Project Details & planning questions
overview of projects
Pray for The hungry
Commit to pray for people who are hungry every day for 7, 14, or 21 days. (Or however many days you choose!) Use the "Pray for the Hungry" guide as a starting point.
Planning Questions:
1) How long will you commit to pray? 7 days? 14? 21?
2) Consider asking a family member or friend to pray with you or to keep you accountable by checking in with you about your commitment to pray. Who could you ask to do this?
3) When is your start date? Finish date?
Donate Food Locally
Give food to your local church, food bank, or food pantry. Not sure where to give? Check out these websites to help you find a place near you.
Find a food bank to donate to here:
Planning Questions:
1) Where will you donate the food?
2) Where will you get the food you are going to donate?
3) Think about ways to earn extra money to purchase additional food. Could you do extra work for your family of neighbors? Make sure to have your parent's permission before offering to work for neighbors or others.
Plan a food drive
Get a lot of food to your local food bank by getting your community involved. You can do this by planning a food drive at your church or with another community group. A food drive is simply asking people in your church or community to give canned or nonperishable food, collecting it, and bringing it to your local food bank. It can be as big or as small as you want. The goal is to help others become aware of hunger while getting food to those who need it.
Find a food bank to donate to here:
Planning Questions:
1) Where will you host your food drive? (Church, homeschool group, etc.)
2) How long will you run your food drive? Write your start and stop dates.
3) How will you advertise your food drive? Consider including specific facts about hunger in America in your advertising.
4) Where will you donate the food?
Share from your garden
Planning Questions:
1) What exactly do you plan to donate?
2) Where will you donate? (See list on AmpleHarvest link above.)
3) Who will help you get the produce to that facility?
Do you ever wonder what to do with the extra produce from your garden? Why not donate it to those who need food?
Find out more at AmpleHarvest.org.
Walk for Hunger
You can walk to help end hunger! Join a walk to raise money for a hunger organization.
When you commit to doing a walk for an organization, you can ask others to pledge money to the cause. Once you’ve completed the walk, people will then give the money to the selected hunger organization.
JOIN A WALK: Check out this organization called “Crop Hunger.” They organize walks all over the United States. Simply scroll down to the map of the United States and enter your zip code to see walks near you. With a parent’s permission, you can sign up to raise money and join the walk if one is near you. You can also start your own walk on that website.
PLAN A WALK: You can plan your own walk! Invite friends and family to donate to a specific organization and complete a walk (the distance is up to you) for these donations. You could even invite others to join you in the walk!
Planning Questions:
Whichever option you choose from the list above, begin by thinking about these things.
1) Who will join you on your walk?
2) Who will you ask to donate to your walk?
3) When will you do your walk?
4) Describe the route you will take (length of the walk, start and stop point, etc.)
5) Will you invite other people in your community to be part of the walk and raise money? If so, talk to your parents about what you need to do to get started.
Blessings in a backpack
Many schools have programs to make sure kids get healthy breakfasts and lunches while they are at school. But what about on the weekend or during spring break? Blessings in a Backpack is a program that gives kids in need food to take home for the weekend or over breaks.
They have many opportunities to get involved--from writing encouraging notecards to put in the backpacks to starting a program in your area. Find out more on the Blessings in a Backpack site.
Planning Questions:
1) Contact Blessings in a Backpack by email or phone. (With parent permission, of course.)
2) Based on their needs, how will you help?
3) Who will go with you?
4) Arrange a specific date and time to help.
Volunteer
One meaningful way to contribute is to volunteer your time. Food pantries and food banks need help sorting and organizing food. Soup kitchens or homeless shelters often need help actually serving the meals. With a parent's permission, call your local church, soup kitchen, and local food pantries/banks to see how you can help by volunteering.
You might want to start by asking your church if they can recommend an organization to you. Churches are often teamed up with food banks and soup kitchens in your area. Otherwise, you can check out these food bank/pantry/shelter sites to find a place to volunteer.
Planning Questions:
1) Where will you volunteer?
2) What will you do when you are there? (You may need to contact the organization to find out what your role would be.)
3) Who will go with you?
4) When will you volunteer? Arrange a specific date and time to help.