All Faiths Food Bank launches fifth annual campaign against summer hunger

Hunger doesn't take a summer vacation. But 40,000 children who face hunger during the summer do, and All Faiths Food Bank is kicking off its fifth annual Campaign Against Summer Hunger to fund food programs targeted to feed the thousands of children who are at risk of going hungry this summer. 

"It is not OK that in our world, in this paradise, that more than half of our children are hungry," said board of directors chair Nelle Miller. "They often receive food that doesn't nurture them nutritiously, which is a roadblock to health, learning, prosperity and living." 

Representatives from dozens of community organizations gathered at Michael’s On East on April 3 to launch a 45-day dollar-for-dollar match challenge of raising $1.3 million. The campaign has so far raised about $650,000. 

Last year,  All Faiths Food Bank served meals to 35, 815 children over the summer, a 15% increase from summer 2016. 

New to this year's campaign is the hiring of three outreach workers who will visit low-income neighborhoods. All Faiths Food Bank CEO Sandra Frank said research from the food bank's previous summer hunger campaigns indicated that vulnerable families were not going to food distributions because they were not aware of them. The outreach workers will go door-to-door to inform underserved families about the food that is available to them through the programs.