April Food Day: Bloggers Fighting Hunger

Our current economic climate has created difficulties for many American families. People who never had to worry about food before are having to think about where their next meal will come from. People who have never needed any type of assistance in the past are showing up at food banks, only to be turned away because their shelves are bare. Meg Fielding of Pigtown*Design and Chris Cox of Easy & Elegant Life have joined forces to create April Food Day in an effort to make a difference in over 200 communities in America.

Dear readers, I am asking you to please contribute $1.00 today or tomorrow, April 1st. If you can, anything more than that would be greatly appreciated, of course. One dollar will provide ten pounds of food, or seven meals to feed families in need. $25.00 provides seventy-five meals.

Did you know that "one out of six children lives in a food insecure household, which means they do not always know where they will find their next meal. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than 12 million children in the United States live in this condition – unable to consistently access nutritious and adequate amounts of food necessary for a healthy life.[i] The states with the highest rates of child food insecurity are Texas and New Mexico, where more than 24 percent of all children are at risk of hunger. The other states with child hunger rates above 20 percent are: California, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee and Utah. Washington, D.C. also has a child food insecurity rate above 20 percent"?

There are many negative implications for children who face food insecurity. Their physical, mental, and emotional health is impacted negatively.They are put in jeopardy of developmental risk and they often fall behind at school. You can read more about the ways in which hunger affects people throughout the United States on the Feeding America website.

The blogging world has proven to be a kinder and more generous place than I could have ever dreamed. April Food Day officially begins today and ends tomorrow, April 1st, so please open up your hearts and give what you can to this worthy cause, even if it is only $1.00. Every little bit helps, and for every dollar you give, ten pounds of food, or seven meals will be given to hungry families. Click here to make a contribution. Just imagine how many people we could feed if every person who reads this donates $1.00! Thank you!