Sponsor a Meal

Provide a life-sustaining meal to a someone in need. Every meal can make a difference!

100 points

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Purchased: 1666 times

Added: 03/30/08

Donation details Food provides the foundation for success and growth in life. Unfortunately, for 35 million Americans, including more than 9 million children, hunger is an everyday reality. This means that one out of every four people suffering from hunger is a child. Help support approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including after-school programs, emergency shelters, food pantries, Kids Cafes and soup kitchens by making a donation today!

Your donation will provide a balanced, nutritious meal to someone in need today and give them hope for a better tomorow.

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About Harvest
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Hunger and Poverty
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Child Hunger Facts
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About America's Second Harvest

America's Second Harvest-The Nation's Food Bank Network is the Nation's largest charitable hunger-relief organization with a network of more than 200 member food banks and food-rescue organizations that serves all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

The America's Second Harvest Network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually.

The America's Second Harvest Network supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, Kids Cafes, Community Kitchens and BackPack Programs.

Each year, the America's Second Harvest Network provides food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
Hunger and Poverty Statistics
- In 2006, nearly 37 million people (12.3%) were in poverty.
- In 2006, 7.6 (9.8%) million families were in poverty.
- In 2006, 20.2 million (10.8%) of people aged 18-64 were in poverty.
- In 2006, 12.8 million (17.4%) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
- In 2006, 3.4 million (9.4%) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.
Food Insecurity (Low Food Security and Very Low Security) and Food Insecurity With Hunger (Very Low Security)
- In 2006, 35.5 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 22.8 million adults and 12.6 million children.
- In 2006, 10.9% of households (12.6 million households) were food insecure, a statistically insignificant decrease from 11% (12.6 million households) in 2005.
- In 2006, 4% of households (4.6 million households) experienced very low food security, a small increase from 3.9% in 2005.
- In 2006, households with children reported food insecurity at almost double the rate for those without children, 15.6% compared to 8.5%.
- In 2006, households that were more likely to experience food insecurity were households with children, households with children headed by single women (30.4%) or men (17%), households with incomes below the poverty line (36.3%), Black households (21.8%) and Hispanic households (19.5%).
- In 2006, 5.9% of households with seniors (1.59 million households) were food insecure (low food security and very low food security), a statistically insignificant decrease from 6% (1.6 million households) in 2005.
Use of Emergency Food Assistance and Federal Food Assistance Programs
- In 2006, 3.3% of all U.S. households (3.8 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times, or 21% of all food-insecure households.
- In 2006, food insecure (low food security or very low food security) households were 19 times more likely than food-secure households to have obtained food from a food pantry,an increase in likelihood from 17 times in 2005.
- In 2006, food insecure (low food security or very low food security) households were 15 times more likely than food-secure households to have eaten a meal at an emergency kitchen, an decrease in likelihood from 19 times in 2005.
- In 2006, 55.5% of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major Federal food assistance programs: Food Stamp Program, The National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, remaining unchanged from 55.6% in 2005.
- America'≠s Second Harvest Network provides emergency food assistance to an estimated 25 million low-income people annually, an 8% increase from 23 million since 2001.
- America's Second Harvest provides emergency food assistance to approximately 4.5 million different people in any given week.
- Among members of the America's Second Harvest network, 65% of pantries, 61% of kitchens, and 52% of shelters reported that there had been an increase since 2001 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites.
Child Hunger Facts

The problem of childhood hunger is not simply a moral issue. Scientific evidence suggests that hungry children are less likely to become productive citizens.

A child who is unequipped to learn because of hunger and poverty is more likely to be poor as an adult. As such, the existence of childhood hunger in the United States threatens future American prosperity.

Current Statistics
- Over 9 million children are estimated to be served by the America's Second Harvest Network, over two million of which are ages five and under, representing nearly 13% of all children under age 18 in the United States and over 72% of all children in poverty.
- According to the USDA, an estimated 12.6 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2006.
- Proper nutrition is vital to the growth and development of children, particularly for low-income children. Sixty-two percent of all client households with children under the age of 18 participated in a school lunch program, but only 13% participated in a summer feeding program that provides free food when school is out.
- Fifty-one percent of client households with children under the age of three participated in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
- Nearly 41% of emergency food providers in the America's Second Harvest Network reported "many more children in the summer" being served by their programs.
- Emergency food assistance plays a vital role in the lives of low-income families. In 2002, over half of the nonelderly families that accessed a food pantry at least once during the year had children under the age of 18.
- 12.8 million or approximately 17.4% of children in the U.S. live in poverty. The rate of poverty for children under 18 remains higher than those aged 18- to- 64 and for those aged 65 and over.
- Research indicates that even mild undernutrition experienced by young children during critical periods of growth impacts the behavior of children, their schoolperformance, and their overall cognitive development.
- In fiscal year 2005, 50% of children were food stamp recipients.
- During the 2005 federal fiscal year, 17.5 million low-income children received free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program. Unfortunately, just under two million of these same income-eligible children participated in the SummerFood Service Program that same year.

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Sponsor a Meal

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