Lions Club Donates $500 to FTP

We would like to thank the Freedom District Lions Club for donating $500 to Feeding the People and for inviting Jennifer to speak at their May 26th meeting.

The Freedom District Lions Club focuses on service to the community surrounding Sykesville and Eldersburg in Carroll County, Maryland. Members of the Freedom District Lions club are part of the worlds largest service organization which includes over 1.3 million members in over 44,000 clubs from over 200 countries and geographic areas.

For more information visit: http://www.freedomdistrictlions.com

Anna Osztreicher Joins Feeding the People Board

Last Thursday Anna Osztreicher, CRNP was elected to Feeding the People's Board of Directors. Mrs. Osztreicher has served as a Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner, Diabetes Educator, and Program Coordinator for the Diabetes and Pregnancy Education and Management Program of the Department of OB/GYN at Lifebridge Health - Sinai Hospital since 2001. She pioneered the work of this program, which is officially recognized by the American Diabetes Association.

Prior to this position Mrs. Osztreicher served as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner at Clinical Associates from 1997-1998 and as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner and Clinic Director for the Western Center for Women’s Health Care in the Department of OB/GYN at University of Maryland at Baltimore from 1987-1997.

Mrs. Osztreicher served as President of the Maryland Association of Diabetes Educators from 2006-2007 and as Baltimore District Director of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Maryland from 2001-2002.

Eustache and James LLP and MVLS Support Feeding the People

Eustache and James LLP, The Capital Health Law Group, has offered to provide pro-bono legal services for Feeding the People. The firm specializes in helping healthcare providers such as physicians, pharmacists, dentists, psychologists, and healthcare sales professionals with all their legal and business concerns.

Feeding the People was connected with Eustache and James by Richard Reitzel Chambers, Director of Community Development and Taxpayer Programs for the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service. MVLS is a nonprofit organization that provides free (and in some cases low cost) legal representation to Marylanders with limited income. MVLS also provides free legal help for community-based nonprofits that are working to strengthen low-income communities in Maryland.

We would like to thank Attorneys Harold J. Eustache, Sr. and Sharon James (Williams); Richard Reitzel Chambers; and MVLS Executive Director Bonnie A. Sullivan for their support.

For more information about Eustache and James LLP visit: www.eustachejames.com

For more information about Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service visit: www.mvlslaw.org

Research: Diabetic Meal Delivery Improves Glycemic Control

A 2007 study from Japan "provides evidence that intervention with delivery of diabetic meals to patients with type 2 diabetes can be equally effective for achieving glycemic control as individual dietary counseling by a dietitian. Diabetic meal delivery can therefore be used successfully to provide diabetes education to outpatients ... It is hoped that delivery of diabetic meals makes it easier to maintain an appropriate diet at home and also to motivate and empower underserved patients to start self-management and thereby avoid the serious complications of diabetes."

Read more: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2212351/


A 2003 report on the impact of community health workers on healthcare utilization of African-American Medicaid patients with diabetes in West Baltimore found that weekly education and support from health workers was effective in improving quality of life and lowering Medicaid costs. Total emergency room visits declined by 40% and the average savings per client was $2,245 per patient per year.

Read more: http://www.ishib.org/journal/ethn-13-01-22.pdf (PDF file)

Week 3 of Pilot

We are entering week 3 of our 6-week pilot providing nutritious meals to people with diabetes. The feedback has been very positive! One child's parents say he is excited about eating his meals and finishes everything on his plate. We look forward to expanding the program after the pilot.

Pilot Launch

We are excited to announce the launch of our 6-week pilot. Beginning Monday, November 30th we will be delivering free, diabetic-appropriate meals to a group of volunteers. The pilot will allow us test out our operations, gather feedback, and collect data before expanding our services.

Thank you to all the people who made this pilot possible through the donation of their time and money:

• Sue Birch
• Sheri DePetro
• Eagle Voice Center
• Carolyn Johnson
• Abdul Kargbo
• Henry and Paula Niese
• Lyn K. Ostrov
• Ann Palmer
• Ilysa Peak
• John and Shirley Riffle
• Martin and Paula Schugam

Fundraiser a Success

Feeding the People's first house party/fundraiser on August 27th was a huge success! We raised $5oo and generated a lot of interest in our organization. We plan to launch a test run of our operations over the next 2 months. We are selecting 6 volunteers to receive seven meals a week for 5 weeks. This will allow us to gather preliminary data and prepare for our pilot launch.