Community members can take action in many ways to help ensure food isn’t an impossible choice for the 293,250 people at risk of hunger in West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.
COMSTOCK PARK, MICH. – Sept. 1, 2022 – For Hunger Action Month® this September, Feeding America West Michigan will join Feeding America and other member food banks to inspire people to support the fight to end hunger and raise awareness of people experiencing food insecurity across the United States. Food banks around the country are working to make a real and lasting impact on hunger in their communities, and they are asking for the public’s support.
September marks the 15th year Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization with a nationwide network of 200 food banks, including Feeding America West Michigan, has organized the annual call to action. This year’s campaign presents the impossible choices that millions of people in America are often forced to make between food and other basic needs.
“Many people may not give a daily meal much thought. For people facing hunger, a daily meal is not as simple,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. “Instead, it becomes a different type of choice – an impossible decision between food or other crucial needs, such as electricity, childcare, or medicine. Nobody should be forced to make a choice to go hungry. With the public’s support, we can come together to help increase food access for all people, so they no longer have to make such tough decisions.”
During the month of September, people across West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula can get involved by completing the daily actions listed on Feeding America West Michigan’s Hunger Action Month calendar, available at FeedWM.org/hungeractionmonth, or they can follow along on social media @feedingwestmich.
“1 in 8 people in our 40-county service area is at risk of hunger. We believe this is unacceptable,” said Kenneth Estelle, President and CEO of Feeding America West Michigan. “That’s why our staff, volunteers and hunger-relief partners take action against hunger each and every day. Hunger Action Month is a great time to get involved!”
About Feeding America West Michigan
Serving local families in need since 1981, Feeding America West Michigan reclaims millions of meals’ worth of safe, surplus food from various sources. With the help of countless volunteers, the food bank sorts, stores and distributes this food through a network of hundreds of hunger-relief partners to fill neighbors’ plates instead of landfills. The food bank’s service area consists of 40 of Michigan’s 83 counties from the Indiana border north through the Upper Peninsula. For more information, visit FeedWM.org or call 616-784-3250.
About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 6.6 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
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