It’s no secret that I’m passionate about trying to fight hunger. I’ve been there. I know what it’s like and no one should have to feel hunger. In a country that is full of promise and an abundance of food; so much so that food actually gets wasted, it just kind of makes me sick that we have hungry people in our communities. That’s why I do what I can to make a difference. I will talk about hunger openly and I will continue to donate food to my local food pantry.
The hunger statistics are frightening and sad. 1 in 5 children across America are hungry right now. 16 million kids don’t have access to the food they need to stay healthy and survive. And you know what That’s not limited to just a couple of areas in the country. It’s happening right in your backyard and the only way to put an end to hunger is to band together and fight together. No one deserves to go hungry!
There are so many ways that you and I can help to fight hunger. One of the ways that we can help through August is to purchase ConAgra food products with the “Child Hunger Ends Here” red pushpin. These products will have an 8-digit code that you can enter and ConAgra Foods will donate a meal to Feeding America, up to 3 million meals.
I wanted to make a really big difference in my community so I decided to host a food drive. I created a flyer and had copies printed, which the kids and I distributed them to family, friends and neighbors. We asked for their help in donating food to our local food pantry. It was really wonderful, because we got quite a few people to give a few things.
Every little bit helps and by the time we were finished collecting a few donations and gathering the items that we had purchased, we had filled two pretty decent size boxes full of food, plus a grocery bag! We even collected toilet paper because personal care products are always needed just as badly as food.
Not only did we collect an awful lot of food, but my children learned some valuable life lessons as well. For their ages, my boys have shown such love and compassion towards others and it’s inspiring. Their hearts are always open and it’s little projects like this that really make a difference.
Our local food bank is open until 7pm on Wednesdays, so today (4/22), the kids and I gathered our boxes and bags of donation items to drop them off. One of the ladies running the pantry saw us coming and had a cart ready to collect our haul. She thanked all of us and let us know how much our large donation means to them because they are not affiliated with the county food bank and rely solely on the generous donations from regular people like you and I. That just gives me one more reason to choose that food pantry the next time we donate!
In the meantime, look for the red pushpin on ConAgra food products when you’re out grocery shopping. You can make a difference by not even doing anything other than buying products that you normally would. If you feel inspired by my post or you just want to open your heart and your wallet to help others, I encourage you to purchase some food to donate to a food pantry in your area. Every single item counts and makes a difference! Check out this video below that shares what kids thought about hunger and their ideas to help. Now if that isn’t inspiring, then I don’t know what is!
