Other Information for your Consideration;

Federal Census.

Sadly, over 50% of the individuals assisted by FIND are children.  Hunger not only strikes children but also many hardworking families and senior citizens.  Parents skip meals so their children can eat.  Adults need stable access to food in order to learn new skills, look for or keep a job, or recover from an illness.

According to the Federal Census, 1 in 6 persons in the Coachella Valley lives below the Federal poverty level.  Elderly people who are hungry cannot fight off minor illness and suffer from nutrition related health problems, many are faced with a decision that no one should have to make, buying food or much needed medicine.

The United States is the largest and most efficient food producer in the world. Yet, each year nearly 35 million Americans are threaten by hunger, including 13 million children. These numbers would be even greater save for the fact that Americans are a caring people, quick to respond to human suffering and mindful of the responsibility that wealth brings.
But despite our abundance and charitable spirit, we still have the problem of keeping up with the ever increasing working poor people. Instead, many children rely on a free school lunch as their only meal of the day. Many elderly people eat too little to maintain their health. And working parents often skip meals so that their children can eat.

The Coachella Valley is facing a housing crisis of dramatic proportions. Record numbers of renters are paying far too large a portion of their limited incomes for rent. Californians face some of the nation's least affordable homeownership markets. While the poorest households face the most severe housing problems, millions of California's working households also face substantial problems. In vast parts of the state, middle income families with two full-time workers are not able to afford to buy a home.

The lack of affordable housing has widespread implications for families, communities, and the vitality of the California economy. High housing costs make it difficult for businesses to attract and retain workers. The search for affordable housing is driving many metropolitan-area workers farther and farther from their jobs, creating ever-greater suburban sprawl and leading to growing traffic congestion and greater air pollution.

Rising rents make it impossible for low wage workers to live in the communities where they work, forcing many to choose between a long commute and overcrowded, substandard housing. When families are forced to spend more of their earnings on shelter, they have less to spend on food, clothing, child care, and other necessities. And the lack of affordable housing contributes to the stubborn challenge of preventing homelessness and helping those who are already homeless get off the streets.

Greater efforts at the federal, state, and local levels will be necessary to meet the housing challenges identified in this report. The federal government should resume its traditional leadership role in providing funding to make housing affordable for all. The state, too, should make greater efforts to enhance funding for new housing initiatives and to ensure that existing state and local resources are used to their full potential.

That is why FIND must continue to help feed the desperate people, regardless of the rationale for there being "poor people".  Those who are in need will continue to receive food at no cost.  By reducing food costs, people now have the ability to pay rent, purchase medical services and tend to other daily living expenses.  As FIND continues to assist individuals in need, not only are they given food and non-perishable items, but an opportunity to develop a feeling of purpose and gain back their personal pride as they are able to meet the daily needs of their family.

FIND also believes that the high majority of the individuals or families are honest hard working people that simply need a helping hand temporarily, because poverty can happen to almost anyone, so on the positive side, help works!

Do you know, YOU'RE Protected When Making Food Donations?

In accordance with the "Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act" YOU ARE!

What Does the Law Do?

• The law protects food-faith food donors from civil and criminal liability, should the product later cause harm to its recipient.
   

• The Emerson Act gives uniform federal protection to food donors who may cross state lines.

What Sort of Food is Protected?

• The Emerson Act provides protection for food and grocery products that meet all quality and labeling standards imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations even though the food may not be "readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, grade, size, surplus, or other conditions."

Who is Protected?

• The law protects food donors including individuals, and nonprofit feeding programs who act in good faith.  While exceptions are made for gross negligence, the law states that test groups will not be subject to civil or criminal liability.
   

• More specifically, the law protects individuals, corporations, partnerships, organizations, associations, farmers, governmental entities, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, caterers, nonprofit agencies and more.

What Type of Foods and Products Do We Need?
 

	Meat and High Protein Group
Canned Meat	Canned Tuna	Canned Ham
Canned Spam	Canned Salmon	Canned Stew
Macaroni and Cheese	Canned Soups	Peanut Butter
Rice	Beans	Eggs
	Canned Fruits and Vegetables
Canned Fruits	Canned Vegetables	Canned Juices
	Dairy Group
Canned Milk	Milk	Powered Milk
	Breads and Cereals
Bisquick	Baking Mixes	Boxed Cereal
Oatmeal	Flour	Sugar
	Baby Products
Diapers	Baby Wipes	Formula
Baby Food	Toys
	Personal Hygiene Products
Toothbrushes	Toothpaste	Shampoo
Bar Soap	Deodorant	Shaving Products
	Paper and Cleaning Products
Toilet Paper	Paper Towels	House Cleaning Chemicals

Do you have the Food or Products? To get a full copy of the Law before your final decision, contact us.

Who Is Homeless?

According to the McKinney Act, a homeless individual is one who:

1. lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate residence, or
   
    
2. has a primary nighttime residence that is:

1. in a supervised shelter for temporary accommodations which is publicly- or privately-operated (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill),
    
2. an institution providing temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or
    
3. a public or private place not designated for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

This means that the following people are homeless:

• Families doubled-up with friends or families. This includes families in which the children and parent(s) are staying in different places.
   
• Families or individuals staying in parks or camping areas because they have no permanent housing.
   
• School-aged mothers or pregnant girls staying with friends or in a home for teen-aged mothers.
   
• Runaway or throwaway youth who are living on the streets, in abandoned buildings or other accommodations unfit for habitation, in apartments with similarly situated children without adult supervision, or staying temporarily with friends or relatives.
   
• Children or youth placed in foster homes due to lack of shelter space.
   
• Families staying temporarily in motels because they have no permanent housing.
   
• Families staying in safe houses because returning to their permanent homes would mean returning to a situation involving domestic violence.

Hunger Implications;

Although it is universally understood and accepted that hunger adds significantly to other social costs (e.g., increases in crime/law enforcement, increases in health care costs, decreases in academic achievement, lower labor and production output), no known studies exist that quantify these costs in a total comprehensive manner-the primary reason being the difficulty of the measurement.

However, numerous studies have drawn some important conclusions in this area.

The "Blue Ribbon Committee on Future Challenges and Opportunities in Senior Nutrition" (August 2004) sponsored by the Riverside County Advisory Council on Aging quoted the following from "The Nutritional Screening Initiative" (1997)

• "For every $1.00 invested in nutrition programs, $3.25 is saved in health care costs."
   

• "Older persons at nutritional risk have 2 to 20 times more complications, hospital stays as much as 100% longer, and costs $2,000 to $10,000 higher compared to well-nourished hospital patients."
   

• "The cost of an one-year supply of home-delivered meals equals approximately the cost of an one-day stay in a hospital."
   

• "The average cost of treating malnourished hospital patients ($12,683) was four times greater than the average cost of care for well-nourished patients ($2,968)."

"The State of Food and Agriculture" (2001) concluded that:

• "Better nutrition leads to higher cognitive achievement and increased learning capacity, and thus to higher labor productivity as well as to higher incomes."

"The Consequences of Hunger and Food Insecurity for Children" study concluded:

• "The research findings demonstrate that household hunger and food insecurity are linked to serious health, psychosocial, and academic problems for children that can, individually or interactively, impede normal growth and development.  Most of these studies show adverse consequences of hunger and food insecurity for children over and above the effects of living in poverty or being in the low-income category."

So, in conclusion, it costs less to society if help is given to the needy, before help is really needed.