Food Bank Director To Speak In Washington D.C.
BUSH
By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor
Executive Director of the East Texas Food Bank Robert Bush will speak at an invitation-only round table discussion Thursday in Washington, D.C. The event is sponsored by the Office of Faith Based Community Initiatives and will feature three domestic and three international speakers representing programs in various locations.
Religion Editor
Executive Director of the East Texas Food Bank Robert Bush will speak at an invitation-only round table discussion Thursday in Washington, D.C. The event is sponsored by the Office of Faith Based Community Initiatives and will feature three domestic and three international speakers representing programs in various locations.
Bush, 37, said his part of the discussion is to represent how local agencies, versus national ones, respond to America's most pressing problems. Hunger is one of those problems.
"Texas is the third hungriest state in the country," said Bush. "More than 400,000 people at any given moment live in poverty and don't know where their next meal is coming from. We're not alone among states in the nation facing this problem. We need more strategic solutions and group participation at the local level to address this solvable problem"
That's through innovative programs, such as the Senior Servings and the Backpack programs the East Texas Food Bank has implemented, Bush said. Senior Feeding attracted the attention of the Under Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Nancy Johner, who came to East Texas in November. She handed out the first sack of Senior Servings groceries while visiting Tyler resident Bennie Henderson, 89.
"In my 18 months as under secretary, I haven't seen a similar collaborative effort of this nature in the country," she told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. "This is something the entire nation could learn from."
Bush speculated it was Johner's visit to Tyler that prompted his invitation. She'd heard of the food bank's program while visiting a Dallas regional office of the USDA.
"It's important for local agencies to remain innovative, create partnerships and grow to be effective in their communities," Bush said. "In Washington, they want to know how religious groups, the grassroots, rise up to solve the countries most pressing problems. The backbone of the East Texas Food Bank, the overwhelming majority of what we do, is through the religious grassroots."
Bush said East Texas is a model of compassion.
"East Texas is the army of compassion when related to the issue of hunger," he said. "We at the food bank are simply a conduit to many pantries, soup kitchens, distribution centers and feeding programs. When a need is presented, East Texans tend to respond."
"East Texas is the army of compassion when related to the issue of hunger," he said. "We at the food bank are simply a conduit to many pantries, soup kitchens, distribution centers and feeding programs. When a need is presented, East Texans tend to respond."
About 150 people from "all over the world" will attend the conference, Bush said.
"It will be a great time for me to hear ideas they have as well," he said.
Bush will travel and be housed at his own expense. The effort is worth it, he said.
"This (meeting) presents an opportunity to shine a light on the issue of local hunger and help people who don't know where their next meal is coming from," he said. "We've been at it in East Texas for 20 years and have a lot of experience to share."
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