Hunger in the Community the Focus

Of JALSA Sukkah dinner

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action took its message outside and made it literal time at the same time on Tuesday, when the problem of hunger was discussed during a dinner in the Sukkah at Ohabei Shalom.

members of the progressive advocacy group’s Young Social Activists division, for those in their 20's, 30's, and 40's enjoyed a kosher dairy and vegetarian dinner and heard a presentation by Susan Schrader, Marketing Director at The Greater Boston Food Bank. JALSA, which focuses on issues regarding social and economic justice, civil rights, and constitutional liberties, regularly organizes similar networking events with cutting-edge public policy speakers.

Schrader, a Guest Lecturer at Northeastern University in Marketing who teaches the Introduction to Marketing course, addressed the causes of hunger and discussed the GBFB’s distribution of 20 million pounds of food annually to hundreds of local agencies. Schrader holds a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in global marketing from Northeastern University, and a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State Universityl

A high-tech marketing veteran with over 17 years of service in the corporate sector, she started her marketing career at MCI Telecommunications, where she worked in varied capacities over a ten-year span. Other past positions include Vice President of Global Product and Service Marketing for Art Technology Group (ATG) in Cambridge,Vice President of Marketing for PictureTel Corporation (now Polycom).

Schrader also spent many years volunteering at non-profit charitable agencies. She was a founder of Party With A Purpose, an organization which raises funds for local non-profit organizations; recipients have included Harbor Me, Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts, Ron Burton Camp, and Project Hope. She will bring her wealth of knowledge to Tuesday’s talk.

“I spoke about the issue of hunger in the US and more specifically in eastern Massachusetts, the creation of The Food Banking system in the 80s, and what attendees can do to help solve the issue,” she said.

It’s a sad reality that nearly 400,000 eastern Massachusetts residents must choose whether to pay rent, seek medical care, heat their homes or feed their families each month. It is estimated that approximately one in five Massachusetts children under the age of 12 faces hunger; the GBFB and hundreds of food relief groups are assisting people from urban and suburban as well as rural communities. “Not only are the hungry at the poverty level, but they are also working-class or middle-class,” added JALSA Outreach Consultant Cindy Rowe, who noted that 32 percent of people in hunger actually live in the suburbs. “There is plenty of food available, according to the Greater Boston Food Bank, if we can get through the political and economic obstacles,” she said.

"Hunger is a silent epidemic in eastern Massachusetts. It's an issue that we all have a role in solving. I look forward to discussing the issue at JALSA,” said Schrader.

JALSA Executive Director Sheila Decter also spoke at the event about Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a national non-profit agency. “Mazon has granted more than $30 million to emergency food providers, food banks, and advocacy groups which seek long-term solutions to the problem of hunger,” said Rowe.

For more information about JALSA, please visit www.jewishalliance.org. For information on The Greater Boston Food Bank, located at 99 Atkinson St. in Boston, please call 617-427-5200. To receive the weekly JALSA e-mail update? If not, please send your e-mail address to Decter@JewishAlliance.org.

sschrader@gbfb.org