September is Hunger Action Month. As the month gets underway, Ozarks Food Harvest is asking the community to help local families and children facing hunger through a Hungerthon and other events.
The action month is part of Feeding America’s national effort to get communities involved in solving hunger locally. In southwest Missouri, one in five children and one in six adults face hunger, according to a Ozarks Food Harvest news release.
All the events will benefit the Weekend Backpack Program that provides children facing hunger with meals every weekend of the school year. According to the release, the program provides more than 63,000 backpacks of food each year for kids across 15 counties. A $30 monthly donation provides a child with a full school year’s worth of weekend meals.
Here are the events taking place as part of the Hunger Action Month:
- 26th Annual Hungerthon with iHeartRadio Springfield (Sept. 6-9) : By tuning into Alice 95.5, US97, 100.5 The Wolf and 105.9 KGBX, donors can listen for dollar-for-dollar matches to double their impact;
- Hungerthon Day at McDonald’s (Sept. 9) : Participating McDonald’s locations will donate a portion of proceeds for every purchase made to the Weekend Backpack Program. Participating locations can be found on the Ozarks Food Harvest website ;
- Go Orange Auction (Sept. 18-20) : This online silent auction will allow participants to bid on several unique items, including Kansas City Chiefs tickets;
- Empty Bowls (Sept. 26-Oct. 2) : Those interested can purchase bowls handcrafted by local artists online with the proceeds benefitting the backpack program. On Oct. 3, bowls will be available for purchase in person at Panera Bread at 4100 S. Campbell Ave. from 3-7 p.m.