a
week by teachers from the Emily
Griffith Opportunity School-a voca­tional
school that's part of the Den­ver
public school system-and reci­pes
are always available.
Making sure participants get and
know how to use their CSFP foods
is the greatest concern of Denver
CSFP administrator Tony Quintana
and his staff. However, they don't
stop there. Working closely with
other groups, they've made the
CSFP facility a center for a variety of
community-supported activities. For
example, on a monthly basis, the fa­cility
becomes a distribution site for ..
Colorado SHARE, a local affiliate of
an innovative private nonprofit pro­gram
currently operating in 18 loca­tions
around the country.
SHARE gives interested families
and individuals opportunities to save
on food costs by contributing time to
volunteer efforts in their communi­ties.
In exchange for 2 hours' com­munity
service and $13 in cash or
food stamps, participants earn one
"share" which is equivalent to one
food package. (SHARE has received
authorization from USDA's Food an(j
Nutrition Service to accept food
stamps.)
If they wish, participants can buy
more than one "share" on this same
basis. They can donate their time to
any verified volunteer effort-such
as Boy and Girl Scouts, churches
or synagogues, libraries, schools,
senior centers, hospitals, or even
SHARE's food warehouse itself.
"Food for Thought"
gets books to kids
Another laudable offshoot of the
Denver CSFP operation is "Food for
Thought," a program designed to
help children learn to enjoy books
and get a head start on developing
reading skills.
Drawing on community help, volun­teers
converted a small room into a
children's book center. It looks like a
library, with colorful shelves stocked
with books for 1- to 6-year-olds. The
big difference is that instead of lend­ing
books, this library gives them to
children.
Once every 3 months, CSFP par­ticipants
can stop by the library and
help their children select books.
Each child can get one book per
visit. There's no restriction on read­ing
level, and older children some­times
select books to read to their
younger siblings.
"Food for Thought" depends on
grants and donations for support.
Capitol Hill Books, a local bookstore,
helped the department of social serv­ices
set up an initial assortment of
Food and Nutrition
books, furnishing them at a consider­able
discount and showing CSFP
staff how to make any needed re­pairs.
Now that insurance require­ments
have been met, a volunteer
coordinator, Marilyn Weiss, helps
out on a part-time basis.
Keeping shelves stocked is an on­going
effort, aided by the support of
many local sponsors, including the
"Rocky Mountain News," television
Channel 4, and IBM, which under­wrote
a grant.
Together with other local sponsors,
such as King Soopers supermarkets
and radio station KHOW, they have
managed to incorporate special book
drives into several Denver events.
For example, under KHOW sponsor­ship,
the Big Fun amusement center
collected 400 books over the Easter
holiday a year ago by offering a
$5.95 admission to anyone donating
a new or used book.
Through another book drive-
"A Book and a Buck for Basebaii"­Denver
Zephyrs baseball fans could
get $6.00 game tickets for just $1 .00
and a donated book.
In addition, a "Food for Thought"
table was given space at the gala
opening of Denver's new convention
center last June, and Elitch Gardens
amusement park offered free gate
admission over the Labor Day week-
September 1991
end in exchange for books for kids
under age 6.
Even the Denver ~oo helped out
with a special offer at Halloween
called "A Book and a Boo and the
Zoo." Patrons donating books got
free admission for the day.
Additional support came from
Grayland Country Day School, which
sponsored a fall book drive, and from
local public libraries, where colorful
book barrels were placed to receive
donated books. The barrels were
hard to miss, thanks to the work of a
local graphic artist and a print shop
who donated their time and talent to
produce colorful Day-Gio pink wraps
for them.
With a little help
from their friends
Along with his predecessor Betty
Donovan, who began the project,
Tony Quintana and his staff have
given time and thought to making
"Food for Thought" a success. Like
the CSFP team in Des Moines, their
concern for their clients has trans­lated
into some creative approaches
to coordinating services.
With a little help from their friends,
CSFP staff in both Des Moines and
Denver are putting forth a super ef­fort
to help those they serve.
The children's book center, which is supported
by many local sponsors in Denver, looks like a
library. But when kids select books here, they
get to keep them.
For further information, contact:
Virginia Petersen
Polk County Department
of Human Services
1907 Carpenter Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50314
Telephone: (525) 286-3434
Tony Quintana
Denver County Department
of Social Services
2650 West 3rd Avenue
Denver, Colorado 80219
Telephone: (303) 727-2716
article by Joanne Widner
photos by Craig Forman
27
Nutrition education is a winning idea ...
Dallas Schools
Cheer Children On
To Good Health
When people hear the words
"Dallas" and "cheerleaders," they're
likely to think of football, the Dallas
Cowboys, and a stadium packed
with enthusiastic fans urging their
team on to victory.
But there are some other cheer­leaders
in this famous Texas city­they're
members of the Food and
Child Nutrition Services Department
of the Dallas Independent School
District (DISD) and what they're root­ing
for is the health and nutritional
well-being of the 133,000 children
enrolled in DISD schools.
Together they've rallied teachers
and parents to work with them on
what has become a winning nutrition
education campaign, and like any
good cheerleading squad, they've
given a lot of thought to their mes­sage
and how to present it.
Variety of special
projects developed
Packaged to appeal to an audience
accustomed to the clever marketing
and lively images of the 1990's, the
campaign is complete with catchy
names like "The Healthy Meal Deal,"
"Nutrition in a Nutshell," and "Project
TUNE" for "Teaming Up for Nutrition
Education."
Teamwork, in fact, is central to the
district's approach to nutrition edu­cation.
So is sharing information and
ideas. "For nutrition education to re­ally
take root," says food service di­rector
Marjorie Craft, "you have to
promote good eating habits in the
school cafeteria, the classroom,
and at home."
28
Clark and her staff have developed
a variety of special projects to help
food service employees, teachers,
and parents take an active role in
teaching children about the foods
they eat and why making good food
choices is so important to their
health.
Keeping food service employees
interested and well-informed is cen­tral
to the effort. Once a month, the
district publishes a monthly newslet­ter
called "Nutrition in a Nutshell"
that goes to all 1 ,500 food service
department employees.
It provides information on a variety
of nutrition-related topics and in­cludes
a number of regular features.
For example, there is a "Great Ideas"
section with food and nutrition tips
from employees, a "Dateline" column
outlining important upcoming events
in the department, and a "Recipe
Center."
"Food service employees need to
learn nutrition basics and be kept in­formed
so they know why the meals
they are preparing are nutritious and
well-balanced," says Craft.
The newsletter also helps keep em­ployees'
morale high. "It's important
for them to feel part of a team that's
doing something worthwhile for chil­dren.
People like knowing they're
doing something important," Craft
adds.
To help teachers be part of the nu­trition
education team, the food serv­ices
department has put together a
special in-service program called
"Cafeteria ABC's," which cafeteria
Food and Nutrition
managers present at the beginning of
the school year. As part of the "Caf­eteria
ABC's," teachers learn about
activities they can plan for their stu­dents.
They also receive teaching
aids to use in their classrooms.
"Most of the teachers, especially
our new ones, think the ABC's pres­entation
is very informative," says
kindergarten teacher Pearl Young.
"The activities and posters are very
helpful."
The teachers also get tips on how
to help children, particularly the
youngest ones, become familiar with
school meals and comfortable going
through the serving line.
In addition, during the first week of
school, food service staff give groups
of children an introductory tour
through the cafeteria. Students meet
the cafeteria manager and other food
service employees, see where food is
prepared, and learn where to pick up
and drop off their trays.
As Craft explains, this not only
helps the children feel more relaxed
about eating at school, it also makes
it easier for staff to give them good
service. "The first weeks of school
are hectic for students, teachers,
and the cafeteria staff," she says.
"Breakfast and lunch lines move
more slowly when students are not
famil iar with the serving line and caf­eteria
arrangement.
"For nutrition educa­tion
to really take root,
you have to promote
good eating habits in
the school cafeteria, the
classroom, and at
home."
September 1991
"And," she adds, "a cafeteria tour
during the first few days of school
can be an important learning experi­ence
for first timers, especially kin­dergarten
and first-grade students."
Activities continue
throughout the year
Food service staff and teachers
work together throughout the school
year to provide interesting learning
experiences for children of all ages.
Project TUNE-Teaming Up for
Nutrition Education-is another re­source
Craft and her staff have de­veloped
to give teachers ideas, ac­tivities,
and support. As part of the
project, cafeteria managers visit
classrooms and give demonstrations
or talks on particular topics.
Another part of Project TUNE is a
series of nutrition lessons the food
services department has developed
for use with children in kindergarten
through Grade 3. They are planning
to expand the series to Grades 4-6.
The lessons are not restricted to a
specific grade level, allowing teach­ers
to select activities that fit into
Children are the winners when food service
staff, teachers, and parents work together on
nutrition education. Below: Cafeteria mana­ger
Mary Guthrie gives Kimball High School
students a tour of the school kitchen.
29
their own lesson planning. In fact,
teachers are encouraged to modify
lessons to best fit their students'
needs. Reaction from students,
teachers, and cafeteria staff has
been enthusiastic.
Bobbie Starr, cafeteria manager at
DISD's Seagoville Elementary, says
this about her recent visit with a
group of second graders: "The stu­dents
enjoyed the lesson and were
interested in the information. And I
felt good knowing I was teaching
them something that could really im­pact
their lives. As a parent, I hope
my own children will receive this kind
of nutrition information."
To give students opportunities to
put into practice what they're learn­ing
about healthy food choices,
DISD's food service department has
added some new features in school
lunchrooms.
30
Last year, three of the district's
secondary schools successfully in­troduced
a new serving station called
the "Healthy Alternative." This deli­style
self-service line offers a number
of nutritious choices compatible with
the "Dietary Guidelines" issued by
the federal government.
These guidelines recommend,
among other things, that Americans:
eat a variety of nourishing foods; use
sugar and salt only in moderation;
and choose a diet that is low in fat
and includes plenty of fresh fruits
and vegetables and grain products.
DISD's "Healthy Alternative" line
features many health-and-fitness fa­vorites
such as salads, homemade
soups, sandwiches made with
whole-grain bread, fresh fruits and
vegetables, nuts, and muffins.
The "Healthy Meal Deal" offered
daily at this special serving station
District schools make special efforts to get
parents interested in food service activities.
Left: Mary Guthrie talks with parents
about the school lunch and breakfast pro­grams
during Cafeteria Open House.
meets USDA meal pattern require­ments
(as do all meals served
through the National School Lunch
Program in DISD schools) and runs
on a 7 -day menu cycle. It consists of
a sandwich on whole-grain bread,
fruit, vegetable, and milk.
For children paying full price, the
meal costs 90 cents in elementary
schools and 95 cents in secondary
schools. Children qualifying for
reduced-price meals (based on in­come
and family size) pay 40 cents.
Kids like being given the opportu­nity
to make their own selections.
"The Healthy Alternative is excellent,"
says eighth-grader Joy Dobbs. "I
really like having a choice. Two
thumbs up!"
Ninth grader Kim Kelley is also
pleased. "The line is really interest­ing
and a great idea," she says.
Food service managers hope to
have the Healthy Alternative Line in
all of the district's 49 secondary
schools by spring 1992. They're also
extending the idea to the elementary
school level on a smaller scale-this
year 11 elementary schools are offer­ing
"The Healthy Meal Deal" twice a
week as a choice with the regular
menu.
"This is turning out to be very
popular with the younger students,
too, and we hope to offer it in more
elementary schools next year,"
says Craft.
Parents encouraged
to get involved
Just as Craft and her staff go the
extra mile to involve teachers in nu­trition
education, they also make
special efforts to get parents inter­ested
in food service activities.
One way they do this is by hosting
a Cafeteria Open House to introduce
parents to the school cafeteria man­ager
and give them a tour of the
lunchroom and school kitchen. Dur­ing
the Open House, usually held on
parent-teacher conference night, the
cafeteria manager answers any
questions parents may have about
school lunch and breakfast.
Brochures on the programs are
available in English and Spanish, and
parents also receive a comment form
Food and Nutrition
they can use to offer their opinions
and make recommendations.
Craft and her staff approach school
food service with vitality and concern
for children. Their goal is to help
their young customers learn healthy
eating habits that will remain with
them long after they leave DISD
lunchrooms.
"Teaching students to make wise
food choices is a challenge," Craft
admits. But she says she's con­vinced
that nutrition education can
make a difference when school food
service managers, teachers, and par­ents
all support it.
"I am confident nutrition education
will result in students making wiser
choices in the cafeteria," Craft says,
"and that this will translate into
healthier lifestyles."
For more information, contact:
Cecilia Bockoven, R.D., L.D.
Nutrition Education Specialist
Dallas Independent School District
Food and Child Nutrition Services
3700 Ross Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75204-5491
Telephone: (214) 426-2914
article by Cecilia Bockoven
and Bonnie Fuller
photos by Judy Snow and
Cecilia Bockoven
"Teaching students to
make wise food choices
is a challenge ... [but] I
am confident nutrition
education will result
in students making
wiser choices in the
cafeteria and that this
will translate into
healthier lifestyles."
September 1991 31
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
U. S. Department of Agriculture
Food and Nutrition Service
Alexandria, Virginia 22302
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use, $300
Published three or four times
a year by the Food and Nutri­tion
Service, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Alexandria,
Virginia 22302.
Edward Madigan
Secretary of Agriculture
Catherine Bertini
Assistant Secretary
Betty Jo Nelsen
Administrator
Food and Nutrition Service
Jan Kern, Editor
David Sutton, Art Director
Food and Nutrition magazine con­tains
articles on the family food
assistance and child nutrition
programs administered by USDA's
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
in cooperation with state govern­ments
and local agencies.
The Secretary of Agriculture has
determined that the publication of
this periodical is necessary in the
transaction of the public business
required by law of this Department.
The use of funds for printing this
publication has been approved by
the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget.
Reference to commercial products
and services does not imply en­dorsement
or discrimination by the
Department of Agriculture.
THIRD CLASS BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Permit Number G-39
Single copies may be purchased
from the U.S. Government Printing
Office. Mail a check or money order
for $1. 75, payable to the Superin­tendent
of Documents, to the fol­lowing
address: Superintendent
of Documents, Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
On your order, please write:
"Stock Number 001-000-04578-4"
Prints of photos may be obtained
from Photo Library, U.S. Depart­ment
of Agriculture, Washington,
D.C. 20250.
All programs of the U.S. Depart­ment
of Agriculture are available
to everyone without regard to race,
color, sex, national origin, or
handicap.