“Yes!” to L.U.N.C.H.

For most of us, summer means blissful warm weather, weekends up north, bbq’s and s’mores by the fire. For the nearly 300,000 Minnesota kids that depend on the free or reduced-cost meals provided during the school year, it means unhealthy meals – or worse, no meals at all.

In order to combat child hunger this summer, we are thrilled to kick-off our Facebook event “Yes!” to L.U.N.C.H. (Let’s Unite to Nix Child Hunger) today and raise awareness for Second Harvest Heartland’s Kids Eat Free! Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). We’ll donate $1 for every person that “attends” (up to $1,000). If you want to make your own donation, visit www.2harvest.org.

In 2009, Second Harvest Heartland started the program and was able to provide 250,000 nutritious meals to kids around the state. The following year they provided 750,000 meals and this year – with your help – they’re shooting for 1 million free meals!

Spread the word and help IN Food Marketing & Design and Second Harvest Heartland meet their goal. Share this event on Facebook, Twitter, your blog – wherever, whenever!

Child hunger is a real, and completely avoidable problem in the U.S. Programs like Second Harvest Heartland’s SFSP and others around the country do a fantastic job of providing accessible, nutritious meals the kids in need. They rely generous donations, federal funding and increased awareness to keep their programs thriving.  In Minnesota, nearly 300,000 kids depend on free or reduced-cost meals during the school year, but unfortunately only 20% take advantage of summer food service programs. That’s all changing. Each year more and more kids have access to these summer programs due to increased funding and availability. Second Harvest’s SFSP is hoping to serve 1 million free meals to kids in need this summer. Virginia is combating the nearly 12% of kids who go hungry by teaming up with Hollywood hero, Jeff Bridges, to gain awareness and federal funding. According to this article, of the 218,000 kids that relied on free or reduced-cost meals during the school year, only 18% participated in summer food service programs. If they can increase participation to 40%, the state would receive $5 million more dollars from the federal government.

Let’s help Minnesota children receive the nutrition they need. Let’s Unite to Nix Child Hunger!