Disclosure: I am participating in a paid campaign on behalf of Walmart and The Motherhood to share information about the “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” campaign.
When most people think about hunger, they think of a starving child in a third-world country or the homeless in our communities. Sadly, hunger is all around us. Nearly one in five children in America lives in households that struggle to put food on the table. Louisiana has the fourth highest rate of children living in poverty in the country. You might never know this because child hunger in America is often invisible.
As a mother of 4 and the owner of a community that strives to serve mothers, this is heartbreaking and it’s not OK. Thankfully, we have an opportunity to make a difference right here in our community. This spring, Walmart’s “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” campaign calls on customers and suppliers to join in the fight against hunger.
Through the “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” campaign, Walmart is working with five suppliers — Campbell Soup Company, General Mills, Kellogg Company, the Kraft Heinz Company, and PepsiCo — to give millions of customers an opportunity to fight hunger in their local communities.
The goal is to help Feeding America secure 75 million meals on behalf of its member food banks. As the nation’s leading hunger-relief organization, the Feeding America network provides food to more than 46 million people in communities across America, including the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank! My sons and I took a trip to our local Walmart to help Feeding America by purchasing participating items as well as donating at the register for our local food bank. I was pleasantly surprised to find many of our everyday items are included in the campaign. While our store did not have signage up, we did find the “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” logo on the boxes. If your store does not have signage with information about participating products, you can find a full list of Walmart’s “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” products here.
In 2015, The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank distributed more than 8.7 million meals to the hungry in its 11-parish service area, generated 4 meals for every $1 donated, provided food to more than 115 charitable agencies and had more than 2,500 volunteers donate time, the equivalent of more than 13 full-time employees.
How You Can Help Fight Hunger and Spark Change
“Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” will run in all U.S. Walmart stores through April 25, and offers three easy ways to participate:
- PURCHASING: Purchase participating products in Walmart stores to help provide meals for families who struggle with hunger in your local community. For every participating product purchased at Walmart between March 28th and April 25th, 2016, the manufacturer will donate $0.09 to Feeding America – enough to secure one meal on behalf of local food banks – up to each manufacturer’s maximum donation, which is provided on the participating packages. See package or Walmart.com/FightHunger for details.
- DONATING: Donate to a local Feeding America food bank at the register.
- ONLINE: Generate donations for Feeding America food banks through online acts of support!
- Facebook: Use of the hashtag #FightHunger and likes, shares or clicks on Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. posts
- Instagram: Use of the hashtag #FightHunger and likes or shares of Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. posts
- Twitter: Use of the hashtag #FightHunger, retweets of the hashtag #FightHunger and favoriting or clicking on Walmart’s Fight Hunger. Spark Change. posts
- Snapchat: Use of Fight Hunger. Spark Change. filters accessible in select Walmart stores
- Walmart.com/FightHunger: Visit the website and click the support button to activate a donation
For each online act of support, Walmart will donate enough to help Feeding America secure 10 meals (an equivalent of $0.90) on behalf of its member food banks, up to $1.5 million. To kick off the campaign, Walmart will make an initial donation of $1.5 million to Feeding America. Based on the public’s social engagement, we aim to reach a total donation of $3 million.
Please help us raise awareness of hunger in America and join us in-store and online now through April 25!