One in six children in the United States is hungry, according to Feeding America, a national network of local food banks. In a nation where it’s reported that 50 million people go hungry every day and 40 percent of food from farm to table gets thrown away, hunger is a phenomenon that affects the most vulnerable among us – our children.
As part of its national food program, the GSF Foundation continued for the second year to host Feeding Hunger: A “No Lunch” Lunch, a one-hour soup-kitchen style event to raise awareness and funds for childhood hunger. Launched last year with GSF’s Garner, North Carolina committee, this year the event expanded to three additional locations.
Just one week before Thanksgiving, GSF Foundation Committees in Charlotte, North Carolina; Arkansas City, Kansas; Garner, North Carolina and Lexington, South Carolina held respective “No Lunch” Lunch events which collectively reached approximately 275 attendees and raised almost $136,000, one hundred percent of which will go to local foods banks. Each gathering galvanized members of the local communities – from mayors to school superintendents, from local vendors to customers for one purpose: to hear stories about childhood hunger. Foundation committees organized the luncheons, raised funds from sponsors and obtained in-kind donations like the soup that was served at the event.
“The holiday season is a time when most families are busy preparing elaborate meals, but there are millions of people who are food insecure in this country,” said Gregg Tarlton, Feeding Hunger: A “No Lunch” Lunch National Chair and General Manager of Golden State Foods in Garner, North Carolina. “It’s humbling that several of our GSF committees spent several months planning for this event to raise awareness money for local food banks. The funds they were able to raise will make a significant impact in the lives of so many kids who are hungry.”
Through the food bank partners, the funds raised will be able to provide more than 640,000 meals for over 15,000 hungry kids in 2018. The GSF Foundation is on track to provide over 750,000 meals to children in need since the program’s launch in 2016.
“We are fortunate to have Associates who care about hungry children. Our goal in 2018 is to scale this event to even more sites around the nation and we will know by early spring who else will be hosting this event to raise much needed awareness and funds for this cause,” said Anna Lisa Lukes, Director of Social Corporate Responsibility and Executive Director, GSF Foundation.
To view photos from the events, visit here:
Thank you to our sponsors!
