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Fort Worth, TX (Sept. 2, 2008) – During September, Tarrant Area Food Bank joins the nation’s regional food banks in the inaugural nationwide Hunger Action Month. Local events, volunteer opportunities and fundraisers will raise support for the thousands of individuals living on the brink of hunger in Fort Worth and 13 neighboring counties. Hunger Action Month is organized on the national level by Feeding America (formerly known as America’s Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network), to which Tarrant Area Food Bank belongs. Highlights of local Hunger Action Month activities include: “30 Ways to Fight Hunger in 30 Days” – suggestions at www.tafb.org for individuals and families on ways to learn about local hunger and to act to reduce hunger among community members. Hunger Action Month Open Houses at Tarrant Area Food Bank, Sept. 11 and 18. To make reservations for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Food Bank and a light lunch, call Mary Kathryn at 817-332-9177, ext. 132. Volunteer opportunities at Tarrant Area Food Bank and local hunger-relief charities served by the Food Bank. For information and to reserve a volunteer time, call JoAnn at 817-332-9177, ext. 109. Fundraisers for Tarrant Area Food Bank – Zest Fest Sept. 5-7 at Will Rogers Memorial Center; Panera Bread Campaign at the three stores in Tarrant County. For details about these events, visit www.tafb.org, or call Susan at 817-332-9177, ext. 110. “You’ll be hard pressed to find a community in the United States that is immune from hunger,” said Bo Soderbergh, Tarrant Area Food Bank executive director. “One in ten Americans is unsure how he or she will get the next meal. Our participation in Hunger Action Month, along with nearly 200 Feeding America food banks, is a call to all Americans to get involved locally to bring an end to hunger in their hometowns.” In the 13 COUNTIES served by Tarrant Area Food Bank, more than 317,000 adults and children live in severe poverty and, thus are at risk of hunger. This includes more than 118,000 children, or 37 percent of living at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level. In TARRANT COUNTY during the 2007-08 academic year, 46 percent of all students (148,440) qualified for free and reduced-cost meals. In TEXAS, 3.7 million residents, or 15.9 percent of us, are food insecure, not always having the resources to obtain sufficient nutrition, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Report (“Income, Earnings, and Poverty Data from the 2007 American Community Survey,” issued August 2008). This makes Texas the hungriest state in the nation. ABOUT TARRANT AREA FOOD BANK Founded in 1982 to collect and distribute donated food, Tarrant Area Food Bank provides food in 13 counties to emergency pantries, Kids Cafes and other after-school programs, emergency shelters, senior centers, children's homes and other social service centers. Each month, this network of hunger-relief charities distributes emergency groceries to 35,000 families and serves 500,000 meals and snacks on charities' sites. To learn more, please visit www.tafb.org. ABOUT FEEDING AMERICA (formerly known as America’s Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network) Feeding America is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization
in the United States. Through its network of more than 200 member food
banks like Tarrant Area Food Bank, Feeding America annually provides
assistance to more than 25 million people in need, including more than
nine million children and nearly three million senior citizens in all
50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each year, Feeding
America secures and distributes more than two billion pounds of food
and grocery products to support feeding programs at approximately 63,000
charities, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters,
after-school programs and Kids Cafes. To learn more, please visit www.feedingamerica.org.
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