America's Second Harvest is the nation's largest domestic hunger relief organization. Through a network of over 200 food banks and food-rescue programs, they provide emergency food assistance to more than 23 million hungry Americans each year, eight million of whom are children.
Last year, America's Second Harvest distributed 1.7 billion pounds of food to needy Americans, serving all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Their goal is to end hunger in America. To learn more about childhood hunger in the United States, and exactly why undernourished children are at a greater risk of not reaching their full potential as individuals, follow the links below:
Despite a thriving economy in recent years and reports of welfare reform success stories, 23.3 million Americans sought emergency food assistance from America's Second Harvest in 2001. According to the USDA, in 2001 the number of Americans who were food insecure, or hungry or at risk of hunger, was 33.6 million, a rise over 2000, when 33.2 million Americans were food insecure.
For many Americans, wages have simply not risen enough in the last years to cover the increased cost of living, and food has become an unaffordable luxury. Of those people seeking emergency food relief, more than one-third (36%) had to choose between buying food or paying for housing. Although the prevalence of hunger varies regionally, America's Second Harvest has found through its national Hunger Study that a great number of the people we serve are seniors and a greater number still are under the age of 18. These findings reflect the diversity of who is hungry in America today.
- 36% of the emergency clients served by America's Second Harvest report having to choose between buying food and paying for housing.
- The overwhelming majority - 90.4% of emergency clients served have a place to live. Of those clients, 23% own the place where they reside and 69% rent.
- 19% of all emergency clients served were late in paying last month's rent or mortgage.
- In 1997,three million working families had critical housing needs; by 1999 this number had increased by 28%to 3.9 million families (Housing America 's Working Families: A Further Exploration, New Century Housing).
- Of the 3.9 million working families facing critical housing needs, 8 out of 10 pay more than half their income for housing while the remainder live in severely inadequate housing (Ibid).
- While 43%of low to moderate income families with critical housing needs reside in the central city (1.7 million), nearly an equal number (1.5 million) live in the suburbs, and another 656,000 live in non-metropolitan areas (Ibid).
- A full-time minimum-wage worker cannot afford to pay the fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit anywhere in America (Out of Reach: The Growing Gap Between Housing Costs and Income of Poor People in the United States, The National Low Income Housing Coalition).
Americas Second Harvest relies on private, corporate and foundation support to fund their hunger-relief efforts nationwide. There are many opportunities to become involved in the life of their network of more than 215 food banks and food-rescue organizations.
They understand that many individuals are rightfully concerned about how non-profit organizations use contributions, and are proud of their Forbes charitable commitment rating. A full 99% of all product and money donations they receive go directly toward feeding hungry people rather than administration or fundraising.
How You Can Help
- MAKE A DONATION - Your chance to contribute to hunger-relief in a way that works best for you.
- PLANNED GIVING - Their primer on gifts that help end hunger and often provide financial benefits to you.
- MONTHLY GIVING - They make it effortless for you to help their hunger-relief efforts every single month.
- CORPORATIONS & FOUNDATIONS - Information on the many ways corporations and foundations can help.
Spread the word. Tell Your Friends about Dream Weavers and "Americas Second Harvest".
Here are a few other organizations in which your contributions would be very much appreciated:
