As a participant in this campaign with Walmart, I have received compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If you’re like me, you realize that there is a hunger epidemic in America, and you’re not sure how you can help. I get it, we’re busy, but we still want to be able to make some sort of contribution to those families that can’t quite make ends meet enough to provide enough food for their family. Despite circumstances, I believe that EVERYONE should be able to eat and have shelter. While I’m rocking it out for Habitat for Humanity, I figured I can help other families that I can’t see by simply shopping at Walmart.
General Mills has partnered with Walmart to provide meals for every Hunger Participating item purchased by you, or me, or anyone else between April 6th and May 3rd. We happen to love Cinnamon Toast Crunch around these parts, and I love that while I’m giving my children a breakfast that they want every so often, I’m able to provide a meal that is NEEDED each and every time.
Here’s how it works:
1. Customer buys Hunger participating item (ex. Cheerios) at Walmart between April 6 & May 3.
2. Cheerios (for example) scan at the register and is logged as 1 item purchased during the event helps secure a meal* on behalf of a local Feeding America food bank donated by the supplier (General Mills) NOT WALMART.
*Feeding America National Office Approved Meal Cost Calculation
(Effective July 1, 2014 — June 30, 2015)
$1 helps provide 10 meals
1 meal is equivalent to $0.10
Secured by Feeding AmericaⓇ on behalf of local member food banks
3. On May 4, Walmart will pull a sales report of total unit sales by store in all 50 states and provide to 6 suppliers and Feeding America.
4. General Mills will write a check directly to Feeding America’s National Office for the dollar amount associated based on the Sales report (General Mills sells 1MM boxes of Cheerios $0.10 per a box => $100K to Feeding America)
5. Feeding America takes $100K from General Mills and divvys the donation among 200 Feeding America Food Banks based on number of Cheerios sold by store (based on zip code). Each store is tied to a Food Bank.
6. Food Banks then use funds to “secure meals” (ie.Acquire food, pay for electricity, gas, transportation, operating costs)
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Let me tell you something. It’s really hard to admit that you need help providing a specific item such as food for your family. Some people may feel ashamed, and some people may just feel upset. For a while during college, I wasn’t able to eat as well, as I would have liked, but I was able to. Even during my time of scraping together quarters to feed Nathaniel, I was able to call on friends and family to help. The Feeding America initiative is extending the network of friends and family that these families have, and making sure that no one serviced is going to bed hungry, because no one should.
When talking to the Houseful of Littles about making sure that we help feed other people who may not have enough food to feed their families, here are some suggestions that they have given:
Make lots of food at our house and make boxes of food to take to those families that are hungry.
Open a restaurant and feed the hungry for free (if only I had the money and business savvy to do so, I wouldn’t bat an eye)
Invite the hungry families over to our house!
Volunteer in a soup kitchen every month.
I’m glad that my children all have the giving hearts that seem to disappear in so many people the older that they get. I am hoping that it stays with them for a lifetime and that they continue to give unto others not because it makes them look good, but because it’s the right thing to do. You can click here to see the participating products at your local Walmart. Like I said, we are a BIG consumer of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I’ve loved it whenever we got a chance to get it when I was younger, and my children are the same. And to know that with each purchase, I’m doing something good, that’s priceless.