Harvesters and local grocery stores call on community to help Check-Out Hunger

Harvesters and local grocery stores call on community to help Check-Out Hunger
Food and fund donations during Harvesters’ holiday campaign make a big difference for families in need.

 

(Kansas City, Mo.) – The 22^nd annual Check-Out Hunger campaign to support Harvesters—The Community Food Network is underway at 140 grocery stores throughout the region. The holiday campaign is the largest annual fundraiser for Harvesters, which feeds the hungry through its network of more than 620 nonprofit agencies.

“Despite some improvements in the economy, more families than ever will struggle to have enough food this holiday season,” said Valerie Nicholson-Watson, president and CEO of Harvesters. “Hunger is a huge problem in our community, and we’ll only solve it by working together. Every dollar and every can donated during Check-Out Hunger helps provide meals for our hungry neighbors.”

Across Harvesters’ 26-county service area, more than 378,000 people are food insecure. Forty percent of the households receiving food from Harvesters’ network include at least one person who is working.

             Community members can help this holiday season by scanning $1, $5, $10 or $20 Check-Out Hunger donation coupons for Harvesters and adding them to their grocery bills. Donation coupons and Harvesters food donation barrels will be in stores through January 5, 2014. Online donations can be made to KMBC-TV’s Check-Out Hunger virtual food drive at www.checkouthunger.harvesters.org. KMBC-TV has set a goal this year to raise 65,000 meals through the virtual food drive.

Since 1992, Check-Out Hunger has raised nearly $4 million and provided 20 million meals to families in need. Every $1 donated provides five meals to hungry people.

Check-Out Hunger is sponsored by the Retail Grocers Association and Watkins Advertising Design. This year’s Check-Out Hunger media partners are KMBC-TV and KCWE-TV. Stores participating in this year’s campaign are Apple Market, Cash Saver, Cosentino's Downtown Market and Brookside Market, Country Mart, Dillons, Festival Foods, Hen House, Hy-Vee, McGonigle's Market, Natural Grocers, Patricia’s Foods, Piggly Wiggly, Price Chopper, Red X, Sun Fresh, The Better Cheddar and Thriftway.

 

About Harvesters—The Community Food Network

Harvesters is this area’s only food bank and was Feeding America’s 2011 Food Bank of the Year. Serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 620 not-for-profit agencies including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, children’s homes and others. Agencies in Harvesters’ network provide food assistance to as many as 66,000 different people each week. Harvesters, which was founded in 1979, is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, serving all 50 states. For more information, visit www.harvesters.org.