Eastside mayors to proclaim concern for hungry

Published 10:54 am Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Expanding on the annual “Mayor’s Day of Concern for the Hungry” campaign sponsored by the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle & King County, Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger and the mayors of several other East King County cities will proclaim September 26 through October 24 as the “Eastside Month of Concern for the Hungry.”

The formal proclamations officially launch the “Share What You Can” campaign to benefit those served by local food banks and feeding programs. The emphasis is to fill food bank shelves with non-perishable food items as the school season and autumn begins.

The “Share What You Can” campaign is a communitywide effort including Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish, Issaquah and Mercer Island.

Neighborhood associations, community leaders, faith organizations, businesses, hospitals and schools are encouraged to participate by hosting food drives and fundraising events in the city. Many grocery stores will be donation host sites on Saturday, September 26 for the “Day of Concern for the Hungry” kick off.

Statistics across the Eastside point out the need:

Requests for food at local food banks are up almost 50 percent as compared to 18 months ago.

Among the client households served, 44 percent said they had to choose between paying for food and paying for rent or mortgage.

38 percent have at least one household member under the age of 18 years.

The good news, supporters say, is that while the need is surging, donations have been trending downward.