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April 16^th: Easter Sunday Sunrise Service:

Join us for a spectacular and moving non-denominational sunrise service on south beach in Ft. Lauderdale, south of Las Olas by the paid parking area at 6:15am. A time for spiritual renovation and reflection. A love offering will be given to benefit those served by The Cooperative Feeding Program and other agencies.

Rev. Gail Tapscott at the 2005
Empty Bowls dinner.

Thursday, April 20^th:

"The Interfaith Coalition to Eliminate Hunger" will hold the 6th Annual Empty Bowls Dinner. The dinners will be 5-7pm at Second Presbyterian Church (1400 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale), Church of Religious Science (1550 NE 26 Street , Wilton Manors, across from Storks), and at the Sunshine Cathedral (1480 SW 9th Ave, Fort Lauderdale). It is open to the public and the $15 donation to The Cooperative Feeding Program includes the hand-made ceramic bowl.

Last Chance for the Feinstein Challenge!

Any cash or food donation made to The Cooperative Feeding Program through April 30^th, 2006 will be proportionately matched by the Feinstein Foundation. During the month of April, PLEASE make a cash donation or hold a food drive in your condo or neighborhood, in your office, church or synagogue. This is a wonderful event for youth groups too! Just one individual can do so much. Multiply your effort and help those in need. If you need help as to how to organize a food drive, please contact Bruce@FeedingBroward.org.

Brownie Troop 860 bring food

An energetic group of Brownies from Troop 860 (Coral Springs – Parkland) brought bags of food for The Cooperative Feeding Program’s Emergency Pantry on February 27^th. The Brownies had collected food for those served by the agency at the same time as they sold their delicious Girl Scout cookies.

And the Girl Scouts too!

Many thanks to the Girl Scouts of Broward County for their wonderful annual food drive on March 12^th which benefited many social service agencies in the county, including The Cooperative Feeding Program, which received six pallets of food. The Florida Panthers Foundation was a key partner in this successful event. Thank you!

Volunteer Drivers Needed to Deliver Food to Shut-Ins

Do you have a couple of hours a week you could volunteer to take food to elderly shut-ins in Broward County? The Cooperative Feeding Program needs 10 volunteer drivers to deliver boxes of food in their vehicles to people who cannot get out of their homes. A big smile and the desire to help others is all that is required! Please contact Liliana at (954) 792-2328 or liliana@FeedingBroward.org.

The North Broward Regional Service Center of the Florida Department of Children & Families is undertaking a food drive to benefit the clients of The Cooperative Feeding Program. Food is being collected at the Broward County-District 10 office.
For more information, please contact Nancy L. Spencer at (954) 267-2135.

Many People are Unable to Pay for Housing in Florida. How can we change that? - Help Create More Affordable Housing

We need the State Legislature to pass HB 869 and SB 1776 to ensure that the rental housing units created by our tax dollars are targeted for Florida's disenfranchised families and individuals that are most in need of housing. The purpose of these two bills is to ensure that 30% of all units created within the state of Florida using state tax dollars to be built will be provided to people at 30% or below of the Area Median Income. Currently, HB 869 is beginning to move through the legislative process and is now being heard in the House Local Government Committee. Please click here to see how YOU can help. If people cannot pay rent then many families will end up being homeless.

Invisible Lives

Powerful. Poignant. Perplexing. The Sun-Sentinel ran a six-page supplement on March 12^th, 2006 with powerful portraits by award winning photographer Robert Mayer and interviews with more than a dozen people who are homeless in southern Florida. Streets and boulevards, avenues and highways. Thousands in south Florida call them home. Here are there stories. In their words.

www.Sun-Sentinel.com/homeless

Matching Funds for Hurricane Emergency Food Boxes

A generous supporter of The Cooperative Feeding Program will match dollar for dollar (up to $ 14,000) funds donated during the month of April 2006 specifically for the purchase of emergency supplies for the upcoming hurricane season.

The Cooperative Feeding Program hopes to prepare 1,000 emergency family food boxes by June 1st - the official start of the hurricane season. If you would like to double the impact of your support, please visit www.FeedingBroward.org/donate and make a secure online donation with VISA, Mastercard or American Express. Please mention the phrase "Matching funds for Hurricane Emergency Food" in the comments box so the funds will be doubled thanks to our wonderful donor.

We only need to think what happened to our community last year to understand that we need to prepare for what is to come.