Fight Hunger, Spark Change

Did you know that 1 in 7 people in the United States struggle with hunger? It is a hard reality to face but so many are dealing with this issue, especially children! I am thankful and feel blessed that I personally have not had to wonder about where my next meal is coming from. The closest I ever came was when I was volunteering for a year and had an extremely limited income and realized I only had $7.00 to my name. I had to bite the bullet and ask for help from family to hold me over while I looked for a side job and received a paycheck. I soon was a waitress at a restaurant and part of my salary was a meal every shift which I welcomed! In that moment, I realized that a basic necessity like food, could be difficult to acquire especially when you have competing priorities like keeping the heat and lights on during a cold winter.

My circumstance was quite temporary and resulted from a choice I made when I had options for employment but for many, making the difficult decisions regarding paying bills or eating is a daily struggle. That is why I am so very happy about Walmart’s Fight Hunger, Spark Change initiative. Walmart and it’s partners are committed to reducing the number of people struggling with hunger and will be donating $3.7 million in grants to 50 local food banks and partners. They are asking that you help decide which food banks will receive the funding. From now until October 5th, you can vote daily for your local food bank so that they can receive $60,000! You can visit the Fight Hunger, Spark Change site to cast your vote!

I of course am voting for the Atlanta Community Food Bank, they are making a tremendous impact on the metropolitan Atlanta area in the fight against hunger. I had the opportunity to interview Julie Bryant Fisher of the Atlanta Community Food Bank to discuss their work here in Atlanta.

Here are some facts that she shared with me:

• 755,400 people in metropolitan Atlanta struggle with hunger
• More than 164,000 of them are children
• More than 64,000 are senior citizens
• Most people struggling with hunger are working and making a spending trade-off. 76% choose between food and paying utilities, transportation costs and medical costs
• 28% of Georgia children live in food insecure households

The Atlanta Community Food Banks supports 29 counties including metropolitan Atlanta and North Georgia. They have 600 partner agencies that directly serve these communities. Most of the food is collected here in Atlanta at ACFB and a distribution system is utilized to get the food to the participating agencies. The ACFB has been doing this work for 35 years and in the past year beat all records by collecting and distributing 50 MILLION POUNDS of food.

For every $1.00 donated  ACFB can provide four meals ($9 worth of food)  to those in need. They accept food donations year round and during the holiday season see the highest level of donations. The time of year when donations are needed most is right after the holiday season.

I plan on supporting the Atlanta community food bank daily to support their work to alleviate hunger in Georgia .Please remember to vote - Atlantans I am asking that you vote for ACFB daily! And remember you can also make a donation of time and/or money to ACFB to continue the fight against hunger!