Feeding America – Help me Provide 2000 meals

I have a problem.  Actually, a few of them. And I hope you can help.

• One in Eight people (many of them children) is struggling with hunger.
• Nearly 96 Billion pounds of food go to waste every year. Billion.

How is that even possible?

When I was growing up, I used to hear, “Don’t waste that – there are starving children in…..(fill in the blank with a far-away country)”

But it is happening here.  One in Eight people.

The good news is – you can help.  And it is easy – and painless.

I have teamed up with Feeding America and Libby’s Vegetables to run a virtual canned food drive. I have set a goal of $1000, but would be thrilled with $150.

Every $5 we raise provides 35 meals for hungry families – so with only $150 – you and I would be providing 1,050 meals. Crazy, right?

How the Virtual Canned Food Drive Works

• You donate.
• Libby’s Vegetables matches your donation.
• Feeding America continues to build relationships with the people who can help: growers, retailers, wholesalers and restaurants.  They encourage them to DONATE, not DUMO.
• The Feeding America Network takes responsibility for the donated food and groceries – making sure they go where they are needed.
• The Food Banks working with Feeding America store the food safely and make sure it gets to local charities.
• The food then ends up in the hands of the hungry through local homeless shelters, soup kitchens, youth programs and food pantries.

Simple, yes?

Something else to consider – the good folks at Libby’s Vegetables will match donations through this virtual food drive – dollar for dollar – up to $30,000.

OK – so, just for a minute – let’s go back to that $150 I want to raise.

$150 = 1,050 meals for needy families ( Each $5 = 35 meals)

But if Libby matches, the $150 we raise together is really $300.

And $300 is actually 2,100 meals.

Will you help me get to $150? I am so grateful for your help.

A little info about Feeding America.

Feeding America is the largest charitable hunger relief organization in the United States. Every year, they help to feed more than 25 million people who would otherwise go hungry.  Nine million of those are children. They have a network of more than 200 food banks. Those food banks work with more than 63,000 soup kitchens, homeless and emergency shelters, and after-school programs. Through the food they secure and distribute, they provide two billion pounds of food annually.

The Virtual Drive is running through December 13th, 2009.