Students Volunteer Against Hunger JAN 19
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana will host “Students Volunteer Against Hunger†on Monday, January 19th as a part of President-elect Obama’s and Vice President-elect Biden’s “Renew America Together” initiative. More than 200 Ball State University students will be among volunteers packing bags of potatoes and fresh grapefruit for distribution to people in need.
The “Renew America Together” initiative, calling on Americans of all ages to participate in community service, begins on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 19th, to honor the legacy of a man who lived his life in service to others. On the eve of the Inauguration, thousands of community service events will take place in Washington and all across the country.
It is our honor to participate in this meaningful commemoration and to add our regional warehouse as a work site. We experience the power of volunteers making a difference on a daily basis in the pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and programs we serve as well as in our own facility. A focus on this day, at this time in history adds a remarkable dimension to that service.
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana provides food assistance to more than 63,900 people each year through pantries, shelters and kitchens. Additional people are assisted through food and product provided to day care centers, senior programs, youth, rehab and residential programs. Second Harvest Food Bank distributed more than 5 million pounds of food and products in 2008 with more than a million pounds being distributed directly to people in need through monthly Tailgate distributions in Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Henry, Jay, Madison, Randolph and Wabash Counties. Nearly 1,400 volunteers tallied over 5,000 hours of work at Second Harvest Food Bank in 2008.
One in eight Americans do not know where they will find their next meal.
According to the USDA, there are 36 million people at risk of hunger in the US, 12 million of which are children. In December 2008, Feeding America, the nations largest hunger relief organization, conducted a survey of 160 food banks nationwide – the results were troubling, with food banks reporting a 30 percent increase in demand for emergency food assistance, compared to one year ago.