Author: greg@illinifightinghunger.org

UUC Urbana Sets IFH Rice Packing Record

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The Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign packaged 1,850 lbs of rice today for the Wesley Evening Food Pantry, a new single-day Illini Fighting Hunger record! They surpassed the previous single-day record set by Service First at the University of Illinois on August 25 (1,289 lbs). The packaging was part of an event organized by the Hunger Initiative at UUC and included volunteers of all ages.

 

 

SNAP Hunger Challenge Begins Today

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The SNAP Hunger Challenge begins today and is an opportunity to learn what food insecurity in our community feels like.

The SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) challenge is a challenge to live on the average SNAP (aka “food stamps”) benefit for one week, or roughly $5 per day. The Illini Union Office of Volunteer Programs has issued a statement to students to take up the Challenge and to post to their blog (information below).

If you choose to take part in the Challenge, let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page!

OVP Challenges YOU to take the SNAP Hunger Challenge – Can You Live on $5 a Day? Why $5 a day? That’s the average Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit for an individual in Illinois. Live in someone else’s shoes for one week, one day, or even just a meal. In this case, it’s the experience of an estimated 1 in 8 people in Illinois who live in poverty. Champaign County’s poverty rate is estimated at 21% — higher than that of Cook County! By raising awareness of the barriers to accessing high quality, nutritious food on a food stamp budget, we hope to mobilize the public to end hunger in Illinois. Please join us. Taking the challenge? Post to the OVP SNAP Hunger Challenge BLOG at https://illinois.edu/blog/viewAuth/1069 to let us know how you did it! Post your recipes, stories, thoughts and reflections on surviving on $5 a day.

Didn’t start on Sunday? Don’t worry! Begin the challenge today (or tomorrow) and extend it for one week!

You can also consider donating the funds you would otherwise spend on groceries this week to Illini Fighting Hunger to help food-insecure people in our community.

Get Involved with Illini Fighting Hunger

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Get involved by signing-up to be a general volunteer or applying for a leadership position! For those who missed the meeting, a video blog recap is available in the playlist below. If you have questions, send us an e-mail or comment on the Facebook page.

The initial application period  for leadership positions has ended but applications will continue to be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.

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Hunger in America

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What do you know about food insecurity in the U.S.? Feeding America‘s Hunger Study 2010 revealed some alarming statistics. For example:

  • Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is an increase of 46 percent over 2006, when they were feeding 25 million Americans, including 9 million children, each year.
  • That means one in eight Americans now rely on Feeding America for food and groceries.
  • Feeding America’s nationwide network of food banks, which includes the Eastern Illinois Foodbank in Urbana, is feeding 1 million more Americans each week than we did in 2006.
  • Thirty-six percent of the households they serve have at least one person working.
  • More than one-third of client households report having to choose between food and other basic necessities, such as rent, utilities and medical care.
  • The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50 percent since 2006.

Learn more about hunger in America from the Hunger Study 2010.