This is a partnered post on behalf of Unilever Project Sunlight, to help spread awareness for the Share A Meal initiative. All opinions are my own.
In a recently shared a bit about the Project Sunlight #ShareAMeal program, along with some startling statistics about childhood hunger. For example, the fact that 1 in 5 children in America go to be hungry at night. That’s 16 million children going to bed hungry – equate that to the populations of Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia combined.
After learning about these statistics and the Project Sunlight Share A Meal initiative, I was eager to do more in my own community. Living in a poor rural area, I know there are a lot of families in need. To help make a difference, I reached out to a few friends and organized a small food drive to benefit our local food pantry which services more than 150 families each month. That’s a lot, considering how small the population is in our county.
There are some wonderful people who work at Glascock Action Partners, offering a variety of services to our community. They are always so appreciative of any help we can give.
While the purpose of giving is helping others, I’m not going to lie – it feels really good to help others. I get warm fuzzies inside when I am able to help someone else. It’s a feeling I would love to have all the time. See that smile on my face?
The premise of the Project Sunlight Share A Meal program is to encourage people to get involved and help put an end to child hunger in America – to create a brighter future for children – by taking small steps to live sustainably, use less and share even more.
It doesn’t take much effort for you to help end childhood hunger in America. The small act of sharing a meal could have a big impact on a family in need.
Here are 7 ways you can help Share A Meal:
1. Help a Family in Your Neighborhood: Simply sharing a meal with a neighbor either in the form of a simple lunch or dinner party, or even packing an extra lunch for your child to take to school, could go a long way.
2. Partner with Local Organizations: Local community organizations are great resources for sharing a meal in your area – simply tap into their networks to see how you can help.
3. Coordinate with Your Local Food Bank: Whether you wish to volunteer or host your own local food drive, use Feeding America’s online Food Bank Locator tool to get in touch with a food bank in your area.
4. Host a Virtual Food Drive: Feeding America’s Personal Fundraiser tool is a great place to start and to reach out to friends, family, and colleagues for contributions.
5. Donate: Consider swapping a night out with a night in and share those extra savings with children and families in need in the form of a donation to Feeding America.
6. You Buy One, We Give One: Look for the Unilever “You Buy One, We Give One” coupon offer in the Sunday paper on November 16. Redeem at participating stores from November 16 – 30 and Unilever will donate one meal* to Feeding America when you purchase any participating Unilever product.
7. Lend Your Voice: Inspire others by revealing why you’re helping to end child hunger on social media using, “I #ShareAMeal because…”
If you are able, I encourage you to help put an end to child hunger. You can make a food bank donation like I did, or any of the other suggestions above. It’s also important to help spread the word about the #ShareAMeal campaign. Spread the word on your own social media accounts, or simply retweet my tweet below.
I share a meal because there are children in my community who are hungry. #ShareAMeal #sp http://t.co/mV4PGqRNCr pic.twitter.com/DGPZw8fDuA
— About A Mom (@aboutamom) October 28, 2014
Need more inspiration? Visit ProjectSunlight.us. There you can download the informative Unilever Share A Meal Toolkit to learn more about the power of a shared meal.
How would you “Share A Meal” to help end child hunger?
This is an awesome program. Anything that helps families eat is a great initiative. It always amazes me how we spend so much on foreign aid programs but can’t take care of home the same way.
Giving to families who aren’t as fortunate as us is so important. Thanks for these great ways to share a meal!
What great ideas! We always helped with food baskets that are put together by the student council kids and then distributed to families just before Thanksgiving in our local community.
Great tips. We learned recently that in our county 18% don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Our scout pack is going to do a food drive for our local food bank to try and help get that number down.
This is super! Esp in this season of thanksgiving, it’s great to be able to share a meal.
It is so easy to focus on our own busy schedules, and forget about many of the needs around us. I am so glad that such programs exist. Thanks for the reminder.
This is such an important campaign! We always donate to our local food pantry, and my son just did Scouting for Food with his scout troop to collect food around the neighborhood.
Much as I love to make donations, I have never thought of volunteering. Sounds like a wonderful idea, though!
Such a good cause, this is perfect especially during the holidays and beyond.