Hunger is a reality for thousands of people in our region.

On Oct. 16 – World Food Day – dozens of volunteers will gather for the first of two events aiming to address that reality and shine a light on a persistent, pervasive problem in our region: food insecurity.

About 1 in 7 adults don’t have consistent access to adequate safe, nutritional food. They may not know where their next meal will come from. Children are especially at risk of chronic hunger — up to 17 percent of kids in our region.

“Not having access to safe and nutritional food affects your ability to focus in school, perform at work and stay healthy,” said Robert Elchert, Community Impact Associate for United Way BCKR. “Malnutrition can cause lasting deficits in cognitive, social and emotional development.”

United Way BCKR has teamed up with the Outreach Program, the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, corporate partners and volunteers across the region to stage two United Against Hunger events. Our goal is to package 50,000 meal kits that the Food Bank will distribute to individuals and families in need throughout Battle Creek and Kalamazoo region. Each kit contains six meals.

Event dates and sites are as follows:

• Oct. 16: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek (36 W. Hamblin Ave.)

• Oct. 18: 9-11 a.m. at Salvation Army in Kalamazoo (1700 Burdick St.)

GET INVOLVED

• VOLUNTEER: Both United Against Hunger events have volunteer spots available, and we need your help!  Volunteers will sort, weigh and package meal kits of pasta, sauce, recipes and other resources. Register HERE and encourage your family, friends or co-workers to join you.
• DONATE: Not able to volunteer? Consider a financial contribution. Since we’re buying in bulk, a $10 donation yields more than 40 meals! Give online HERE, or text MEALSBCKZOO to 41444.

A special thanks to our sponsors: Kellogg’s, Pfizer, Eaton, Advia Credit Union, OnStaff, Old National Bank, Schupan and Sons, and Impact Solutions.

Join us. Together, we can take a stand against hunger.