Mike Peterson

Writer, editor & designer.
North County San Diego
San Diego Union-Tribune •

My experience with the four-day workweek has made me happier and more productive

Peterson is a public relations strategist at Mixte Communications. He lives in Escondido.Working hard is a virtue, but so is knowing when to rest. That’s why I know a four-day workweek is the future.For years, I worked in journalism, slogging through long overtime hours and 20-minute breaking news deadlines. You can get used to the pace, but the tolls of this type of long-term stress will always catch up to you — even if they’re initially invisible.Close to the end of my journalism career, I nee...
Food Bank News •

Summer Food Drives Can Pack a Punch - Food Bank News

While some food banks have downplayed traditional food drives in recent years, others have found that a combination of engagement, community, and collaboration has made their traditional food drives incredibly successful.Gleaners Community Food Bank, which serves five counties in southeast Michigan, hosts a trio of food drives each summer. According to Bob Irland, Community Giving Manager at Gleaners, summer food drives can help raise awareness of food insecurity during a time when donations dec...
Food Bank News •

Food is the Draw; Medical Training is the Goal - Food Bank News

Empowering the Masses of Dallas, Tex., serves 1,500 people a month through its hunger relief programs … but the food it serves is not really the point.The nonprofit’s mission statement emphasizes building stronger communities through vocational training and core skills development. Food plays a role as the “carrot.” It draws people in so staff members and volunteers can build relationships, assess needs, and potentially refer food clients to the organization’s bread-and-butter offerings – their...
Food Bank News •

More Food Pantries Adopt Community-Hub Model - Food Bank News

Food banks are not the only types of hunger relief agencies to pair free food alongside other social services (see article here).Some food pantries are also adding non-food social services like employment help, medical support and financial literacy to their food offerings. They are housing the combined services in newly constructed modern spaces, making it easy for people lacking resources to find all the help they need in one welcoming place.  It’s a “no-wrong-door approach,” said Jennifer Mon...
Food Bank News •

How One Food Pantry Wiped Out All Language Barriers - Food Bank News

For many food pantries, language barriers are a common obstacle to serving a diverse client base. One food pantry in the Chicago area is taking advantage of two distinct technologies to help non-English speakers navigate the pantry, whether they are accessing it online or in person.The West Suburban Community Pantry in Woodridge, Ill., is using a tablet-based system from TranslateLive to support in-person conversation in real time. It also is accommodating its online clients with software from P...
Food Bank News •

Iowa Org Pioneers Online Auctions for Fundraising - Food Bank News

A hunger relief organization in Des Moines, Iowa, is helping to pioneer a new method of fundraising developed by a tech startup.In April, Eat Greater Des Moines held an online auction of certificates representing food rescue and hunger relief actions it had taken in the recent past. The certificates, known as Regenerative Authentication Credits, or RACs, can be purchased by donors, offering another way for individuals or organizations to support hunger relief work. Such certificates can be appea...
Food Bank News •

How Pantries Are Overcoming Obstacles to Client Choice - Food Bank News

Letting food pantry clients choose their own food is widely accepted as a dignified way to distribute charitable food. But for pantries that have always packed up bags, moving to that “client choice” model can be an intimidating prospect.The dilemma is aptly summed up in a survey from December 2022, which showed that 56% of about 300 staff and volunteers at nearly 130 pantries thought it was “very important” to offer choice. But only 42% of them felt “very prepared” to do so. (NORC at the Univer...
Food Bank News •

Study Shows Pantry’s Success in Moving Clients to Self-Sufficiency - Food Bank News

The Kelly Center for Hunger Relief in El Paso, Tex., had a pretty good feeling a few years ago about the positive impact of its FreshStart program, which is designed to move food pantry clients toward self-sufficiency. Those feelings were confirmed with the results of a recently released formal evaluation quantifying the program’s success. Initially launched in 2016 as a three-year pilot, the program uses individualized coaching and education to reduce clients’ reliance on charitable food. Resea...
North Coast Current •

San Dieguito Academy opens new math and science building

A faculty member walks across the courtyard of San Dieguito High School Academy's new math and science building Aug. 31. The complex opened with the start of the Encinitas campus' fall term. (Photo by Jen Acosta) A faculty member walks across the courtyard of San Dieguito High School Academy's new math and science building Aug. 31. The complex opened with the start of the Encinitas campus' fall term. (Photo by Jen Acosta) A faculty member walks across the courtyard of San Dieguito High School
North Coast Current •

Encinitas split over controversial housing element update

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like. Close Email This Story Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification Send Email Cancel A housing element update on the Encinitas ballot Nov. 8 has the city divided. If approved, Measure T, as the proposal is known on the ballot, would create a new land-use designation in Encinitas that would allow property owners to build higher-density housing in certain zones around the city. The propo
North Coast Current •

Seaside Courier newspaper ceases printing, cites revenue challenges

Publisher, contributor say coastal media outlet is on hiatus as they consider next steps Coastal North County newspaper Seaside Courier is on hiatus as of the start of 2017, the paper's publisher and a contributing writer confirmed Jan. 9. (North Coast Current photo) Coastal North County newspaper Seaside Courier is on hiatus as of the start of 2017, the paper's publisher and a contributing writer confirmed Jan. 9. (North Coast Current photo) Coastal North County newspaper Seaside Courier is