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?
1 in 5? That’s so sad! It’s great that you were able to help like this. I should check to see what options to donate are available in my community.
that is a really great campaign. We always donate to our local food bank whenever we can. Every little bit helps.
That buy one give one coupon is a great idea. Having struggled to feed my own family, this is great to know people are helping.
I have been in that situation before myself, which makes it especially wonderful to be able to help others out now. There were so many people willing to lend a helping hand when I needed it.
These are great resources. I volunteered at a food bank last year around the holidays and it was so wonderful. They always need volunteers. Thank you so much for sharing.
I love this! I will definitely be looking for the “buy one give one” in my paper. Hunger is a horrible thing, especially for children.
There’s so much we can do to help, big and small. It’s just important that we do something!
I love this. I am always trying to help donate to causes like this. Now I have more ways to help against hunger!
I like this. I always donate here in our place because it’s not easy to eat nothing. I’m happy to know that there are a lot of people with a big heart.
Sounds like a great cause. With the holidays coming up, help is needed everywhere. Nothing is too small or too big.
SO awesome and so important to give back to your community. Great post. Thanks for sharing!