The golden ticket: Child Hunger Ends Here

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I've been blogging here on Grandma's Briefs for nearly three years. In that time, it's been interesting to go from scrounging for opportunities to review products and services to now getting so many offers that I end up turning down—or ignoring—more than I accept.

While it's cool to have gone from populating the Back Room first with reviews on cleansers and frozen foods to recently getting free clothing and nifty gadgets to try out, the golden ticket for most bloggers—for me—is that elusive offer to become an ambassador for a company, a cause. Ambassadors are handpicked to help promote products and campaigns. They have important duties to perform. They make a difference. And they get nifty badges to decorate their blogs.

Well, folks, I have finally received a golden ticket. And I must say, it is the most golden of golden ticket opportunities because it's for a cause I feel strongly about: child hunger.

I'm honored to announce that I am officially a blogger ambassador for ConAgra Foods’ Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. Now in its third year, ConAgra's Child Hunger Ends Here campaign strives to raise awareness of child hunger in our nation's communities and infuse hope into the fight against it. The campaign goal: Donate five million meals this year to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization. I look forward to helping ConAgra reach that goal.

With all the cool campaigns and worthy causes out there, why is this one particularly close to my heart? Because as a child for whom making stone soup was not just a story but was at times a reality, child hunger mattered. When dandelions were once pulled from the yard to be cooked and served for dinner because there were no other fruits or vegetables in the house, child hunger mattered. And when one's mother often ate ketchup or mayonnaise sandwiches—nothing but the condiment between two slices of bread—in order to save the nutritious food for her seven kids she'd become single mother to, child hunger mattered.

As a grandmother, child hunger still matters to me. For the second blogiversary of Grandma's Briefs last year, I made a small difference by donating money toward child hunger relief. I now have the opportunity to make an even bigger difference as a blogger ambassador for the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. Grandmothers are well-known for their penchant for filling the tummies of loved ones, so I consider this my golden grandma opportunity to help fill hungry tummies far beyond just those of my own grandsons.

And there are an overwhelming number of hungry tummies out there. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food insecurity—the inability to access enough food to live active, healthy lives—affects more than 16 million children in the United States. I find that heartbreaking on so many levels. Here is just one story:

 

My job as ambassador is to raise awareness of the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. Over the next few months, I'll be posting campaign news and notes. This is just the beginning; I hope you'll follow along with me through to the end.

Easy ways you can help:

Visit www.ChildHungerEndsHere.com to download original versions of the campaign's original song, Here's Hope, written by Hunter Hayes, Luke Laird and Barry Dean with three versions recorded individually by Jewel, Owl City and Jay Sean. While there, enjoy exclusive content from each artist and support the campaign goal of donating five million meals to Feeding America.

  • To participate, purchase specially marked packages of select ConAgra Foods brands (see list below), then visit www.ChildHungerEndsHere.com to enter the eight-digit code.
  • For each code entered, the equivalent of one meal—up to three million meals*—will be donated to Feeding America and one version of “Here’s Hope” can be downloaded.
  • Codes (from packages specially marked with the red push pin) can be redeemed through August 2012.
  • In addition to downloads and access to cool content, you can also submit your zip code to enter your local Feeding America food bank into a competition for an 80,000-meal donation. At the end of the campaign, ten food banks in the zip codes with the most entries receive the donation courtesy of ConAgra Foods.

ConAgra Foods brands participating in Child Hunger Ends Here include:

  • Banquet
  • Chef Boyardee
  • Healthy Choice
  • Hunt’s
  • Marie Callendar’s
  • Manwich
  • Orville Redenbacher
  • Peter Pan
  • Snack Pack

*Enter the 8-digit code and a monetary donation will be made to help provide one meal through Feeding America's network of food banks, up to a maximum of 3 million meals for codes entered through 8/31/12. Valid in U.S. only. $1 donated = 8 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local food banks.

And there's more: You can also participate in Child Hunger Ends Here discussions on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ConAgraFoods. Plus, tweet along on Twitter by following www.twitter.com/ConAgraFoods and using the #ChildHunger hashtag.

Disclosure: I have been compensated for my participation in the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign and all posts, tweets and updates related to the campaign. That said, anecdotes and opinions are my own and not influenced by anyone.