Capital Area Food Bank Case Study

Capital Area Food Bank of Texas

https://www.austinfoodbank.org

1. What level is this organization targeting in its advocacy?

The Capital Area Food Bank is a member of "Feeding America" and "Feeding Texas". They serve 21 counties in Central Texas at local soup kitchens, food pantries and school programs ("About Us," 2015).

2. What is the program's mission?

"A leader in the fight against hunger for more than 30 years, our mission is to nourish hungry people and lead the community in ending hunger ("About Us," 2015).

3. What is the organization's overall policy and advocacy claim?

The Capital Area Food Bank shares free food as well as information about affordable and healthy eating for families in need ("About Us," 2015). They also connect with families in order to make it easier for them

to have access to federal assistance programs ("About Us," 2015). Finally, they help keep nutritional foods affordable to charitable partners so that these agencies can use more of their already limited resources on their respective programs ("About Us," 2015).

4.

Specifically, what policy actions and/or Initiatives/Campaigns have they advocated thus far?

The Capital Area Food Bank champions many initiatives to help fight hunger and provide nutritious meals to families in need.

- Fresh Foods For Families Initiative that provides free fruits, vegetables and other fresh foods to an average of 4,489 low-income families on a monthly basis ("Our Solutions," 2015).

- The Healthy Options Program for the Elderly (HOPE) aims to reduce hunger in low-income senior citizens by providing them with healthy non-perishable food items on a monthly basis ("Our Solutions," 2015).

- Kids Cafe works directly with schools that provide nutritious meals to low-income children after school when they might not have access to one at home ("Our Solutions," 2015).

- The Mobile Food Pantry helps fill geographic voids between families in emergency need when local assistance cannot keep up with demand ("Our Solutions," 2015).

- The CHOICES nutritional education program helps families make better choices during meals by providing classes to people that are eligible for food stamps about healthy food choices on a limited budget ("Our Solutions,"

2015).

5. Did this organization provide any evidence of relevant research and data that informs their efforts? If yes, what sources did they cite?

The website did provide a few statistics related to hunger in children and families around the Central Texas region, but did not provide any sources for the information they provided. They did not specify either, whether these statistics were found through their own research.

6. Comment on the user friendliness of the site.

I thought the website was very user-friendly. The Home page had information about the Food Bank itself and about the ways that it aims to carry out its mission. I thought the site was relatively easy to navigate through as well. Each section was clearly differentiated from the others as far as ways to get involved, learning more about the Food Bank, getting help for families in need and learning more about the initiatives that the Food Bank is involved in. I also thought it was really great that they provided hyperlinks to learn in more detail how they achieve the goals they have set for themselves.