Celebrating 1,000,000 Meals!

September was Hunger Action Month, and what better way to celebrate than to conquer our Million Meals challenge as part of our Food First™ program. Started in May 2010, the program’s initial goal was to raise 1,000,000 meals to help hungry Texans. It took us a little over a year, but we met our goal thanks to the support of great community organizations and generous individuals like you.

Here are some other ways we took action this September:

• We partnered with the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas on a 9.10.11 service learning project focused on ending hunger and energy conservation.
• We worked with a variety of groups from across the state of Texas – from local chambers of commerce to food banks – to host food drives and sponsor events that share local hunger facts.
• In conjunction with the Texas Food Bank Network and Baylor University’s Texas Hunger Initiative, we released a Texas hunger report called “Hunger by the Numbers: A Blueprint for Ending Hunger in Texas.” It includes a hunger scorecard for each of the 254 counties of Texas as well as a road map with resources for funding and programs to fight at a local, statewide and national level.
• Our community relations manager, the sweet Catherine Carlton, actually lived through Feeding America’s 30 Days in 30 Ways campaign and chronicled her experiences each day on our blog The Current.
• We sponsored the second annual Clash of the Cans competition between two great high schools—Galveston Ball and Texas City—which raised over 6,000 pounds of food.
• For each retweet, comment and post on Twitter, Facebook and our blog, we donated a meal to the Texas Food Bank Network. Those added up to 3,500 meals!

So now that Hunger Action Month is over and we’ve met our big challenge, what’s next? We’re going for the next million! While we’re happy about the progress we’ve made, hunger is still an everyday challenge for many Texans. Here in Texas, 22 percent of children miss meals on a regular basis because their families don’t have enough food.¹ In fact, Texas is the second hungriest state in the nation.²

You don’t have to wait until next September to help. We’re still matching food donations on our website—just tell us what items or money you donated to your local food bank, and we’ll give the same amount. Together, we can make a difference.
 

¹  One in Six Young Children Live at Risk of Hunger in 26 U.S. States According to New Feeding America Report. Feeding America
²  Hunger and Child Nutrition. Center for Public Policy Priorities (PDF document)