Kids Raising Money for Bucks Knocks Out Hunger

Provided by the United Way of Bucks County:

On Monday, May 12, a group of Bucks County kids, known as Kids United, will pledge to eat only 3 square meals – no treats or snacks – to raise money for area food pantries. The pledge is part of their fundraising efforts for Bucks Knocks Out Hunger, an United Way of Bucks County initiative to fight food insecurity in Bucks County.

As UW Bucks’ youth fundraising committee, Kids United organized the “Three Square Meals” challenge as part of its ongoing campaign to fight food insecurity.  Participants will ask family members and loved ones to pledge contributions to BKO Hunger in exchange for their successful completion of  “Three Square Meals.”

However, raising money is not the only goal.

“I want my children to get some sort of understanding that some people face limited access to food,” said David M. Hall, Kids United chair.  “I know that this is nothing at all like true hunger. We think that this will be a shock for some of the kids, and we think it will give them some sort of ability to relate.”

While the kids are limited to three meals without snacks, participating families decide the composition and size of the meals. They also have to determine what drinks they will permit during the challenge. While some may choose to allow milk and juice, others, like Hall and his family, will have water as their only beverage for the day.

Almost 15 percent of children in Bucks County are considered food insecure, which The United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA) defines as not having access to enough food to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle.

Kids United formed last year when Hall, his wife Annie, their kids, and eleven other families, met to strategize a plan to help raise money to support the United Way of Bucks County’s BKO Hunger initiative.

BKO Hunger, a collaboration between the United Way of Bucks County, First Federal of Bucks County, and several other area businesses and community groups, strives to provide food pantries with shelf-stable, nutritionally enhanced pre-packaged meals, provide additional funds to fill in the gaps, and also provide fresh local fruits and vegetables.  Last year, volunteers were able to assemble 100,000 meals for area food pantries during a one-day food packing event.   To learn more about BKO Hunger, visit www.uwbucks.org/bkohunger.