This is a sponsored conversation by Unilever and Project Sunlight. All opinions are mine alone.
Share A Meal: Bringing Awareness to Childhood Hunger
Is There a Hungry Child Living on Your Street?
Through my partnership with Unilever Project Sunlight Feeding America and the #ShareAMeal Campaign, I learned that 1 in 5 children in America do not know where their next meal is coming from, yes, that is 1 in 5! In their documentary, they are using the term “food insecure.” The faces of children who are food insecure are the faces of the children in our communities.
There are now 16 million children struggling with hunger here in the United States. Combine the populations of Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago to get a picture of the vastness of the problem. Their parents have been affected by illness, death of a spouse, or job loss, and in turn these families are relying on food banks and the kindness of neighbors to help them through these challenging times.
Imagine a child struggling with homework and school activities, while wondering if they are going to have a meal to eat tonight. It is very hard to fathom when you have more than enough.
I have to admit that my heart has hardened as everyday I see adults asking for money in the shopping centers, off-ramps and parking lots in my town. I want to help, but how do we know where those donations are going?
We can give our change and dollars and hope for the best, or do nothing.
There is another option thanks to Unilever Project Sunlight and Feeding America. Watching their original documentary will inspire and encourage all of us to see what the promise of a shared meal can do, right on our street, and in our communities. It is simple and yet has a profound impact on everyone.
After you have watched the documentary, ask your family members if they know of someone at school, at work, or a neighborhood family that might be having trouble putting food on the table.
Then take advantage of the fantastic resource that Unilever Project Sunlight and Feeding America have put together to find small yet significant ways to make our dollars and our time count in the effort to end childhood hunger here in the United States.
We can see how others have come out of our their comfort zones to help struggling families while allowing those families to maintain their dignity and enjoy the simple act of a shared meal.
Not only will you impact the family in need, your own family will be richer for the experience.
In addition to sharing a meal, consider these additional ways to make a difference:
- Enlist the help of your neighbors and family to chip in and put together some extra food for a local family.
- Host a potluck and invite neighboring families for a dinner.
- Partner with a local community organization and host a community potluck
- Organize your own food drive for a needy family in your community
Use the Feeding America Food Bank Locator to get in touch with a local food bank and volunteer at a food drive
Host a virtual food drive- you can set up your own page using the Feeding America Personal Fundraiser Tool and promote participation among your friends and family
Take a minute to visit Project Sunlight today and be excited about getting involved. Stay tuned for my experience!
We welcome your comments and your ideas using the hashtag #ShareAMeal.
I totally agree . My heart is burdened and our family makes it common practice to help those in need in our community. We would like to do more and also try to partner with larger agencies. I truly liked the article.
Blessings,
Lisa Ricciardo
What an awesome campaign. Childhood hunger needs to END!
It’s so sad to hear about childhood hunger right here in our hometowns. We don’t want it to exist, but it does. We have to do something about it, and more people need to make donations.
It is so sad to hear about child hunger in our own nation. We have a food pantry in our community. We always are dropping off something at our church each week to help our local families in need.
Thank you for raising awareness about such an important topic. Unilever is a great company that cares a lot about people. I think that they are the parent company for Dove, and they put a lot of time and effort into the real beauty campaign just to make women feel better about themselves. I can always appreciate a major company that puts the people first – and good for you for partnering with them!
Cheers!
JoAnna
foreverinparadise.net
this makes me sad.. no child should go hungry.. If someone was on my street i would certainly feed them no questions asked!
It is mind-blowing that there are that many hungry kids in the US. We give all year to the food collections – just a drop in the bucket but better than nothing I suppose
Raising awareness about the amount of kids who go hungry is so important. There are many ways we can give back and help!
I lived in NYC in the 80’s
I had some poor kids on my block,
They were free to come to my apartment and get some to eat.
Always
This is a great campaign. Children should not go without food especially when there are so many resources in this country.
I can’t even compute that 1 in 5 statistic. I’m so glad you’re bringing attention to this issue. No one and certainly no child should have to feel hunger when there’s such an abundance of food readily available.
I hope more people in my country would raise this kind of awareness too.
Wonderful campaign! Child hunger is something that tugs at my heartstrings.
This touches everyone is some way. I live in a very affluent region and work in a very affluent city and it kills me to see families here on the streets of San Francisco that are going hungry. I know that there are many, many families going hungry every day and access to free or affordable food needs to be improved. Love to see large companies like Unilever giving back.
As a teacher I see first hand how some of children often go to school without food. They even try to smuggle their leftover food out of the lunchroom which just breaks my heart. Thank you for raising awareness about this plight.
I am so happy that someone is standing up to end childhood hunger. Our kids deserve to eat a healthy meal.
It’s always important to help those in need and give back.
The statistics on child poverty are staggering. Here in Toronto, Canada, 1 in 3 children lives in poverty. Hard to believe in such an “advanced” society.
This is such an important issue. I have been reading about all of these schools taking trays of food away from students and throwing the good food away just because their balance was a few cents short. Children should not have to go hungry because they cannot afford to eat. I remember how embarrassing it was to not have any lunch at school while everyone else was eating. The school would give us a brown bag lunch that practically announced “i’m poor”, while the other students got nice warm meals.
With the world being unable to sustain its food supply for much longer, this is going to become a wider and more common problem. In the mean time, we should all do what we can to make our children less hungry.
Pantries can make more use of your dollars then your food donations. They can buy food in bulk with money donated. Instead of donating a $1 can, consider donating $1.
What a sad article but at the same time THANK YOU for sharing! It is something we ALL need to be aware of!
What a great cause! Yes, hunger is not always obvious in a community. I love that Uniliver is helping out.
such and important cause! thanks for helping raise awareness!