From press release:
Here’s an amazing stat: 1 in every 4 children are at risk of being hungry. Outside of the school year and on weekends, they may not know where their next meal is coming from. For the sixth year, Merrell Footwear, MANNA FoodBank, and Mast General Store are partnering to help provide food for kids.
Scientific studies reveal that children who do not do well in school may be hungry. In addition to affecting their academic performance, hunger may have long-term health effects, too. Merrell realizes how important it is to give a child a good foundation to grow, to learn, and to just be a kid.
Here’s another amazing stat: The average cost of a tank of gas for a typical SUV, $60, could fill a backpack for a hungry child for an entire school year. That’s proof positive that a little can do a lot when it comes to helping a hungry child.
MANNA FoodBank works with schools and teachers to discreetly determine which children need help. Each weekend during the school year, they are given MANNApacks filled with easy-to-fix foods that may also help feed sisters and brothers, and perhaps the rest of their families. The backpacks are returned on Monday mornings to use again.
To help fill these backpacks, Merrell will donate funds to fill a backpack for a weekend for each pair of Merrell shoes purchased at the Mast Store between October 14 and 31.
“Last year across all of our communities, our partnership with Merrell and our food security partners provided 3,883 weekend meals,” said Fred Martin, president of Mast General Store. “We are excited to have a meaningful relationship with a vendor that is working with us to take care of a great need in our home communities.”
In addition to donations made for shoes purchased, each location is also collecting change for our food partners during this time. MANNA FoodBank is a good steward of donated funds and can stretch each dollar donated into three meals.
For more information about how you can help fight hunger in your community, visit www.MANNAFoodBank.org.
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