News Coverage: Hunger PSAs
Last November, WCCO-TV ran some public service announcements about United Way's work to combat hunger in the region. Check them out! View the first hunger PSA. See the second hunger PSA.

Low-income families face tough choices each month. Paying for heat during an early winter may trump buying food for dinner. Children who don't get school-subsidized lunches can go hungry during summer vacation.

The economic downturn has indeed shed light on these choices, as more families face decreased or lost incomes. Food shelf needs have increased substantially, making it a startling news story—but for the 266,000 people in our 9-county region* who are hungry on a regular basis, it's a persistent and frightening reality.

United Way is committed to reducing hunger in our region, ensuring that families have what they need so that no child goes to bed hungry and no parent has to skip a meal.

*Extrapolated from USDA Food Insecurity Report 2007 and American Community Survey 2007

Community Issues

• Food shelf visits in the metro area have increased 43 percent compared to the first half of 2008. (Hunger Solutions)
• Children represent over 50 percent of food shelf recipients. (Keeping Food on the Table, Hunger Solutions, March 2009 )
• Fifty-one percent of families relying on food shelf assistance are working, but cannot make ends meet. (MN Partners to End Hunger, 2008 Public Policy Agenda)

Agenda for Lasting Change Goal

United Way is working to reduce hunger by 20 percent in our region by the end of 2009, one of 10 goals in our Agenda for Lasting Change.

United Way Response

Because hunger is such a complex issue and families who are hungry need more than just food, United Way uses a variety of strategies to ensure the biggest impact for low-income families. 

In 2008, along with our partners, United Way doubled our goal and brought an additional 6.4 million pounds of food into the emergency food system, helping stabilize families who are hungry right now.

Helping families in crisis is just one of three strategies to ensure the health of our community and create pathways out of poverty for those most in need in our region.

United Way stabilizes people in crisis by providing food, shelter and other basic services.

• In early 2009, United Way supported and leveraged additional community support to put $1.25 million into an already-beleaguered emergency food system.
• United Way investments nearly doubled the amount of culturally specific food available in the local food system in 2008.
• United Way provides annual, sustaining grants to hunger programs. Additional grants help increase food shelf capacity, including space renovation and commercial-grade freezers and refrigerators.

We strengthen people’s ability to improve their long-term quality of life through education, income and health.

• Partner programs are required to provide information and referrals to federal food programs, asset-building services and emergency services to those most in need, ensuring maximum support for those who qualify.
• Awareness efforts are targeted at seniors to increase their understanding of the importance of nutrition as they age and increase use of underutilized food stamp programs through the Twin Cities Hunger Initiative.

And streamline systems to ensure programs and practices work together to create lasting community change.

• Provide leadership to the collaborative Twin Cities Hunger Initiative:
  
  The annual Walk to End Hunger on Thanksgiving engages hunger relief organizations and walkers to raise money and awareness about needs in our community.
  
  

You can help!

Working together, we achieve more then any one organization can do alone. Join us at a future event, or consider a gift: your support today helps us ensure that no child will go hungry tonight.

Annual Walk to End Hunger
Create a new Thanksgiving tradition: before heading home for a feast, get a group together to show your support for hunger relief in the Twin Cities by walking a 5K inside the Mall of America. There is also a food drive and phone-a-thon.

Learn more about the event.

Hunger Forum a Success!
The Twin Cities Hunger Forum, presented by United Way and held at General Mills headquarters, brought nearly 300 people together to learn about hunger in our region and what we can do to solve it. Interactive booths brought the issues to life for participants while the panel discussion sparked a conversation about how we can all work together to end hunger in the Twin Cities.

Check out the full recap from KARE 11.

This event was presented by Greater Twin Cities United Way in partnership with the Twin Cities Hunger Initiative, and the following sponsors:

Your Gift Buys Success

	Your $5 gift feeds a senior for a day. Seniors on a fixed income, like Shirley, benefit from Fare for All, a program run by United Way community partner Emergency Foodshelf Network. Read Shirley's story.
	Your $25 gift helps a food shelf feed a family of four for two days. United Way's capacity-building grant allowed Community Emergency Action Partnership (CEAP) to redesign their food shelf, making it more efficient and helping them serve more people. Read CEAP's story.