Food for People has been a proud sponsor of the Senior Brown Bag Program for twenty two years. The complete elimination of the Senior Brown Bag Program could have a serious impact on Humboldt County’s seniors. During that time, we have provided a bag of groceries for an average of 450-600 seniors countywide each month. Almost half of the bags are delivered by volunteers who provide important social contact for the seniors; they also let us know if they have concerns about a particular senior’s well being. Elimination of this program, in addition to the severe cuts in SSI and other senior services that have been triggered by the state’s budget crisis, will further undermine the ability of our seniors to maintain their health and ultimately their independence. That’s why we need your help! Please follow the links below to share your concerns with the Governor and Legislators. And as always, be sure to contact us if you have any questions.
Budget Action Needed - Tell Legislators to Restore the Brown Bag Program!
After the legislature passed the budget deal, with the Brown Bag Program intact, the Governor used his line-item veto authority to eliminate this vital senior nutrition program. The legislature is looking into strategies to overturn this and other line-item vetoes that the governor enacted, but they need to hear from us. Tell them to make it a priority to restore the Brown Bag Program!
Take a Few Easy Steps to Help Restore the Brown Bag Program:
1. Download, fill out and fax this flyer to all the Assemblymembers and Senators in your service area, as well as the Assembly and Senate leadership. Fax numbers for all legislators and the leadership are listed on the second page of the flyer.
2. Spread the word. Email the flyer to your coworkers, member agencies and parter agencies and hand it out at distributions, meetings and any other place where there are people who will want to take action.
3. Update and Fax this sample letter from your organization to legislative leaders asking them to restore the Brown Bag Program.
We are very grateful to the Sisters of Orange Foundation, which is part of St. Joseph's Health System, for providing special funding to help keep the Senior Brown Bag Program operating this year! The funds they have provided, combined with funding provided locally by the Berth Russ Lytel Foundation, will make it possible for us to continue services to all of you who are now receiving the Brown Bag. But the funds the Sisters have so generously provided are for one year only, which is why contacting the Governor to convince him of the need to maintain funding for this program now and into the future is so important.
