Happy Hunger Games!!! This Friday is so special that it deserves a holiday!…hmm want to know what’s so special about this particular Friday? Well, today is the opening day for “The Hunger Games!” However, while you’re heading out to watch to watch “The Hunger Games” remember there are still people in this world who lack adequate nutrition or do not have access to food.

Here are ten facts about hunger to consider and inspire you to fight hunger in your community:

1. For 1 in 6 people in the United States, hunger is a reality. Right now, millions of Americans are struggling with hunger.  These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days.
2. Suburban poverty appears to have distinct regional patterns. Fourteen of the fifteen suburbs with the highest poverty rates in 2000 were located in the Southern or Western regions of the country. 
3. Female-headed households were more than twice as likely to be among the working poor as male-headed households in 2008.
4. Among families with at least one member working at least half a year, families with children were 4 times more likely than families without children to live in poverty in 2008.
5. One in five kids in America struggles with hunger. Kids who struggle with hunger have a hard time learning in school and don’t get the nutrition they need to grow up strong and healthy.
6. According to the USDA, over 16 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2010.
7. 20% or more of the child population in 40 states and D.C. lived in food insecure households in 2009. The District of Columbia (32.3%) and Oregon (29.2%) had the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food.
8. In 2009, the top five states with the highest rate of food insecure children under 18 are the District of Columbia, Oregon, Arizona, Arkansas, & Texas. iii
9. In 2009, the top five states with the lowest rate of food insecure children under 18 are North Dakota, New Hampshire, Virginia, Maryland, & Massachusetts. iii
10. Proper nutrition is vital to the growth and development of children. 62 percent of client households with children under the age of 18 reported participating in the National School Lunch Program, but only 14 percent reported having a child participate in a summer feeding program that provides free food when school is out.

Additionally, our affiliate GenerationOn, is hosting “The Great American Bake Sale” in which awesome youth and caring adults sign up to hold bake sales and send their profits to Share Our Strength. Share Our Strength will use the proceeds to end childhood hunger.

May the odds be in your favor, volunteer as Tribute and watch this video!