For Immediate Release
October 19, 2009

OMG! I Cn Txt 2 TAFB 2 Help?

Good Will on the Go: Tarrant Area Food Bank
Launches Cell Phone ‘Text to Donate’ Program

    FORT WORTH, TX (October 19, 2009) – Bo Soderbergh, Executive Director of Tarrant Area Food Bank, has announced the launch of an innovative program to appeal to the Food Bank’s increasingly cell phone empowered demographic. The new program is part of a campaign to get people involved in the Food Bank as volunteers, donors, and advocates in the fight against hunger.

    Cell phone users will be able to donate $10 through the Mobile Giving Foundation and get information about Tarrant Area Food Bank programs.

    “Anyone can get involved by texting ‘TAFB’ to 85944,” said Mr. Soderbergh. (For the over-40 crowd that means: Dial 85944 and text “TAFB.”) The Mobile Giving campaign is being promoted on billboards and in print publications.

    According to The Mobile Giving Foundation, this process enables a mobile channel for charitable giving. The Foundation provides the organizational layer, operational guidelines and technical infrastructure for non-profit organizations like Tarrant Area Food Bank and its donors to use the power and convenience of mobile technology.

    After the text “TAFB”is entered and sent to 85944 (Mobile Giving’s special five-digit cell number), the cell phone user receives a reply providing an opportunity to continue, approve, or opt-out of participating.

    All donations are collected through the donor’s cell phone carrier bill, either by adding the amount of the contribution to the donor’s mobile phone bill or by deducting it from a donor’s prepaid balance.

    The Mobile Giving Foundation collects 100 percent of all donations from donors’ wireless operators then grants the funds to the Food Bank within a few months of receipt.

    Messages allow for donations or for routing to the web site for other ways to be a part of Tarrant Area Food Bank’s fight against hunger.

    “We hope this innovative, simple approach to getting involved will inspire a new generation to find out about Tarrant Area Food Bank from their cell device,” Mr. Soderbergh continued. “We’re eager to find new and exciting ways to communicate in this tech-savvy world, with all ages, because hunger knows no age limits.”

    Founded in 1982 to collect and distribute donated food, Tarrant Area Food Bank provides food in 13 counties to emergency pantries, after-school programs, emergency shelters, senior centers and other social service centers. This network of hunger-relief charities has seen the demand for food assistance increase 20 percent during 2009. To learn more about local hunger and Tarrant Area Food Bank, please visit www.tafb.org.

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