JACKSON, Miss. – This September, the Mississippi Food Network, together with the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks, will mobilize across all 50 states in an effort to bring an end to hunger. Hunger Action Month is designed to inspire people to take action and raise awareness of the fact that 42 million Americans, including 13 million children, are food insecure, according to the USDA.
In our 56-county service area, more than 400,840 people struggle with hunger and may not know where they’ll find their next meal. That number includes one in four kids who may not have enough to eat.
September marks the tenth year the Feeding America network of food banks has organized this annual call to action, and tenth year the Mississippi Food Network has participated in the Hunger Action Month movement. This year the campaign will focus on the strong connections between hunger and health.
The Hunger Action Month 2017 campaign asks people to consider how it must feel to live with an empty stomach, which puts a healthy life and a promising future at risk.
“I’ve spent many days on the road this past year visiting food banks, food pantries, and meal programs, and meeting people who are facing hunger,” said Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America. “I’ve seen firsthand the anguish that food insecurity and hunger can cause. It is always heartbreaking to meet a mother or father who fears that they will not be able to feed their children. They know that their children cannot reach their full potential if they don’t have enough to eat.”
Hunger Action Day®, the second Thursday in September, is a day where efforts across the country are focused for greater impact.
This year, on September 14th, Mississippi Food Network asks supporters to share what they couldn’t do without adequate nutrition by writing on an empty plate, “On an empty stomach I can’t ______,” and filling in the blank with something they couldn’t achieve without the nutrition we need to thrive.
These photos can be posted to social media with #HungerActionMonth, @msfoodnet and @FeedingAmerica to join the conversation.
“With the combined effort of Feeding America, the nationwide network of food banks and hunger advocates across the country, the goal of this campaign is to raise awareness about hunger and inspire Americans to get involved,” Aviv said. “The Feeding America network is leading the fight to end hunger in the U.S. We all have a role to play in getting food to our neighbors in need. Advocate. Educate. Volunteer. Donate.”
To learn more about Mississippi Food Network and other ways you can get involved for Hunger Action Month in our service area, please visit www.msfoodnet.org or HungerActionMonth.org.
About Mississippi Food Network Mississippi Food Network is a food bank headquartered in Jackson. They are a Feeding America affiliated food bank and serve 56 counties in the central part of Mississippi. They accumulate, store and distribute food and household items to more than 430 member agencies in our service area. Member agencies are either churches or 501c3 nonprofit agencies and are Emergency Food Pantries, Day Care Centers, Emergency Shelters, Group Homes, Soup Kitchens, Teen Centers, Alcohol and Drug Rehabs, After School Programs, Homeless Shelters, and Senior Citizen Programs. We serve more than 150,000 people each month through our member agencies and distributed 18 million pounds of food in 2016. To learn more about Mississippi Food Network, visit our website at www.msfoodnet.org, find us on Facebook, or Twitter.
About Feeding America®
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the Unites States. Through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, we provide meals to more than 46 million people each year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.