June 1 at Boise Centre on the Grove A Chefs' Affaire: Great Food, Free Wine, and Chefs for Sale The ninth annual A Chefs' Affaire, presented by SYSCO Food Services of Idaho, is only days away, and excitement is building. Not only is it The Idaho Foodbank's largest fundraiser and Boise's premiere fine dining experience, it is an unforgettable evening that combines excellent food and wine with the exhilaration of spirited bidding on our talented chefs and the sense of shared purpose. This might be a good time to double-check your calendar: Friday, June 1, 6:30 - 11 p.m., at Boise Centre on the Grove, black-tie optional.. Tickets are available at 336-9643 or Select-A-Seat outlets for $85 each, $160 per couple, $90 at the door. Dining, Auction and Music Some of the things you can look forward to include: * A five-course, jaw-dropping gourmet meal planned and prepared by teams of Idaho's best chefs from 20 different restaurants. * A wide selection of free Idaho wines to complement each course. * Participating chefs will be auctioned to the highest bidder. * The silent auction will feature a wide array of dining packages, merchandise and services from the area's restaurants, caterers, wineries, hotels and retailers. * Nationally known Idaho singer-songwriter Steve Eaton will provide live music throughout the evening. * Restaurants, caterers and other participating businesses will have the opportunity to put their best work on display and market themselves to a most discriminating clientele. * The gourmet evening will raise funds for The Idaho Foodbank - the largest hunger relief organization in Idaho - and our Chefs to the Rescue prepared-food recovery program that picks up unserved food at restaurants and delivers it directly to those in need. * Larry Gebert of KTVB Channel 7 will be our master of ceremonies, and Larry Flynn will again be our auctioneer. Of course, we couldn't throw a party like this without our dedicated and generous sponsors, to whom we are most sincerely grateful: Title Sponsor SYSCO Food Services of Idaho Official Sponsors Journal Broadcasting Albertsons/Supervalu KTVB, Channel 7 Hopkins Financial Services, Inc. CorpCasting The Idaho Statesman Agri Beef Co. Supporting Sponsors Hewlett-Packard Integrity Audio Visual J. R. Simplot Co. Micron Technology Foundation, Inc. ProForma Diversified US Bank North By Northwest Productions Idaho Preferred/Idaho State Dept. of Agriculture Course Sponsors Idaho Beef Council United Dairymen of Idaho Fredriksen Health Insurance Event Sponsors Idaho Beef Council Rogers Seed Ellsworth Kincaid Construction Creative Balloons Tabasco Boise Weekly Idaho Business Review BSU Radio Participating Chefs Alan Turner, Executive Chef – SYSCO Food Services of Idaho Steve Rhodes – Café Vicino Paul & Mary Jean Wegner – Cucina di Paolo Chris Hain – The Grove Hotel/Emilio's Shannon deLauer – Eurest Dining Services/Micron Leslie Charles – Incredible Edibles by Leslie Patrick Brewer – La Vie En Rose Ramon Barquin – Leku Ona Jake Arredondo – Murphy's Seafood Bar & Grill Christine Reid – Pair Jeremy Shay – Powerhouse Events Center Rob Rotella – Rotella's Fine Italian Elias White – Spurwing Country Club Mitch Maricich – The Milky Way Gary Kucy – Tamarack Resort Richard Mount – Thomas Cuisine Management/Simplot Food Group Shane Zalac – Thomas Cuisine Management Lisa Villano – Villano's Specialty Market & Deli Clark Ketchum – Westside Drive-In Dustan Bristol – Brick 29 With assistance from Chef Vern Hickman, BSU's Culinary Arts Department and the culinary arts students Wine Sponsor Idaho Wine Commission Participating Wineries Bitner Vineyards Indian Creek Winery Koenig Distillery and Winery Parma Ridge Vineyards Sawtooth Winery Snake River Winery Ste. Chapelle Winery The Winery at Eagle Knoll Williamson Vineyard Weston Winery A Chefs’ Affaire is not only important to the Foodbank and an official Hunger Awareness Day event, it is also a great deal of fun. Ask any of the thousands of satisfied patrons who have attended over the past eight years. Please join us this year. It will become a regular entry on your social calendar. See photos from last year's A Chefs' Affaire on our home page...

Treasure Valley Program Picnic in the Park 2007 Will Serve First Meal June 8 Last summer children enjoyed almost 51,000 free lunches thanks to many generous partners. The numbers should be even higher this year. Picnic in the Park 2007, The Idaho Foodbank’s extraordinarily popular Treasure Valley summer feeding program, will open for business this year on Friday, June 8. For information on the Lewiston program, see the article below. Every weekday, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. through August 24 (except on July 4th), the Foodbank's background-checked staff will serve free lunches at the following sites: Owyhee, Cassia, Elm Grove, Veterans, Manitou, Winstead, Fairmont and Ivywild city parks in Boise, plus Ada Boys and Girls Club and Nampa Boys and Girls Club. The Meridian Boys and Girls Club will also have lunches during two weeks in August. Just like last year, Picnic in the Park will offer a variety of enrichment activities – thanks to such partners as Ada County Library, Humphreys Diabetes Center and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul – as part of this very attractive noontime package. There are no income or attendance requirements. It is open to all young people ages 1 to 18. All they have to do is show up, have lunch and enjoy the activities. Last year, Picnic in the Park 2006 served 50,930 lunches between June 12 and August 18, with an additional 500 lunches served at the Meridian Boys and Girls Club through August 25. Those numbers point out how important this program is for thousands of children in the Treasure Valley area. For example, some 36% or about 8,000 of the children in Boise schools depend on free or reduced-price lunches during the school year. Those children are at risk of going hungry during the summer when school breakfasts and lunches are not available. At Taft Elementary, for instance, 76% of the kids are on the free or reduced-price lunch program. Down the street is Whittier, where 91% qualify. Those are the types of kids we need to reach this summer. The Picnic in the Park program is the result of collaboration between The Idaho Foodbank and a number of partners, including Centennial Job Corps, Boise City Parks and Recreation, the US Department of Agriculture, the Idaho State Department of Education, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Idaho, Lowe’s of Nampa, Williams and Scotsman, Naylor Towing, Clear Springs Foods and will include programs by Humphreys Diabetes Center, Ada Community Library and the St. Vincent de Paul Book Blitz. It's going to be a great summer. Please feel free to join us. To see our summer menu, just click here...

Lewiston Landscape Summer Feeding and Backpacks Will Fill More Plates This Year Chuck Whitman Lewiston is also geared up for another robust summer feeding program. Last year the Foodbank’s program in Lewiston provided snacks and meals for over 350 kids a day at five sites. This year Chuck Whitman, Director of Northern Idaho Services, anticipates he will feed closer to 450 children a day. Breakfast will be served at Opportunities Unlimited (OUI) in Lewiston, Lapwai and Valley Boys and Girls Club. Snacks will be served at the YWCA, OUI and Clarkston Boys and Girls Club, and supper will be available at Lapwai Boys and Girls Club. Children’s programs have exploded in North Central Idaho this past year, Chuck says. Now that Scott Friend is on board full time at the Lewiston facility, Chuck is already planning to expand children’s programs to more outlying areas next school year, which means summer meals in more outlying areas next summer. "The BackPack Program was a huge success this school year. We ended up providing 150 backpacks of food per week to 14 schools," says Chuck. "The community has really taken notice with the Backpack Program, and we anticipate filling up to 250 backpacks per week next school year." Fundraising has already started in Lewiston with the Lewiston Main Street Association planning an Outdoor Movie Night during the summer. This community event will highlight Habitat for Humanity and The Idaho Foodbank BackPack Program. Food has already been donated, and all proceeds will be split between Habitat and the Foodbank. "Several more organizations have already approached me about other fundraising opportunities," says Chuck. "The BackPack Program not only strikes hunger where it hurts most, with children, but it also increases awareness in the community as a whole that hunger is a serious issue in Idaho." Want to help? Just click here to contact Chuck Whitman in Lewiston...

Wednesday, May 30 in Boise Old Spaghetti Factory Opening to Benefit Foodbank When Boise's first Old Spaghetti Factory opens on Wednesday, some of the proceeds will benefit those who can't afford to be there. Seatings for the grand opening lunches will be at 11:30 a.m. and 12 noon in the restaurant, which is located in the vastly remodeled former Lithograph Building at 610 W. Idaho St. A portion of the first 100 reservations will be designated for the Foodbank's fight against hunger in Idaho. The first Old Spaghetti Factory opened in Portland in 1969. Today, OSF is an international restaurant company that serves more than 10 million customers annually. We hope you will join us for a delicious lunch and a good cause. To RSVP and ensure you will be part of that first 100, contact Jill Palmer at 336-9643, ext. 242, email her at jpalmer@idahofoodbank.org. If you can't make it Wednesday, feel free to visit our donation page. A $10 donation will provide more than $100 worth of food...

Board Member to Chair Lawyers Group Maureen Ryan, a Foodbank Board members and an attorney with Holland & Hart, has been elected chair of the Idaho State Bar Young Lawyers Section. The Young Lawyers group sponsors the annual Attorneys Against Hunger dinner. Maureen also belongs to Idaho Women Lawyers, Boise Young Professionals and the Urban Land Institute. Congratulations, Maureen, and good luck with all your ventures. Maureen Ryan presents Foodbank Executive Director Roger Simon with checks for nearly $3,000 after last year's Attorneys Against Hunger dinner. You can help support Maureen's ongoing fight against hunger with a click on this link...

Federal Spending on Children Declines, Study Says An analysis of the trend in federal spending on children from 1960 ahead to 2017 reveals that children are a diminishing national priority, according to a study released this month by the Urban Institute. The study evaluated more than 100 major federal programs, including Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit and food stamps. Overall, federal children’s spending increased from 1.9% of the gross domestic product in 1960 to 2.6% of GDP in 2006, the study reported. However, as a share of federal domestic spending, children’s spending declined from 20.1% to 15.4%. "Over the next ten years, children’s programs are scheduled to decline both as a share of GDP and domestic spending," the authors wrote. Click here to see the entire study...

Fact of the Month The average monthly Food Stamp benefit per participant in Idaho is $91.83, about $1.02 per meal. (USDA Food and Nutrution Service, 2005 preliminary data) More statistics about hunger and poverty in Idaho are right here...

Quote of the Month "It's an amazing thing to think that ours is the first generation in history that really can end extreme poverty, the kind that means a child dies for lack of food in its belly. That should be seen as the most incredible, historic opportunity, but instead it's become a millstone around our necks. We let our own pathetic excuses about how it's 'difficult' justify our own inaction. Be honest. We have the science, the technology, and the wealth. What we don't have is the will, and that's not a reason that history will accept." Bono Paul David Hewson, born May 10, 1960, Irish musician, social activist and philanthropist; nicknamed Bono Vox, then just Bono; lead singer of U2. Recently named an honorary British Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Care to lend a hand? Here's the link to our volunteer page...

The Foodbank's 2007 Calendar May 30 - Benefit lunch at grand opening of Boise's Old Spaghetti Factory. RSVP please: Jill Palmer at 336-9643, ext. 242. June 1 - A Chefs' Affaire, Boise's premiere fundraiser, Boise Centre on the Grove. June 7 - Hunger Awareness Day: "The Face of Hunger Will Surprise You." 11 a.m., Winstead Park, Boise. June 8 - Picnic in the Park, the Foodbank's summer lunchtime feeding program, starts in Boise and at Nampa Boys and Girls Club. August 24 - Picnic in the Park program concludes. October 21 - CROP Walk. November 1 - Holiday turkey drives start. Your time and skills are like gold to us. Please volunteer now. Click here for information...

Thank you for supporting The Idaho Foodbank in the fight against hunger. Your donations of time, food and cash meant that with the help of more than 200 partner agencies your Foodbank could distribute 4.8 million pounds of badly needed food to Idaho families in 2006 and 60 million pounds since 1984.

Sincerely,
The Team at The Idaho Foodbank