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download: Release as PDFHunger - A Domestic Issue
Need for food support is up 30 percent on average across the U.S.
NEW YORK – August 2009 – The numbers are staggering. Millions of Americans, from low-income individuals to families, struggle every day for one of the basics of human existence – food. One in eight Americans battle hunger, not knowing where their next meal is coming from, that is an incredible 35.5 million people. Macy's and Feeding America, through the "Come Together" charitable campaign, will aim to ease that burden and provide meals for 10 million Americans while also shedding light on the ongoing issue of domestic hunger.
Macy's partner in this initiative, Feeding America, is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity with a mission to supply food to more than 25 million American's each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire country through a network of more than 200 member food banks that serve 63,000 agencies to address hunger in all its forms, Feeding America is the leading voice in the fight against hunger in the U.S.
Hunger by the numbers:
Hunger - A Domestic Issue
"Come Together" and Join the Fight with Macy's and Feeding America
Need for food support is up 30 percent on average across the U.S.
NEW YORK – August 2009 – The numbers are staggering. Millions of Americans, from low-income individuals to families, struggle every day for one of the basics of human existence – food. One in eight Americans battle hunger, not knowing where their next meal is coming from, that is an incredible 35.5 million people. Macy's and Feeding America, through the "Come Together" charitable campaign, will aim to ease that burden and provide meals for 10 million Americans while also shedding light on the ongoing issue of domestic hunger.
Macy's partner in this initiative, Feeding America, is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity with a mission to supply food to more than 25 million American's each year, including 9 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire country through a network of more than 200 member food banks that serve 63,000 agencies to address hunger in all its forms, Feeding America is the leading voice in the fight against hunger in the U.S.
Hunger by the numbers:
- 1 in 8 Americans struggles with hunger.
- This year, the need for food is up 30 percent on average across the U.S.
- An estimated 35.5 million Americans, or 12.1 percent of the population, are food insecure; meaning their access to enough food is limited by a lack of money and other resources. (USDA/ERS, Household Food Security in the United States: 2006)
- 41.5 percent of all client households served by Feeding America reported having to choose between buying food and paying for utilities or heat within the previous 12 months.
- Feeding America estimates that they serve over 9 million children.
- According to the USDA, an estimated 12.6 million children lived in food insecure households in 2006. (USDA/ERS, Household Food Security in the United States: 2006)
- Feeding America serves nearly 3 million seniors age 65 and over each year, 2 out of every 10 households served by the Feeding America network contains at least one member age 65 and over.
- Among client households with seniors, nearly 30 percent have had to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care.
- 36 percent of client households served by Feeding America include at least one employed adult.