This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #GoldPeakFightsHunger #CollectiveBias

Did you know that there are many ways to help individuals and families in your community who are in need? The numbers of those going without food is staggering, even saddening to say the least. Communities shouldn’t be suffering from hunger when there is food readily available. Your Feeding America local food bank is one of the first places to start.

Where will the next meal come from?

When I was teaching high school science, the last thing I would have considered was a student who would be without food. This happens often in school settings: a child is sent to school with not having eaten since the day before while attending school. What about the elderly who are not working and have no means for purchasing food? Then there are families who just can’t provide enough food to feed everyone in the family. You can help put an end to this hunger in many different ways.

1. Providing Funds.

If physically volunteering is not possible, you can donate money to your local food bank. The money will be used to purchase food and aid in keeping the facility operating. Not only can you donate money, but you can team up with Gold Peak®. Gold Peak®is partnering with Feeding America to help fight hunger. On 5/1, Gold Peak® launched a special texting campaign where they will direct $1 to Feeding America, and 10 Food Banks will be selected to receive a $1,000 donation at the end of the voting period on 6/30/2018. You can support your own local food banks!

• Text “GIVE” to 26739 and Gold Peak will donate a $1 to Feeding America
  • Every $1 donated provides at least 10 meals to people in need.
• Visit GoldPeak.com to learn more on Gold Peak’s initiative and where one can support their local Food Bank for a chance to receive a $1,000 donation from Gold Peak.

2. Providing time through volunteering.

Volunteering is one of the biggest ways you can help your local food bank. There are so many different ways you can volunteer! Food needs to be collected, transported, as well as sorted. As a volunteer, you can help with all of these. Did you know that you can even put together a food drive to support your local food bank? The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank is one that I am proud to say serves my community. They have many resources on their website on how to put together a food drive, including flyers and shopping lists.

If you are wanting to get your family involved with volunteering, some local food banks may have family nights. The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank hosts a family night once a month where families can come together to help sort and organize the food that will be provided to people and families in need.

What would be an even better way to volunteer would be to serve all the local food bank volunteers Gold Peak Tea from Target! The many hours that a lot of these volunteers and workers put in to help their community goes unnoticed majority of the time. What better way than to thank them with a refreshing break with Gold Peak Tea that you were able to purchase from your local Target.

3. Providing the food.

How would it be a food bank without food? There are so many ways you can provide food to your local food bank: food barrels located at many stores, food drives, and dropping off at your local food bank. When it comes to providing the food, you will need to make sure that it is non-perishable and unopened. The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank has shopping lists readily available on their website. These lists include food items needed for families, children, and senior citizens.

My Feeding America local food bank: The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank

The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank has 3 programs that I would love to share: Feeding Seniors, Feeding Children, and Feeding Health. The second program is Feeding Seniors, the Adopt-A-Senior Program, aimed at the senior citizens in our community. It provides the essentials for that age range. Feeding Children, also referred to as the Backpack Program, gets food directly into the hands of children while they are attending school by discreetly placing food into their backpacks. Feeding Health, the Farm Fresh Healthy Food Initiative, is the 3rd program I wanted to mention. The Farm Fresh Healthy Food Initiative is to help provide a healthy, well-balanced diet of fresh fruits and vegetables. In turn, this will aid in improving the overall health of people and families in need.

We can help fight hunger with Feeding America in many ways. 

‘Local food banks are much like a 3 legged stool. You need all 3 legs to keep it standing upright: Food, Funds, and Volunteers’, stated by Charlene Guarisco Montelaro, CAP* of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.

As you can see, it is easy to help our local food banks provide for the people and families in need in our community. Don’t forget to help us support our local food banks with the Gold Peak Tea initiative with Feeding America!

Additional Feeding America Information: GoldPeak.com ((Feeding America has 200 member food banks across the nation, find your local food bank to support here)