Food Bank of Delaware15 Garfield Way

Newark, DE 19713(302) 292-1309

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION:March 5, 2014 Sean Carey

PR Student (433)-566-4509 smcarey@udel.edu

Misunderstanding the Delaware Food Bank’s function and benefactors contributes to one-fourth of the population utilizing feeding programsSeizing the Food Bank of Delaware’s volunteer opportunity this summer

helps resolve the ongoing crisisNewark, Del. (March 5, 2014) —Twenty-five percent of Delaware’s population, approximately

242,000 people, requires non-profit institution’s food assistance such as schools, churches, and

traditional “soup kitchens”: the Food Bank of Delaware (FBD) serves as a distribution center for

these non-profits. The FBD’s benefactors fumble with unfortunate living situations such as food

scarcity, and volunteers assisting the FBD contribute to their relief, especially in summer

months.

The staff and volunteers distribute food donations to non-profit institutions, and do not hand

out food to individuals like a “soup kitchen”. The FBD receives fewer volunteers than it requires

to operate efficiently, despite the organization’s impressive spread of generosity.

“It’s difficult to recruit people when there are so many misconceptions about who they’re

helping,” said Kim Turner, Communications Director of the FBD. “Many people don’t think

food insecure individuals are struggling or hardworking. They think they’re lazy and abusing

government welfare benefits, and, therefore, undeserving.”

-more-

Summer Volunteer Opportunity – page 2 of 2

The FBD defines food insecure as lacking the ability to access food for at least seven months

of the year. Turner rectified this misconception with Delaware Department of Health and Social

Services (DHSS) Senior Social Worker, Letisha’s story. Letisha survived domestic violence and,

similar to people the FBD provides for (families, children, and elderly), had hit a rough patch in

her life. Letisha completely depended upon food benefits, but since acquired two Masters

Degrees towards her career in social services and helps others overcome similar challenges.

Various successful individuals have acknowledged to receiving government-sponsored food aid,

from the liberal Barack Obama to the conservative Paul Ryan.

The local Delawarean community donates an ample supply of canned goods, meats, and

produce. The FBD must receive considerable donations to provide for a quarter million people.

However, the FBD’s lack of volunteers in the warehouses becomes an issue in the summer

months when some free food distributing centers close down, such as local schools.

The Food Bank of Delaware needs the community’s support this summer, given the higher

demand. “We are looking for as many volunteers as possible. Volunteers can qualify at seven-

years-old with adult accompaniment, and sixteen without” Turner emphasized. The volunteers’

responsibilities include preparing thousands of sandwiches, organizing and packaging donations,

and recording the amount of shipments per distribution site. This summer, the Delaware

community could seize a grand opportunity to fill the empty stomachs of the struggling food

insecure with their full hearts.

The Food Bank of Delaware receives food from various sources and redistributes it to nonprofit agencies that provide free food to the hungry. The FBD hopes to resolve problems of hunger and poverty through community education and advocacy with the support of a cumulative 50,000 volunteers in the past and a goal to distribute 100,000 lbs. of food by February 28th. For more information regarding the volunteering contact smcarey@udel.edu , call 1-(302)-292-1309 and visit www.fbd.org

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Sean Carey

COMM309: Food Bank Justification Paper

February 7, 2014

Our media release intends to inform journalist of a newsworthy story on the Food Bank

of Delaware using a local and surprising approach. We decided Wednesday, March 5, 2014 as

the release date because Wednesdays are typically less busy days for journalists and, therefore,

are a common day for journalists to search for newsworthy stories. Also, students looking for

volunteer opportunities for the summer would begin their search in March.

The title shockingly lures in the reader because it emphasizes the purpose of the release,

but omits enough to leave a journalist wanting more information. The subheading offers the

solution to the crisis described in the title, in essence the interaction of the two summarize the

message. The five W’s and H are also answered in the title and subheading, and expanded upon

in the opening paragraph.

The first few lines repeat the purpose and clarify the “misunderstandings” proposed in the

title: the concept of the Food Bank of Delaware. The second paragraph informs the journalist or

reader how this institution operates but iterates the issue of lack of volunteers, even though the

FDB provides such a humble service. This brings awareness to the issues at hand, and indirectly

implies a good will institution, such as the FBD, deserves more help. The entirety of these few

sentences summarizes the media release objective.

The quote is controversial because it explains the second “misunderstanding”, which is

the well fed population’s tendency to stigmatize the food insecure. This creates somewhat of an

emotional attachment with the issue at bay. Kim Turner’s position in the organization appears

within the quote, giving the words some credibility and ties them directly to the FBD. Food

insecure is then defined clearly in the first sentence of the next paragraph so that the audience

understands the terminology.

The following paragraph retells the story of Letisha: a woman who used to be dependent

on food assistance and in a rough situation. Letisha’s overcoming this obstacle and pursuing her

career in helping people with similar problems fortifies Kim Turner’s quote from the previous

paragraph. The audience can understand now that many of the food insecure are indeed

hardworking and deserving of help, which is further proven with the reference to Barack Obama

and Paul Ryan in the following sentence.

The next paragraph simply serves as a transition from talking about the donations and

those who receive them to our solution to the problem. The solution resides in the community’s

active participation in volunteering for the Food Bank this summer. We then clearly defined the

role of a volunteer for the FBD so the audience understands their responsibilities. The media

release closes with a clever, inspiring comparison to the FBD’s service to the hungry by saying

the community can distribute their love to those in need by volunteering.

Our boiler plate repeats a few key purposes of the Food Bank of Delaware and how it

operates. We included past statistics of volunteers and the upcoming goal of the FBD so that

readers understand their ongoing planning procedure. We provided contact information as the

final cap in the boiler plate.