Nonprofit receives $5,000 to combat hunger in Interior
Published Monday, December 1, 2008
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — A $5,000 grant will help curb the hunger problem in Interior Alaska.
Alpha Omega Life Care Inc., a nonprofit social service agency based in Delta Junction, was awarded the grant from the Alaska Community Foundation.
Kenneth E. Farrow, executive director of Alpha Omega, said the money will be used to purchase an insulated box van to transport food from the Fairbanks Community Food Bank to Delta Junction and other Interior communities.
“This will permit a partnership with the Fairbanks Community Food Bank to be more effective and will allow us to expand services to Interior communities, population clusters and individuals,” Farrow said.
Alpha Omega now can expand its hunger abatement program to the communities of Salcha, Dot Lake, Tanacross and Tok.
Hunger abatement is one of Alpha Omega’s main services, Farrow said, but the agency provides 19 other services, including case management for elders or people with disabilities whose families do not live nearby and making frequent telephone calls to clients.
Farrow said he started Alpha Omega seven years ago because he saw a number of unmet social services. Since then, the agency has experienced slow but steady growth.
Among Alpha Omega’s accomplishments last year, the agency traveled 5,000 total miles delivering food from Fairbanks to Delta Junction, volunteers made phone calls to clients totaling 300 hours and the organization assisted more than 100 individuals with applications for public assistance.
Alpha Omega was one of more than 80 applicants that applied for a grant from the Alaska Community Foundation. Fifteen groups, including Alpha Omega, were awarded grants that totaled $65,000.
“The 15 projects were chosen because we believe each of these projects will make Alaska a better place to live, work and raise a family,” said Carol Simonetti, the foundation’s chief executive officer, in a released statement.
While Farrow said he wasn’t surprised about receiving the grant, he is concerned about the availability of charitable grants today.
“Charitable funds are harder to get because of the economic situation,” he said.
The competition for grants is stiff, making it harder for groups to secure funds.
“You just have to wait and see with grants,” he said.
Contact staff writer Christi Hang at 459-7590.
Community Discussion
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Praise GOD. Fairbanks, you are really good people. I don't care if you agree with me or not. You are good people.
Hey Bill, we just got $5,000 to feed the needy.
Yea Joe, the shelves are looking mighty barren this winter...
Lets buy a van?
Yea!!!
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Seriously, wouldn't it have been easier to find a volunteer who commutes to/from delta junction who wouldn't mind carrying a few extra boxes of food with them? How many calls do they get from that area anyways?
Agreed Isanova, they blew their entire "grant" on a van. Let the hungry folks eat the tires, I hear they're quite nutritious.
C'mon folks; geezus.
Isanova, with a commute like that, you see a lot of folks driving smaller cars, or they're making the town trip for their own supplies. Spare room is a premium at best. For example, I can manage to get 12 holiday boxes into my own 4Runner at a time, and that's not nearly enough for the need just in the Salcha area. Besides, this is a year-round activity, so you need to be able to find someone who can transport food without it freezing.
Our Senior Center is an outlet for USDA commodities; it seems there are only 1 or 2 people that roll up their sleeves for this, and it does take some time.
It's hard to find a consistent cadre of people who have a vehicle that can haul an adequate amount of food and NOT have it freeze during transport, so picking up a van for this purpose isn't out of line. I just hope for their sake that it's not a hunka junk.
Kudos to the volunteers for delivering food to the needy. Let's not let the negative remarks get out o' hand and just for once, praise someone for doing this. The van is very well needed for delivering all of this food and God willing, they will be delivering to more people in the future. God Bless and Happy Holidays.
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