News Links: Bike Sharing Underway, Demand for Donated Food, How Giving Became Cool, Steveanna Wynn of SHARE, CauseHub

Bike sharing underway
Less than a month after the City announced it would bring bike sharing to Philadelphia, the process is already well underway, reports Eyes on the Street. January 14th marks the deadline for business model proposals, with interviews conducted by the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia to follow. Proposal candidates are being encouraged to think outside the box — including new and creative revenue streams. [Eyes on the Street]

Bare shelves for anti-hunger groups
Demand for donated food has exploded: up 29 percent over last year in the Delaware Valley, part of a 98-percent increase in need over the past three years, reports CityPaper. Those trends culminated in October with a critical shortage of dry food at Philabundance. Because of the shortage, pantries have been forced to stretch its supply by reducing the amount given to each client. CityPaper adds that donations of fresh or frozen foods are actually growing, but getting those goods to food pantries (which tend to not have freezers at their disposal) is a new and costly challenge. All that aside, Philabundance remains creative and optimistic. [CityPaper]

How giving became cool
Ted Turner might not be the ultimate vision of cool to most people, but The New York Times explains how his impulsive $1 billion gift to United Nations made it increasingly fashionable for billionaires to worry about global poverty. The piece outlines how philanthropists like Turner have helped revive a tradition of great philanthropists, while needling other billionaires — including Bill Gates and Warren Buffett — to be more generous. The article ends with a reminder that not everyone has gotten the memo, specifically Donald Trump, who has contributed his name to a foundation but little more. [The New York Times]

An advocate for the hungry
Steveanna Wynn, executive director of SHARE, was recently profiled by Philly.com as being an advocate for the hungry. At SHARE, Wynn helps provide food for as many as 500 Philadelphia neighborhood pantries that serve low-income residents. Wynn was named The Inquirer’s 2012 Citizen of the Year for her more than 20 years of commitment to the cause. As of June, 223,000 households visited a food pantry, compared to 54,370 in 2004, reports Philly.com. Wynn explained how her job would grow more difficult if Congress carries out threats to cut billions from food stamps, now called SNAP. Politics aside, Wynn has “no plans to give up anytime soon.”  [Philly.com]

CauseHub, created by local teen
Technically Philly recently profiled CauseHub.com, a site that lets young adults blog about different social causes. The site was created by a Bucks County-based sixteen-year-old, Ashvika Dhir, who noticed that many of her high school classmates “wanted to volunteer, but didn’t know the range of social causes and charities that existed.” Now one year later, the site is run by a team of nine students from all over the world, who Dhir met at leadership conferences. CauseHub focuses on a variety of topics — from social entrepreneurship to children’s rights. [Technically Philly]