Out and About

There is a great new program at my Agency and I had an opportunity to get in and see it first-hand last week. We call it 'Out and About'. Our version may be new, but it isn't a new concept. The idea is to create situations in which people get to see and experience the good work our programs do for themselves.

I have tried to participate in previous Out and About adventures, but it is really hard to get in to one; everyone wants to go and they fill-up quick. So I consider myself lucky to be one of the six people who went on a visit to see the TEFAP program IRL (in real life). We went to the Capital Area Food Bank in DC. It was a good experience for two reasons:

1. It was great to see the distribution system as USDA foods come in, and then go out into the communities
2. It was good to see them in their completely cramped facility. They are packed to the gills in there and moving to a much larger facility in 2012.

Often times people who work in headquarters offices or who perform administrative program support, like IT, become alienated from the good work our programs do every day. TEFAP is a great program that helps countless thousands of people with a little bag of groceries. The portion TEFAP provides is just a small part, but when it is combined with other contributions it helps to provide a meal or two for a family.

For me, the best part of this experience was when the woman from the food bank broke down the budget for a man and his wife living in DC on a $32,000 salary. When she broke out the expenses for rent and gas and everything else it was easy to see how food would be the 1 thing that people will cut back on. We think of $32,000 as a livable wage but when you look at it and build a budget, there simply isn't enough money for everything. This experience taught me how critical our programs are for people who are right there on the edge. If there is an unscheduled expense, like if someone gets sick, then this family is going to go hungry.