Friday is Hunger Action Day and you’re encouraged to wear orange to bring awareness and take a step to help prevent hunger in Michiana…
For thousands of neighbors in northern Indiana, a daily meal isn’t a choice between different dishes. It’s an impossible choice between food and other necessities such as medication, electricity, or childcare. There is no luxury of what to eat. The choice is IF they eat.
In northern Indiana, 91,060 (12.4%) residents in northern Indiana struggle with food insecurity including 31,460 (17.5%) children. Hunger is a community health, school performance and economic issue and exists in every county in the United States.
Friday, September 23, is Hunger Action Day. Orange is the symbolic color for hunger relief. Make a bold statement and wear your brightest orange to support those in northern Indiana who go hungry.
The following local landmarks will go orange for Hunger Action Day:
Beacon Central Office, 3245 Health Drive, Granger
Beacon Granger Hospital, 3220 Beacon Parkway, Granger
Beacon Health & Fitness Granger, 3221 Beacon Parkway, Granger
Central Park Bridge, 295 E. Mishawaka Avenue, Mishawaka
Elkhart Health & Aquatics, 200 E. Jackson Blvd., Elkhart
South Bend River Lights, River Lights Plaza, 340 E. Colfax Avenue, South Bend
Skyway Bridge at Memorial Hospital, 615 N. Michigan Street, South Bend.
Organize a food drive at your workplace, club, or place of worship to restock the Food Bank’s warehouse shelves. Most needed items include Peanut Butter, Jelly, Canned Soup (Chicken Noodle, Cream of Mushroom, Vegetable, Tomato), Pancake Mix and Syrup, Boxed Dinner Meals (Beef Pasta, Alfredo, Cheeseburger, Cheesy Tuna, Lasagna), Canned Fruit (Applesauce, Mixed Fruit, Peaches, Pears), Canned Vegetables (Green Beans, Corn, Mixed Vegetables, Sliced Carrots, Sweet Peas), Boxed Potatoes (Au Gratin, Mashed), Spaghetti and Spaghetti Sauce. *Low sugar, Low sodium, pop top lids and no glass jars, please.
Encourage the community to visit the Food Bank and its partner agencies to learn how we are feeding the hungry and creating healthier communities.
Spend a morning or afternoon volunteering at the Food Bank or one of its 125 agency partners in its six-county service area.
Tour the Food Bank’s facility and learn about its programs – Food 4 Kids Backpack Program, Mobile Food Pantry Program, Senior Nutrition Program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and Community Food Pantry of St. Joseph County.
Share your photos by tagging the Food Bank on Facebook (@Food-Bank-of-Northern-Indiana), Twitter (@FoodBkNIndiana) and Instagram (@foodbknindiana) and include #HungerActionMonth, #EndHunger and @FeedingAmeica.
Hunger Action Month began in 2008 when Feeding America’s network of food banks united to mobilize individuals to take action to fight hunger in their communities. Originally, this initiative was called Hunger Action Day which began in 2002 and was held on the first Tuesday of June. The Food Bank of Northern Indiana has participated in Hunger Action Month since 2009.
