St. Louis Area Foodbank

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2003
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Feed the hungry

Many children in our cities, rural communities and suburbs are fighting hunger daily. On any given day, one of every six American children might be forced to skip dinner - or breakfast or lunch.

America's Second Harvest is the largest domestic hunger relief agency in the United States. As the local organization of Second Harvest, we are finding that there is simply not enough food on our shelves to aid local residents.

Over the past year, our 430-plus food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and emergency feeding programs have reported staggering increases in requests for food assistance. In any given week, more than 43,000 people rely on the services provided by the St. Louis Area Foodbank.

We need your help. Today is National Hunger Awareness Day. We ask that you bypass dining out for lunch today and, instead, donate the unspent lunch dollars to help battle hunger here at home. Your participation will make a difference.

We also suggest that you:

Donate food.

Volunteer at pantries, kitchens, and shelters.

Tell your friends, families and elected leaders about hunger in our community.

Organize your workplace, house of worship or community group to raise money for local food banks.

For information on how to help, please visit www.stlfoodbank.org, or call (314) 423-6100.

Frank Finnegan [BIO]
Executive Director,
St. Louis Area Foodbank
St. Louis