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That said, President and Mrs.
Obama have been very involved since
their Chicago days in the work we do,
and Michelle Obama continues to volunteer
with us in DC, which is a great
sign of support. And we’re already
seeing encouraging actions from the
administration, including the commitment
by the president and vice president
to end child hunger by 2015 by,
among other things, strengthening the
Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization
Act, which focuses on improving free
and reduced school meals programs,
the Summer Food Service Program,
and other efforts to feed children. We
find these commitments and efforts to
be reassuring signs that we’ll continue
to have federal support during this
time of unprecedented need.
PND: What’s the best way for concerned
individuals to help address
the ongoing hunger crisis in America?
VE: First, people can educate themselves
about how pervasive the issue
of hunger is in America. Many people
don’t know that one in eight Americans
is struggling to get enough food for
themselves and/or their families.
Secondly, people can get involved,
either by volunteering or by giving
money directly to us or to a local foodbank.
Those are probably the two best
ways people can help right now.
PND: The New York Times recently
reported that a huge number of newly
unemployed professionals are seeking
volunteer opportunities, creating
a corps of volunteers that, in some
cases, has overwhelmed local nonprofits.
How are foodbanks and other
safety-net organizations utilizing the
influx of volunteers?
VE: Oh, we always have something
for our volunteers to do! We’ve
worked with roughly a
million volunteers at more
than 63,000 agencies
around the country, which
is largely how we deliver food
through our pantries and soup
kitchens, Boys & Girls Clubs, senior
assistance homes, et cetera. And
with demand up an average of 30
percent, as you noted earlier, that
means we have that much more
work to do. So the influx of volunteers
is great for us. We recently
held our annual meeting in Orlando
and had 180 volunteers pack more
than 7,000 boxes for the Orlando
foodbank in preparation for hurricane
season — boxes, should they
be needed, that will help get a lot
of families through a really tough
few days. We love our volunteers.
They’re really instrumental in helping
us do our work
— Lauren Kelley
Julie Rogers
President, Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
For more than 65 years, the Eugene and Agnes E.
Meyer Foundation has supported small and midsize
nonprofits serving the most vulnerable residents in
the greater Washington, DC, area, worked to identify visionary local nonprofit
leaders, and made grants that strengthen the region’s philanthropic community.
Like many other foundations, Meyer saw the value of its endowment decline
by roughly 30 percent in 2008. Rather than cut its 2009 grantmaking budget
proportionately, the foundation decided to make adjustments in other areas.
Its grantmaking for 2009 is expected to be $7.3 million, compared to
$8 million in 2008; the foundation will continue to provide its grantees
with general support and grants for financial management, governance, and
organizational assessment, as well as short-term cash-flow loans.
In spring 2009, Philanthropy News Digest spoke with Julie Rogers,
president of the foundation since 1986, about what nonprofits can do to
weather the economic storm, the impact of the tough fundraising climate
on executive turnover in the sector, and the prospects for a renewed sense of
public service in the country.
Philanthropy News Digest: Will
2009 be remembered as the “Year of
the Survival of the Fittest?” What are
your grantees doing to stay afloat?
Julie Rogers: Savvy nonprofit
leaders are protecting the core of
their organizations’ work by planning
contingencies and helping their
boards act decisively and quickly.
They are communicating their actions
clearly to key constituencies and
staying close to funders, even those
that can’t fund them this year. A
longtime Meyer grantee, Bread for the
City, wrote an open letter about how
it decided to face its own economic
circumstances. It cut services fairly
dramatically, for instance, and it also
cut staff and salaries. The organization
was courageous in the very
public way in which it put the news
out there to its constituents, including
what percent salaries were cut.
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