Self Portraits of Hunger

The city of Philadelphia has one of the highest child poverty rates in the country with 1 in 3 children at risk of "food insecurity," the term now frequently used to characterize hunger. Nationally, more than 13 million children live in food insecure households, and the number is growing. A powerful new online photography exhibit, Witnesses to Hunger, was created to illustrate the day-to-day challenges some Philadelphia women face to properly feed their young children.

An outgrowth of the Philadelphia GROW Project at Drexel Universit's School of Public Health, Witnesses to Hunger   provided digital cameras to 42 women and asked them to capture a visual and audio record of their experience of hunger and poverty and present their ideas for change. For the first time, these unknown women were able to tell their stories in words and pictures.

Feeding Our Future Bridges Summer Lunch Gap

No child should go hungry in America, yet nearly 13 million children live in homes that experience hunger. While the Obama Administration is working to end childhood hunger by 2015 with a host of local and national initiatives, children across the country are going hungry today this summer.

The Sodexo Foundation has devoted considerable time and resources to developing and supporting Feeding Our Future, a summer lunch program for at-risk children who lose access to free or reduced-price school lunches during the summer months. Now in its 13th year, the program provides nutritious bag lunches for children in 20 cities across the United States.

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Obama: Ending Childhood Hunger by 2015

Following his confirmation hearing, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that in his first meeting with President Obama he was told, "What I want you to do first, the most important thing in this job, is to make sure America's kids are well fed."

The President was speaking from first hand knowledge, as his mother had briefly received food stamps when he was a child. During the campaign, Mr. Obama made a pledge to end childhood hunger in America by 2015 and as President he continues to champion that goal. Secretary Vilsack will certainly have broad support in this effort; a diverse group of government, public, and private entities has united behind the common goal of ending childhood hunger.

Sodexo Foundation Honors Those Who Serve

The Sodexo Foundation supports two initiatives that recognize individuals who fight hunger in their communities through dedicated volunteerism. The STOP Hunger Scholarship Program rewards student from kindergarten through graduate school who have shown continued commitment to alleviating hunger in the United States. Heroes of Everyday Life celebrates Sodexo employees who invest their time, talent, and service spirit to help those at risk of hunger in the United States.

The Foundation created these programs to honor citizens who give freely of themselves and have an impact on the lives of some of the 36.2 million Americans who are at risk of hunger. Now in its third year, the STOP Hunger Scholarship Program received over 5,000 applications. Each national recipient was awarded a $5,000 scholarship, as well as a matching $5,000 grant was made to their local hunger-related charity of choice. Together, the 2009 STOP Hunger Scholars contributed to a combined total of:

• Fed 57,750 men, women, and children
• Raised $185,000 in donations to aid people at risk of hunger
• Collected and donated nearly 17,000 pounds of food